পৃষ্ঠা 292: তৃতীয় অধ্যায়: কিয়ামতের মহা আলামতসমূহ (মাহদী, দাজ্জাল, ঈসা (আ.), ইয়াজুজ-মাজুজ, পশ্চিমাকাশে সূর্যোদয়)

Note: The Meaning of (al-Zaghab and al-Ayyil)

It is narrated on the authority of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah ennoble his face) that when it was said to him: "Some people claim that you are the Beast of the Earth," he replied: "By Allah, the Beast of the Earth has feathers and downy plumage (zaghab), while I have neither feathers nor down; it has hooves, while I have no hooves; and it will emerge at the speed of a galloping swift steed for three days, yet only two-thirds of it will have emerged."

And from 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him): "Its head touches the sky while its two legs have not yet exited the ground."

And from Ibn 'Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both): "It will emerge at the pace of a running horse for three days, yet a third of it will not have emerged." This is close to the aforementioned narration of 'Ali (may Allah ennoble his face).

And from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): "In it there is a share of every color, and the distance between its two horns is a parasang (farsakh) for a rider."

And from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): "It is a composite creature having down (zaghab) and feathers, possessing the colors of all beasts. In it there is a characteristic of every nation, and its characteristic from this Ummah is that it will speak to the people in a clear Arabic tongue, addressing them in their own speech."

Note

"Al-Zaghab": The small, fine feathers when they first sprout, as stated in "al-Nihayah".

And from Abu al-Zubayr, that he described the Beast, saying: "Its head is the head of an ox, its eyes are the eyes of a pig, its ears are the ears of an elephant, its horns are the horns of an ibex (ayyil), its neck is the neck of an ostrich, its chest is the chest of a lion, its color is the color of a leopard, its flank is the flank of a cat, its tail is the tail of a ram, and its legs are the legs of a camel."

That is, it has already been mentioned from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that: "Its face is the face of a human, its beak is the beak of a bird, and between every two joints of its body is twelve cubits."

"(Al-Ayyil)": vocalized with a fat-hah on the hamzah and a kasrah on the doubled ya', or the reverse, or with a dammah and fat-hah; it denotes al-wa'l, which is the mountain goat (ibex).

And from 'Asim ibn Habib ibn Asbahan, who said: "I heard 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) upon the pulpit..."