It is narrated from Abu Maryam, the freed slave of Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by Marwan while he was building his house in the middle of Madinah. (Abu Maryam said:) I sat with him while the labourers were working, and Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Build strong buildings, cherish far-reaching hopes, and die soon." At this Marwan said: "Abu Hurayrah is talking to the labourers. O Abu Hurayrah! What are you saying to them?" He replied: I said: Build strong buildings, cherish far-reaching hopes, and die soon. O people of Quraysh! (He said this three times.) Remember what you were yesterday and how you have become today, that you are being served; the people of Persia and Rome are your slaves; you eat bread of the finest sifted flour (khubz al-samidh) and fat meat. Beware! Do not devour one another (through injustice), nor bite one another as mules bite one another. Be small (through humility) today, and you will be great tomorrow (in the Hereafter). By Allah! Whoever among you raises his own rank (in this world through arrogance), Allah Almighty will lower him on the Day of Resurrection.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Thawban (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Three men will fight near your treasure, all of them sons of a caliph, then it will not go to any one of them. Then black banners will appear from the direction of the east, and they will fight you in a way that no people have ever fought." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned some matters and said: "When you see him, pledge allegiance to him, even if you have to crawl over snow, for he is the caliph of Allah, the Mahdi." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "In times of trials, the best of people is a man who holds the reins (or he said: the rope) of his horse in pursuit of the enemies of Allah, frightening them while they frighten him; or a man who secludes himself in his desert dwelling, fulfilling the right of Allah that is due upon him." This hadith is on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: We came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us cheerfully, with signs of joy evident on his blessed face. Whatever we asked him about, he informed us of it, and when we fell silent, he himself began speaking, until some young men of Banu Hashim passed by, among whom were Hasan and Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them both). When he (peace and blessings be upon him) saw them, his mood became troubled at their passing and his eyes overflowed with tears. We said: "O Messenger of Allah! We keep seeing something on your blessed face that grieves us." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, we are a household for whom Allah has chosen the Hereafter over this world. And indeed, after me my household will endure the hardships of exile and being driven from land to land, until black banners are raised from the direction of the east. They will ask for their right but it will not be given to them; then they will demand it but it will not be given to them; so they will fight and will be granted victory. So whoever among you or among your descendants lives to see that time, let him come to the Imam of my household, even if he has to crawl over snow, for they will be banners of guidance which they will hand over to a man of my household whose name will match my name and whose father's name will match my father's name. He will rule the earth and fill it with justice and equity just as it had been filled with oppression and tyranny."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "The trial that strikes like heated stones (al-radf) has come to you; the black and dark trial has come to you. Indeed, the trial has periods of pause and periods of surging. So whoever among you is able to die during its periods of pause, let him do so." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Soon there will be a trial in which people will fight one another over the slogans of Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic ignorance); those killed in such fighting will be in the Fire." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "O people! A trial like pieces of the dark night is about to overshadow you. The one most saved in it (or he said: from it) will be a man who owns sheep and lives on the milk of his flock, or a man beyond the frontier pass holding the reins of his horse and eating from (the earnings of) his sword (jihad)." The chain of this hadith is authentic (sahih), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "In the last times, such a severe affliction will descend upon my Ummah from their rulers that no harsher calamity will have ever been heard of before, until the spacious earth becomes narrow for them and the earth is filled with oppression and tyranny. The believer will find no refuge in which to shelter from oppression. Then Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will raise up a man from my family (itrah) who will fill the earth with equity and justice just as it had been filled with oppression and tyranny. All the dwellers of the heavens and the dwellers of the earth will be pleased with him. The earth will not store away any portion of its produce except that it will bring it forth, and the sky will not hold back any drop of rain except that Allah will pour it down upon them in abundance. He will live among them for seven, eight or nine years. Seeing the good that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will have bestowed upon the people of the earth, the living will wish that the dead were alive." The chain of this hadith is authentic (sahih), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Years of deceit will come upon the people, in which the liar will be believed and the truthful one will be belied, the treacherous one will be trusted and the trustworthy one will be deemed treacherous, and the ruwaybidah will speak among them." It was asked: "O Messenger of Allah! What is meant by the ruwaybidah?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The insignificant, worthless man who speaks about the (collective and important) affairs of the general public." The chain of this hadith is authentic (sahih), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) that (soon) there will be a trial in which wealth will become abundant and the Qur'an will be made (widely) accessible, until the believer and the hypocrite, the young and the old, and women will (all) read it. A man will read it in private but will not be followed; he will say: "By Allah! I will read it openly." Then he will read it openly, yet still he will not be followed. So he will build a (separate) mosque and invent sayings that are neither in the Book of Allah nor from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So beware of him, for every invented matter (innovation) is misguidance. The narrator said: When Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) fell ill with the illness in which he passed away, he would sometimes lose consciousness and sometimes recover, until once he fainted so deeply that we thought his soul had been taken. Then when he regained consciousness, I was sitting in front of him weeping. He asked: "What makes you weep?" I said: "By Allah! I am not weeping over worldly gain that I used to receive from you, nor because of any family tie between us; rather, I am weeping over the knowledge and forbearance that I used to hear from you, which is now departing (with you)." He said: "Do not weep, for knowledge and faith remain in their place (they exist); whoever seeks them will find them. So seek it where Ibrahim (peace be upon him) sought it: he asked Allah while he did not know (anything)." And he recited this verse: "Indeed, I am going to my Lord; He will guide me." [Surah al-Saffat: 99] "And after me, seek it with four people. If you do not find it with any one of them, then the rest of the people will be (even more) incapable of it (than you). (These four are:) Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Abdullah bin Salam, Salman and Uwaymir Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with them). And beware of the slip of the wise man (hakim) and the judgement of the hypocrite." I said: "How will I know the slip of the wise man and the judgement of the hypocrite?" He said: "(It will be) a word of misguidance which Satan casts upon the tongue of that man. So do not take it on (yourself), nor hope for (such a thing) from him, for sometimes even a hypocrite speaks the truth. So take knowledge from wherever it comes to you, for upon the truth there is a light. And beware of complicated (perplexing) matters." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.