It is narrated from Abu Zur'ah bin Amr bin Jarir that three men sat with Marwan in Madinah and heard him speaking about the signs of the Hour, saying that the first of them is the emergence of the Dajjal. Those men got up from Marwan and came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) and told him what Marwan had said. Sayyiduna Abdullah said: "Marwan has said nothing (that is, his statement is not correct). I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'The first of the major signs to appear are the rising of the sun from its place of setting and the emergence of the Beast of the earth (Dabbat al-Ard); whichever of them appears first, the other will follow soon after it.'" Then he explained in detail and said: "This is how it will happen: when the sun sets, it comes beneath the Throne, prostrates and asks permission to go back, and it is given permission. Until, when Allah Almighty wishes to make it rise from its place of setting, it will come beneath the Throne, prostrate and ask permission to go back, but no answer will be given to it. Then it will ask permission again, but no answer will be given to it. Then it will ask permission a third time, and no answer will be given to it. Then it will realise that even if it were given permission, it would not be able to reach the east. It will say: O my Lord! How far the east is! Who will take me to the people? Until, when the night has grown long, it will ask permission, and it will be said to it: Rise from your own place (the west)." Since Sayyiduna Abdullah used to read the earlier scriptures, he recited this verse about that occasion: "No soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before or had not earned some good through its faith." [Surah al-An'am: 158] This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.