Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 4507 — The portents and signs of the Hour

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Abi al-Hudhayl (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) dispatched Sayyiduna Nadlah bin Amr al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) on an expedition with three hundred men of the Muhajirun and the Ansar. They attacked Hulwan and conquered it, and obtained abundant spoils and many captives. They were coming back with all of this when, between two mountains, the time of Asr came upon them. So Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to them: "Turn towards the foot of the mountain," and they did so. Then Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and gave the call to prayer (adhan). When he said "Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar," an unseen voice, whose form could not be seen, came from the mountain: "O Nadlah! You have declared the greatness of a truly Great One." When he said "Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah," the voice said: "O Nadlah! You have expressed the purest sincerity." When he said "Ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah," the voice said: "He is a Prophet who was sent, and there is no prophet after him." When he said "Hayya 'ala al-salah," the voice said: "This is an obligation that has been made obligatory." When he said "Hayya 'ala al-falah," the voice said: "Successful is the one who performed this prayer and remained constant upon it." When he said "Qad qamat al-salah," the voice said: "Continuance is decreed for the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and upon its last people the Hour will be established." When they had finished praying, Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and called out: "O you of beautiful, pure and excellent speech! We have heard very good words from you. Are you one of the angels of Allah, or a jinn, or a dweller of this place? Appear before us and speak to us, for we are the delegation of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." The narrator says: Then from one of those mountain ravines an old man appeared, the hair of whose head and beard was white. His head was large like a millstone, his beard was long, and he was wrapped in two worn-out sheets of white wool. He came and said: 'As-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah' (Peace and the mercy of Allah be upon you). The people returned his greeting. Then Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) asked him: 'Yarhamuk Allah' (May Allah have mercy on you), who are you? He replied: "I am Zarnab bin Tharmala, the appointed successor (wasi) of the righteous servant of Allah, Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him). He supplicated for me that I remain alive until his descent from the heaven, so my abode is in this mountain. Convey my greetings to the Commander of the Believers, Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and tell him to remain steadfast, to judge rightly and to adopt moderation, for the matter has drawn very near. And O Umar! Beware of the time when such traits appear in the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) while you are among them; then flee, flee (that is, keep away from the trials)." Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'Ya Zarnab, rahimak Allah' (O Zarnab, may Allah have mercy on you), tell us about these traits so that through them we may recognise the passing of our world and the approach of our Hereafter. He said: "Those signs are these: when your men satisfy their needs with men, and your women with women; when grain becomes very plentiful among you, yet despite that prices only rise; when your rule passes into the hands of children; when the preachers of your pulpits are your slaves; when your jurists incline towards your rulers, making the unlawful lawful and the lawful unlawful for them and giving them rulings according to their desires; when people recite the Qur'an as melodies and tunes in their voices; when you decorate your mosques with ornamentation and make your pulpits very high; when you begin to adorn the copies of the Qur'an with gold and silver; when your women begin to ride on saddles; when the advisers of your rulers are eunuchs; when an innocent person is killed so that the common people may be made to take a lesson from it; when rain becomes a cause of heat and children become a cause of anger and grief; when stipends are withheld from you and slaves and base people obtain them; and when zakah and charity become so scarce that a poor man goes around for a whole year and does not get even ten dirhams. So when this begins to happen, disgrace and calamity will descend upon you." Then that figure vanished and was not seen; the people called out to him but received no answer. When Sayyiduna Nadlah (may Allah be pleased with him) reached Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), he informed him about the spoils and about the incident of Zarnab. Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) informing him, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote in reply: "O Sa'd! Well done to you! Ride yourself until you reach that mountain." So Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) went there and called out for forty mornings, but no answer came. Then he wrote to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) informing him of this, and they returned.
This report, with this chain, is mawquf (stopping at a Companion) and gharib (unusual); I have seen it at this length only with this chain.
Abd al-Rahman bin Ibrahim al-Rasi also narrated it from Imam Malik, from Nafi', from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both); he too mentioned this incident, but it is not as long, and in it the name of the commander is given as Nadlah bin Mu'awiyah. Imam al-Daraqutni narrated it with his chain in Ghara'ib Malik.
It has also reached us through another chain in which the name is mentioned as Ja'wanah bin Nadlah, and Allah knows best. I have explained his matter in the biography of Ja'wanah, under the letter Jim, in my book on the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).