After that, once again he passed by us, and Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) requested him as before, so he replied, "I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: 'You are going to meet your brothers, so set right your mounts and your clothes, for Allah does not like obscene or foul speech.'"

Qasim, who was the freed slave of Hazrat Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), says that once I entered the mosque of Damascus, where I saw a gathering of people to whom an elder was narrating hadith. I asked the people, "Who is he?" They told me that he is Hazrat Sahl bin Hanzalah (may Allah be pleased with him). I heard him saying that I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Whoever eats meat should perform a new ablution.

Bishr Taghlibi, who used to sit with Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him), says that there lived in Damascus a companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who was called Ibn Hanzala. He was a man of reclusive nature and had very little interaction with people. His habit was that he would remain engaged in prayer, and when he finished, he would busy himself with tasbih and takbir, and then go to his home. One day, we were sitting with Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) when he passed by us. Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him, "Tell us something from which we may benefit and you will not be harmed." He replied, "Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent out an army. When that army returned, one of the men came and sat in the gathering of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said to the man sitting beside him, 'If only you had seen the scene when we confronted the enemy! On that occasion, so-and-so person raised his spear and, striking a disbeliever, said, "Take this, I am a young man from Ghifar."' What is your opinion about this statement of his?" The man replied, "In my opinion, he has wasted his reward." When the other man heard this, he said, "I see nothing wrong in it." At this, the two began to argue, until the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also heard about it and said, "Subhan Allah! There is nothing wrong in praising him, and he will also receive the reward." I saw that Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) was very pleased after hearing this hadith and, raising his head towards him, said, "Did you yourself hear this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?" He replied in the affirmative. Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) repeated this question so many times that I thought he would not let him go until he made him sit on his knees.

After that, he passed by us once again, and Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) requested, as before, for a narration of a hadith in the same words. He replied that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) once said: "Khuraim Asadi is an excellent man, if only his hair were not so long and he did not let his lower garment hang below his ankles." When Khuraim learned of this, he took a knife and cut his hair up to half of his ears and raised his lower garment up to the middle of his shins. My father relates that once I went to Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), where I saw an elderly man whose hair was above his ears and his lower garment was up to his shins. I asked people about him, and they told me that he was Khuraim Asadi (may Allah be pleased with him).

After that, once again he passed by us, and Hazrat Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) requested him as before, so he replied, "I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: 'You are going to meet your brothers, so set right your mounts and your clothes, for Allah does not like obscene or foul speech.'"

It is narrated from Hazrat Sahl bin Hanzalah (may Allah be pleased with him) that once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Uyainah and Aqra’ asked for something. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered Hazrat Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) to write it for them. He wrote it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sealed it and ordered that the letter be handed over to them. Uyainah asked, "What is written in it?" He replied, "What you had wished for." Uyainah kissed it and wrapped it in his turban. Uyainah was more intelligent than both of them, while Aqra’ said, "Should I go around carrying a document like a beggar, about which I do not know what is written in it?" Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about what both of them had said. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went out for some work and in the early part of the day passed by a camel tied at the door of the mosque. When he passed by there in the latter part of the day, the camel was still tied in the same way. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked, "Where is the owner of this camel?" Despite searching, its owner was not found. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Fear Allah regarding these animals. Ride them when they are healthy and strong." Then he said, "Whoever asks while he has enough to fulfill his need, as just now someone who showed displeasure did, then he is adding to the coals of Hell." The companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), what is meant by need?" He replied, "Food."

Hazrat Junadah bin Abi Mihyah, may Allah have mercy on him, after flogging two men who had stolen from the spoils of war on the island called Rhodes, said from the pulpit that nothing prevented me from cutting off their hands. However, once Hazrat Busr bin Arta’ah, may Allah be pleased with him, during a military expedition, found a man named Masdar stealing, so he flogged him but did not cut off his hand, and said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade us from cutting off hands during jihad.

