(7.) The provinces of al-ʿIrāq and Syria shall refuse to pay their tribute.
(8.) The buildings of al-Madīnah or Yas̤rib shall reach to Makkah. (Mishkāt, book xxiii. ch. iii.)
The greater signs (ʿAlāmātu ʾṣ-Ṣāʿah) are as follows:—
(1.) The sun’s rising in the west, which some have imagined it originally did.
(2.) The appearance of the Dābbatu ʾl-Arẓ, or “beast,” which shall rise out of the earth, in the temple of Makkah, or on Mount aṣ-Ṣafā. This beast will be sixty cubits high, and will be a compound of various species, having the head of a bull, the eyes of a hog, the ears of an elephant, the horns of a stag, the neck of an ostrich, the breast of a lion, the colour of a tiger, the back of a cat, the tail of a ram, the legs of a camel, and the voice of an ass. She will appear three times in several places, and will bring with her the rod of Moses and the seal of Solomon; and, being so swift that none can overtake her or escape her, will with the first strike all the believers on the face, and mark them with the word Muʾmin, “believer,” and with the latter will mark the unbelievers on the face likewise with the word kāfir, “infidel,” that every person may be known for what he really is. The same beast is to demonstrate the vanity of all religions except Islām, and to speak Arabic. [[DABBATU ʾL-ARZ].]
(3.) War with the Romans or Greeks, and the taking of Constantinople by seventy thousand of the posterity of Isaac, who shall not win that city by force of arms, but the walls shall fall down while they cry out, “There is no deity but God! God is most great!” As they are dividing the spoil, news will come to them of the appearance of Antichrist, whereupon they shall leave all and return back.
(4.) The coming of Antichrist, whom the Muḥammadans call al-Masīḥu ʾd-Dajjāl, “the false or lying Christ.” He is to be one-eyed, and marked on the forehead with the letters ك ف ر K F R, signifying kāfir, “infidel.” He will appear first between al-ʿIrāq and Syria, or, according to others, in the province of K͟horasān. He is to ride on a white ass, be followed by seventy thousand Jews of Ispahān, and continue on earth forty days, of which one will be equal in length to a year, another to a month, another to a week, and the rest will be common days. He will lay waste all places, but will not enter Makkah or al-Madīnah, which are to be guarded by angels; and at length he will be slain by Jesus, who is to encounter him at the gate of Lud. [[MASIHU ʾD-DAJJAL].]
(5.) The descent of Jesus on earth. He is to descend near the white tower to the east of Damascus, when the people have returned from the taking of Constantinople. He is to embrace the Muḥammadan religion, marry a wife, get children, kill Antichrist, and at length die, after forty years’—or, according to others, twenty-four years’—continuance on earth, and be buried at Al-Madīnah. Under him there will be great security and plenty in the world, all hatred and malice being laid aside; when lions and camels, bears and sheep, shall live in peace, and a child shall play with serpents unhurt. (See Ṣaḥīḥu ʾl-Buk͟hārī.)
(6.) War with the Jews, of whom the Muḥammadans are to make a prodigious slaughter, the very trees and stones discovering such of them as hide themselves, except only the tree called G͟harqad, which is the tree of the Jews.
(7.) The appearance of Gog and Magog, or, as they are called, Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj. These barbarians, having passed the lake of Tiberias, which the vanguard of their vast army will drink dry, will come to Jerusalem, and there greatly distress Jesus and His companions, till, at His request, God will destroy them, and fill the earth with their carcasses, which after some time God will send birds to carry away, at the prayers of Jesus and His followers. Their bows, arrows and quivers the Muslims will burn seven years together; and at last God will send a rain to cleanse the earth, and to make it fertile. [[GOG AND MAGOG].]