Chapter 2: The Intermediate Signs That Have Appeared and Continue to Multiply

...he should say: "I do not know," and that this does not diminish him; rather, it is taken as evidence of his scrupulousness and piety. Likewise, the student of al-Tufi mentioned in his commentary just as he did. Thus, I do not know from where this claimant obtained that individual saints possess knowledge of that, so let one be cautious, and Allah is the Grantor of success.

The summary is that the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned in the hadith two signs. The first: that the slave-woman gives birth to her mistress, meaning her female master, and in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, "her master." Al-Hafiz Ibn Rajab said: This is an allusion to the conquest of lands and the abundance of imported captives, to the point that concubines multiply along with their offspring. Thus the slave-woman is owned by her master, while her children with him hold his status, because the master's child holds the father's rank; hence the child of the slave-woman becomes equivalent to her master. Then he said: His saying "the slave-woman gives birth to her mistress" has also been interpreted to mean that the bringing of captives will become so widespread that a daughter will be brought as a captive, subsequently emancipated, and later the mother will be brought and the daughter will purchase her and employ her, unaware that she is her mother.

He said: And this indeed occurred in Islam. It was also said its meaning is that female slaves will give birth to kings. Waki' said: Non-Arabs will give birth to Arabs, and the Arabs will be kings and masters over the non-Arabs. Here ends the quote of al-Hafiz Ibn Rajab.

Ibn Hajar added: Or the disobedience of children toward their mothers, treating them in the manner a master treats his slave-girl in terms of humiliation and insult. He said: Support for this is found in the narration: "that the woman gives birth to..." Ibn Hajar did not mention the statement of Waki', and Allah knows best.