Hazrat Junadah bin Abi Mihyah, may Allah have mercy on him, after flogging two men who had stolen from the spoils of war on the island called Rhodes, said from the pulpit that nothing prevented me from cutting off their hands. However, once Hazrat Busar bin Arta’ah, may Allah be pleased with him, during a military expedition, found a man named Masdar stealing, so he flogged him but did not cut off his hand, and said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade us from cutting off hands during jihad. If I had not heard this hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), I would have cut off your hand. Then he let him go.

It is narrated from Hazrat Basar (may Allah be pleased with him) that I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicating: O Allah! Grant us a good outcome in all matters and protect us from the disgrace of this world and the punishment of the Hereafter.

Narrated from Hazrat Nawwas bin Sam'an Kalabi that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) one day described the Dajjal, mentioning both his humiliation (that he is one-eyed and despicable in the sight of Allah) and his greatness (that his trial is severe and he will show things contrary to the norm), to such an extent that we thought he was among those date palms (meaning, he seemed so near as if he was present—this was the effect of your description and the cause of the Companions' faith). When we returned to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (i.e., at another time), he noticed the effect of fear of the Dajjal among us (our faces showed anxiety and fear). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked, "What is your condition?" We said, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), this morning you mentioned the Dajjal, described his humiliation and his greatness, to such an extent that we thought he was among those date palm trees." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "I fear for you more from others than from the Dajjal. If he appears while I am among you, I will argue with him on your behalf (you will remain separate), and if he appears when I am not among you (i.e., after my death), then every person must argue on his own behalf, and Allah is my successor over every Muslim. Listen! The Dajjal is a young man, his hair is very curly, and his eye is protruding. Listen! The Dajjal will emerge from Khallasah, which is a path between Syria and Iraq, and he will spread corruption, moving right and left among the lands. O servants of Allah, remain firm in faith."

We asked, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), how long will he remain on earth?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Forty days, of which one day will be like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and the rest of the days will be like your (normal) days." We asked, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), on the day that is like a year, will one day's (five) prayers suffice for us?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Estimate the time and pray accordingly." We asked, "How fast will he travel on the earth?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "His example is like rain driven by the wind. He will come to a people and call them to himself; they will accept him and believe in him (God forbid, he will claim divinity). Then he will command the sky, and it will rain upon them, and command the earth, and it will produce crops. Their animals will return in the evening (from grazing), their humps high (i.e., very fat), their udders full of milk, and their flanks swollen. Then he will come to another people and call them to himself; they will not accept his word (they will reject his claim to divinity). So the Dajjal will leave them, and in the morning they will be in famine, with nothing left in their hands. Then the Dajjal will pass by a ruin and say, 'Bring out your treasures,' and all its treasures will follow him like bees follow their queen. Then he will call a young, robust man and strike him with a sword, cutting him into two pieces, placing each piece at the distance of an arrow's shot from the other. Then he will call him by name, and the man will come alive, his face shining and laughing.

While the Dajjal and the people are in this state, Allah will send Hazrat Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him), who will descend at the white minaret to the east of Damascus, wearing two yellow garments (dyed with wars or saffron), with his hands resting on the wings of two angels. Hazrat Isa will walk and find the Dajjal at the gate of Ludd, where he will kill that accursed one. While the people are in this state, Allah will send revelation to Hazrat Isa, saying, 'O Isa, I have brought forth such servants of Mine that no one can fight them. So take My (believing) servants to Mount Tur.' And Allah will send Gog and Magog, as He has said: 'They will descend from every height,' i.e., they will be seen sliding down from every hill. Hazrat Isa and his companions will pray to Allah, and Allah will send a disease (with worms) upon the people of Gog and Magog, which will appear in their necks, and by the next morning, they will all die as one man dies. Hazrat Isa and his companions will descend from the mountain and will not find a handspan of ground free from their fat, stench, and blood. Then they will again...