`Abdallah b. `Amr reported the Prophet as saying, "Leave the Abyssinians alone as long as they leave you alone, for it is only the Abyssinian with short legs who will seek to take out the treasure of the Ka'ba." Abu Dawud transmitted it.

One of the Prophet's companions said:Let the Abyssinians alone as long as they let you alone, and leave the Turks alone as long as they leave you alone. Abu Dawud and Nasai transmitted it.

Buraida told that in the tradition telling that people with small eyes, i.e. the Turks, would fight with them, the Prophet said, "You will drive them off three times till you catch up with them in Arabia. On the first occasion when you drive them off those who fly will be safe, on the second occasion some will be safe and some will perish, but on the third occasion they will be extirpated," or words to that effect. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Abu Bakra reported God's messenger as saying, "Some of my people will alight in low-lying ground which they will call al-Basra beside a river called the Tigris over which there is a bridge. Its people will be numerous and it will be one of the capital cities of the Muslims. At the end of time the descendants of Qantura' [*] will come with broad faces and small eyes and alight on the bank of the river. The town's inhabitants will then separate into three sections, one of which will follow cattle into the desert and perish, another of which will seek security for themselves and perish, but a third will put their children behind their backs and fight with the invaders, and they will be the martyrs." Abu Dawud transmitted it. * The common explanation by Arabic writers is that Qantura' was a slave girl of Abraham from whom the Turks were descended. (Cf. Genesis, 25:1, which says that Abraham took a wife named Keturah -- in Hebrew Qeturah.) Ibn al-Athir, an-Nihaya fi gharib al-hadith, 3:314, says the Turks and Chinese were descended from the offspring of Qanturs'. Lisan al-'Arab, 6:432, says her offspring were the Turks, and some say the negroes. Mirqat, 5:166 f., finds a difficulty because Abraham was a descendant of Shem and the Turks were descended from Japheth. It suggests that Qantura' was a descendant of Abraham who married a descendant of Japheth. Dr. J.A. Boyle of Manchester University has drawn my attention to an article in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 12:287, which quotes an Armenian historian, Grigor of Akner (1250-1335 A.D.), as saying that Kendura, a handmaiden of Abraham, bore Imran who became the ancestor of the Parthians.

Anas reported God's messenger as saying, "The people will establish cities, Anas, and one of them will be called al-Basra. If you should pass by it or enter it, avoid its salt-marshes, its river front, its palm trees, its market, and the gate of its commanders, and keep to its environs, for the earth will swallow some people up, pelting rain will fall and earthquakes will take place in it, and there will be people who will spend the night in it and become apes and swine in the morning." . . . transmitted it. (The name of the source is omitted in the text. The tradition is in Abu Dawud, Malahim, 10).

Salih b. Dirham said:We went on pilgrimage and met a man who asked whether there was a town near us called al-Ubulla. On our replying that there was he asked if any of us would undertake to pray two or four rak'as on his behalf in the mosque of al- `Ashshar, stating that they were on behalf of Abu Huraira, for he had heard his friend Abul Qasim say, "On the day of resurrection God who is great and glorious will raise martyrs from the mosque of al-'Ashshar who will be the only ones to rise along with the martyrs of Badr." Abu Dawud transmitted it, saying this mosque is near the river.

Shaqiq quoted Hudhaifa as saying:When we were with `Umar he asked which of us remembered the tradition of God's messenger about the fitna, and I replied that I remembered it just as he had uttered it. Telling me to relate it, and remarking that I was daring, he asked how he had spoken and I replied that I had heard God's messenger say, "A man's fitna concerns his family, his property, his person, his children and his neighbour for any shortcoming in which atonement made by fasting, prayer, sadaqah recommending what is reputable and reproving what is disreputable. [1] `Umar said that this was not what he meant, for he was thinking of the fitna which swells like the waves of the sea. [2] I asked the commander of the faithful what he had to do with it, for between him and it there was a closed door. He asked whether the door would be broken down or opened, and when I replied that it would be broken down, he said it would never likely be closed. Hudhaifa was asked if `Umar knew who the door was and he replied that he knew it as well as he knew that a night comes before tomorrow, adding that he had told him a tradition which included no misleading language. They were afraid to ask Hudhaifa who the door was, so they asked Masruq to ask him, and when he did so he replied that it was `Umar.3 A man who has these responsibilities may fall short of what is due from him, but can make atonement for his shortcoming. Contention which leads to strife and warfare. The point of the tradition is that the fitna would not occur in `Umar's lifetime, but that as he was to be assassinated there was no hope of peaceful conditions ever returning. The opening of the door indicates a natural death and the breaking down of the door a violent death. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Anas said the conquest of Constantinople would be associated with the coming of the last hour. Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition.

Anas told that he heard God's messenger say, "Among the signs of the last hour will be the removal of knowledge, the abundance of ignorance, the prevalence of fornication, the prevalence of wine-drinking, the small number of men and the large number of women, so that fifty women will have one man to look after them." A version has "the small amount of knowledge and the presence of ignorance." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Jabir b. Samura told that he heard the Prophet say, "Before the last hour there will be great liars, so beware of them." Muslim transmitted it.