প্রথম অধ্যায়: সুদূরবর্তী আলামত যা অতীতে প্রকাশ পেয়ে অতিবাহিত হয়ে গেছে

Then Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr, the governor of Basra on behalf of his brother 'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, marched against him. He besieged al-Mukhtar until he killed him in the month of Ramadan in the year sixty-seven. Consequently, the affairs of all of Iraq were stabilized under Ibn al-Zubayr, and this state of affairs continued until the year seventy-one. Then 'Abd al-Malik marched against Mus'ab, fought him, and killed him in the month of Jumada of that year, taking possession of all of Iraq. Nothing remained in the hands of Ibn al-Zubayr except the Hijaz and Yemen. Thereupon, he dispatched against him the vile enemy of Allah, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi, who besieged him in the year seventy-two until 'Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) was killed, and that occurred in Jumada al-Ula in the year seventy-three. The total duration of the rule of Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) was nine years and some months. Thereafter, the people united under 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan; then after him, under his son al-Walid; then after him, his brother Sulayman assumed authority; then 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah be pleased with him); then Yazid ibn 'Abd al-Malik; then Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik. All of them were sons of 'Abd al-Malik except 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), who was his nephew. Then, after Hisham, his nephew al-Walid ibn Yazid, the obstinate tyrant, assumed power. Indeed, it is narrated in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad: "There will surely be in this Ummah a man called al-Walid, who will be harsher upon this Ummah than Pharaoh was upon his people."

Ibn Fadlullah said in 'al-Masalik': "Al-Walid ibn Yazid, the obstinate tyrant, the Pharaoh of that bygone era and time filled with vices, will come on the Day..."