کتاب الفتن · نُعیم بن حماد

A man emerges from the East, and their king is repulsed by him. He is killed between Raqqa and Haran. A man from the Quraish kills him. A man from the West, from the family of Abu Sufyan, emerges from the wilderness and kills the king of Kufa at Haran.

Al-Walid bin Muslim told us, on the authority of Al-Awza’i, Al-Walid bin Suleiman, and Issa bin Musa, they said: We heard Rabi’ah Al-Qasir, speaking, on the authority of Abu Asma Al-Rahbi, on the authority of Thawban, the servant of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him), who said: “There will be a caliph who the people will fail to pledge allegiance to, then his representative will be from an enemy, and he will have no choice but to march himself, and he will appear against his enemy, and the people of Iraq will want him to return to their Iraq, but he will refuse and say: This is the land of jihad, so they will depose him.” They will assign a man over them, and they will march to him until they throw him at the gravel of Mount Khanasra. He will send to the people of the Levant, and they will gather for him in the heart of one man, and he will kill them with such intense fighting that the man will stand on his knees and almost count the men of the two groups. Then the people of Iraq will be defeated, and they will pursue them until they enter Kufa, and they will kill them with all of them who can bear arms, and he will defeat them, and they will kill those who have been subjected to consolation. It was said to Abu Asma: From whom Thawban heard, Messenger of Allah ﷺ? He said: Then from whom?

They fought there fiercely, but while they were like that, the Sufyani revolted against them and defeated both groups until Allah entered them into Kufa, so that the beginning of the day would be for him and the end would be for him.

If the other disagreement occurred among the Banu Abbas, after the departure of Al-Sufyani bin Aqla Al-Akbad, and in their other disagreement annihilation, then wait for the Battle of Al-Thaniyya, and the Battle of Palmyra, a village to the west of Salima, and a great battle at Al-Has, so that the Banu Al-Abbas and the people of the East would prevail until their women were taken captive, and they would enter Kufa.

Al-Sufyani sends to the Iraqi army a man from Banu Haritha who has two glands, called Nimr or Qamar ibn Abbad, a strong man with a short, bald, broad-shouldered man from his people in front, and he fights him from the Levant from the people of the East, and in a place called Al-Thaniyya, and the people of Homs are in the war of the East and their supporters, and there on that day is a great army of them fighting them in the vicinity of Damascus, all of which defeats them, then the people of Damascus and Homs side with Al-Sufyani. They will meet with the people of the East in a place called Lidin, which lies east of Homs, and seventy-odd thousand people will be killed there, three-quarters of whom are from the East. Then the attack will be upon them, and the army that was sent to the East will march until they descend on Kufa. How much blood will be spilled, stomachs cut open, newborns killed, looted property, and blood permissible. Then Al-Sufyani writes to him to march to Hijaz after he has ravaged it through the battle of eternity.

Baqiyya ibn al-Walid told us, on the authority of Hariz ibn Uthman, who said: I heard Salman ibn Samir al-Alahani saying: “A caliph will descend on Kufa and defeat the people of the Levant, then he will attack them and the Levant, and it will be said to him: You must go to the Levant, for it is the land of the Holy, the land of the prophets, and the home of the caliphs. It is there that money was collected, and from there the envoys were dispersed. He answers them, and if he answers them, the people of the East rise against him, and they say: We fought with him, and we took risks.” With our blood, our souls, and our wealth, so he preferred us, so remove him. He said: Then the people of Syria will march to Kufa, and Arak al-Adam will fight.”

The Sufyani will appear in the Levant, and then there will be a clash between them in Qarqisiya, until the birds of the sky and the lions of the earth are satisfied with their carcasses. Then he will attack them with a gap behind them, and a group of them will come until they enter the land of Khurasan, and the horses of the Sufyani will come in search of the people of Khorasan, and they will kill the Shiites of the family of Muhammad in Kufa, then the people of Khorasan will go out in search of the Mahdi.

Then Abdullah follows Abdullah, and their soldiers meet in Qarqisiya on the river, and there is a great battle. The ruler of the West marches and kills the men and takes captive the women, then returns to Qais until he descends on the island to Sufyani. He follows Al-Yamani and kills Qais in Jericho, and the Sufyani takes possession of what they have gathered. Then he marches to Kufa and kills the helpers of the family of Muhammad. Then the Sufyani appears in the Levant with the three banners. Then they will have a great clash after Qarqisiya, then a split of Behind them, a group of them will approach until they enter the land of Khurasan, and the horses of the Sufyani will approach like night and torrent, and will not pass by anything without destroying and demolishing it, until they enter Kufa, and kill Shiites from the family of Muhammad, then they will seek the people of Khorasan in every direction, and the people of Khorasan will go out in search of the Mahdi, so they will pray for him and support him.

Al-Hakam bin Nafi told us, on the authority of Saeed bin Sinan, on the authority of Salman bin Samir Al-Alahani, who said: “A caliph will descend on Kufa, and he will defeat the people of the Levant, then he will attack them, and it will be said to him: You must take the land of the Levant, for it is the holy land, the land of the prophets, and the homes of the caliphs, and it is there that money was collected, and from there the envoys were dispersed, and he answers them, and if he answers them, the people of the East rise against him, and they say: We risked our blood with him.” And our lives and our money, and someone else prefers us and they disagree with him, so the people of the Levant march to Kufa, and on that day the battle of the land of Adam will be fought.”