English Translation

Waki' told us, 'Ikrimah ibn 'Ammar told us, from 'Asim ibn Shumaykh, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, who said: Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) swore an oath and was emphatic in it, he would say, "No, by the One in whose hand is the soul of Abu al-Qasim, a people will emerge from my nation whose deeds you will consider insignificant compared to your own; they will recite the Qur'an, but it will not pass beyond their collarbones; they will pass out of Islam as an arrow passes through its target." They said, "Is there any sign by which they can be recognized?" He said, "Among them is a man with a small hand or breast-like growth, with shaved heads." Abu Sa'id said: "Twenty or more than twenty of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told me that 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, took charge of killing them." He said: "I saw Abu Sa'id after he had grown old, his hands trembling, saying, 'Fighting them is more lawful to me than fighting an equal number of the Turks.'"