English Translation

It was narrated to us by Abdur-Razzaq, who said: It was narrated to us by Ma'mar, from Qatadah, from Nasr ibn 'Asim al-Laythi, from Khalid ibn Khalid al-Yashkuri, who said: I set out at the time Tustar was conquered, until I arrived in Kufa. I entered the mosque and found a circle of people in which there was a sturdy man, handsome of feature, recognizable as one of the men of the people of the Hijaz. I said: 'Who is this man?' The people said: 'Do you not know him?' I said: 'No.' They said: 'This is Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, a companion of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.' He said: So I sat down, and he spoke to the people, saying: 'The people used to ask the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, about good, while I used to ask him about evil.' The people found that objectionable of him, so he said to them: 'I shall tell you why you find that objectionable. Islam came when it came, bringing an affair unlike the affair of the Age of Ignorance, and I had been given understanding of the Qur'an. Men used to come and ask about good, so I would ask him about evil.' I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, will there be evil after this good, just as there was evil before it?' He said: 'Yes.' I said: 'Then what is the protection, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'The sword.' I said: 'And will there be anything left after this sword?' He said: 'Yes, there will be a rule marked by defects, and a truce built upon rancour.' I said: 'Then what?' He said: 'Then callers to misguidance will arise. If Allah has on that day a caliph on the earth who wears down your back and takes your wealth, adhere to him; otherwise, die while biting onto the root of a tree.' I said: 'Then what?' He said: 'The Dajjal will emerge after that, with him a river and a fire. Whoever falls into his fire, his reward will be confirmed and his sin nullified; and whoever falls into his river, his sin will be confirmed and his reward nullified.' I said: 'Then what?' He said: 'Then the foal will be bred and not ridden until the Hour comes.' 'The sturdy one of men' means the well-built one. And as for his saying, 'then what is the protection from it?' — he said: 'the sword' — Qatadah used to apply this to the apostasy that occurred in the time of Abu Bakr. And his saying, 'a rule marked by defects, and a truce' means a reconciliation. And his saying, 'built upon rancour' means built upon grudges. It was said to Abdur-Razzaq: from whom is this explanation? He said: from Qatadah, he claimed. It was narrated to us by Muhammad ibn Ja'far, who said: It was narrated to us by Shu'bah, from Sulayman, who said: I heard Zayd ibn Wahb narrate from Hudhayfah: 'The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, told us of two matters; I have already seen one of them, and I am awaiting the other' — and he mentioned the hadith. It was narrated to us by Bahz, who said: It was narrated to us by Abu 'Awanah, who said: It was narrated to us by Qatadah, from Nasr ibn 'Asim, from Subay' ibn Khalid, who said: I arrived in Kufa at the time Tustar was conquered — and he mentioned the like of the meaning of the hadith of Ma'mar, and said: 'and his sin was nullified.'