Page 93: Part 1: Distant Signs that Have Appeared and Passed

Mention of the appearance of a tailed star (comet) and what has been narrated concerning it.

Beneficial Note: Mention of the contents of a letter that arrived in the lands of the Ottomans from Christian lands.

And among them: The appearance of a tailed star (comet):

On the authority of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "O Salman, when the pilgrimage of rulers becomes an excursion for leisure, and that of the wealthy for commerce, and of the poor for begging, and of the reciters for ostentation and reputation, at that time a star with a tail shall appear." Narrated by Ibn Mardawayh.

This celestial body has appeared multiple times, the most recent being in the year one thousand and seventy-five (1075 AH) in the month of Jumada al-Akhirah; it remained visible for a month or more, moving at a speed faster than that of the moon.

Beneficial Note

There arrived from the lands of the Christians into the territories of the Ottomans in the year one thousand and seventy-seven (1077 AH) during the month of Jumada al-Ula, while I was at that time residing in Edirne, an engraved letter containing the depiction of a creature. Its length was twenty cubits and its thickness five cubits; its body resembled the body of a fish, having four limbs, with five digits on its front paws like the claws of a lion, and upon its hind legs hooves like the hooves of a horse; its head was the head of a bull, possessing four horns, two black ones between its eyes and two smaller ones between its ears, each pair slanting toward the other; on its lower jaw were likewise four projections; it had the tail of a fish, and attached to its rump was a creature that was half human and naked, possessing four arms with five fingers on each, two black braids of hair, a beard, and two breasts like those of a woman.

The content of the letter stated: that this beast emerged in the mountains of the Franks at the time this star appeared in the year seventy-five (1075 AH), and there appeared upon its body a mark resembling the aforementioned star; by its breath a multitude of creatures of the earth perished, and they hurled stones at it with catapults, but it was not affected, and it destroyed thirty-two thousand human beings among them. Then, after a while, that star whose influence fell upon it departed from it, whereupon they bombarded it with catapults and slew it, and they sent dispatches regarding this to various countries; and Allah is over all things Competent.