کتاب الفتن · نُعیم بن حماد

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.

The Sufyani and the Black Banners meet. Among them is a young man from Banu Hashim, with a blank on his left hand, and on his front is a man from Banu Tamim called Shuaib bin Saleh at Bab Istakhar. A great battle ensues between them, and the Black Banners appear, and the Sufyani’s horses flee. Then the people will wish for the Mahdi and seek him.

He sends an army to Medina, and they seize whomever they can from the family of Muhammad ﷺ, and he kills men and women from Banu Hashim. Then, Al-Mahdi and Al-Mubaid escape from Medina to Mecca, and he sends in search of them, and they have reached the sanctuary and security of Allah.

The Mahdi will not come out until some of you spit in each other's faces

Al-Walid and Rushdin told us, on the authority of Ibn Lahi’ah, on the authority of Abu Qabil, on the authority of Abu Ruman, on the authority of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “If a caller calls from the sky: The truth is in the family of Muhammad, then the Mahdi will appear on the people’s lips, and they will drink his love, and they will have no mention of anyone else.”

Al-Walid and Rushdin told us, on the authority of Ibn Lahi’ah, on the authority of Abu Qabil, on the authority of Abu Ruman, on the authority of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “When the black banners defeat the horses of the Sufyani, which contains Shuaib bin Saleh, the people will wish for the Mahdi, and they will search for him, and he will leave Mecca with the banner of the Prophet ﷺ, and he will pray two rak’ahs after the people despaired of his exit due to the affliction that befell them, and when he finished his prayer, he departed, and he said: O people, the affliction has befallen the nation of Muhammad ﷺ, and his family in particular, oppressing us and oppressing us.”

The Mahdi will rule the people for thirty or forty years