পৃষ্ঠা 178: দ্বিতীয় অধ্যায়: মধ্যবর্তী আলামতসমূহ যা দৃশ্যমান হয়েছে এবং ক্রমবর্ধমানভাবে সংঘটিত হচ্ছে

There is no doubt that a period of nine years or less cannot possibly suffice even to travel across a quarter or a fifth of the inhabited world as a mere traveler, let alone engaging in jihad, equipping armies, organizing military forces, constructing mosques, and other such endeavors.

Third: It has been narrated that lifespans will lengthen during his time, as previously mentioned in his biography; and their lengthening during his time necessitates that his reign itself be long, for otherwise their length would not truly be during his era, whereas nine years or less is not considered long in any respect.

Fourth: He will make a truce with the Romans for nine years, reside in Constantinople for one year, and in al-Qati' for seven years. The duration of marching toward it twice and returning during that period would take several years, in addition to the duration of his conflict with the Sufyani, who will breach the pledge of allegiance after three years, as well as his conquest of India and the rest of the lands, which will encompass many years, as all of this has been reported in the narrations. This total is far greater than nine years.

At that point, we say: Specifying the period as seven years is in consideration of the duration of his complete control over the entirety of the inhabited world.

Thus, the meaning of the hadith is that he will rule for seven years with complete dominion over the whole earth, and that will be after his conquest of the city of al-Qati'. The mention of nine years is in consideration of the period leading up to his conquest of Constantinople; and nineteen years is in consideration of the period until his killing of the Sufyani and the submission of all Muslims to his obedience.

For indeed, he makes a truce with the Romans for nine years, and the period of engaging in war against them and subjugating them amounts to approximately ten years by way of rounding up fractions. The mention of twenty-four years is in consideration of the duration of his emergence toward the Levant (al-Sham) and the Sufyani's entering into his pledge of allegiance. The mention of thirty years is in consideration of his emergence in Mecca and his seizing control of the land of the Hijaz. And the mention of forty years is in consideration of the duration of his overall rule in total, encompassing his initial emergence in al-Ta'if, his killing of the ruler of Mecca, his subsequent occultation, the emergence of the Hashimi in Khurasan, and his carrying the sword upon his shoulder for seventy-two months, as mentioned in some narrations.

This reconciliation is preferable to discarding some of the narrations, and there is no doubt that harmonizing between texts takes precedence over preferring one over another whenever possible; and Allah and His Messenger know best their intended meaning.