Chapter 4: The Prophet's Saying: Woe to the Arabs From an Approaching Evil

"...a fortress (utum)": with two dammas (utum) is a fortress, and its explanation preceded at the end of the Book of Hajj. His saying: "from the high fortresses of Medina": In the Signs of Prophethood from Abu Nu'aym with this chain of transmission, it preceded with the wording: "upon a fortress of the fortresses"; this implies that the wording he cited here is the wording of Ma'mar. His saying: "Do you see what I see? They said: No": This addition also belongs to Ma'mar, and I have not seen it in any of the routes from Ibn 'Uyaynah. His saying: "For indeed I see tribulations falling amidst your houses": In the narration of Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah from Sufyan: "Indeed, I see the places where tribulations fall." What is meant by "mawaqi'" is the places of falling, and "khilal" means surroundings or among them. Al-Tibi said: "taqa'u" (falling) is a second object, or it may be a circumstantial accusative, which is more probable; and seeing here has the meaning of actual visual observation, meaning: "The veil was removed for me, so I witnessed it plainly with my own eyes." His saying: "like the falling of raindrops": In the narration of al-Mustamli and al-Kushmayhani, it is "al-matar" (rain), and in the narration of the Signs of Prophethood, "like the falling sites of raindrops"; discussion of this narration preceded at the end of the Book of Hajj. Medina was specifically designated with this because the martyrdom of 'Uthman (রা.) took place in it, and tribulations then spread across the lands thereafter. The fighting at the Battle of the Camel and at Siffin was due to the assassination of 'Uthman, and the fighting at Nahrawan was due to the arbitration at Siffin; indeed, every battle that occurred during that era was either spawned by something of these events or spawned by something that arose from them. Furthermore, the most prominent cause for the assassination of 'Uthman was the criticism leveled against his appointed governors, and then against him for appointing them; and this rebellion originally arose from Iraq, which lies to the east. Thus there is no contradiction between the hadith of this chapter and the forthcoming hadith stating that tribulations arise from the direction of the East. The comparison to rain is apt because it conveys comprehensiveness and widespread impact, for when rain falls upon a particular land, it covers it completely, or at least across its various directions. Ibn Battal said: The Prophet (ﷺ) gave warning in the hadith of Zaynab of the impending approach of the Hour so that people would repent before it suddenly falls upon them. It is established that the emergence of Gog and Magog occurs near the approach of the Hour; if that much of their barrier was opened during his lifetime (ﷺ), then that opening has continued to widen with the passage of time. It has come in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah in a marfu' transmission: "Woe to the Arabs from an evil that has drawn near; die if you are able!" He said: This is the utmost warning against tribulations and immersing oneself in them, as he deemed death preferable to experiencing them directly. And in the hadith of Usamah, he foretold the falling of tribulations amidst homes so that people would prepare themselves for them, not plunge into them, and ask Allah for steadfast patience and salvation from their evil.