Musnad Ahmad

Abu Zar’ah bin Amr, may Allah have mercy on him, says that once in Madinah Munawwarah, three Muslims were sitting with Marwan. They heard him saying regarding the signs of the Hour that the very first sign is the emergence of Dajjal. On their return, they went to Sayyiduna Ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, and narrated to him the hadith they had heard from Marwan. He said: “He has not said anything strong. I have heard from the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, a hadith regarding this which I have not forgotten till now. I heard the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, say that the very first sign of the Hour is the rising of the sun from the west, then at forenoon the emergence of the Beast of the Earth (Dabbat al-Ard). Whichever of these two signs appears first, the other will follow immediately after it. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, who had also read the previous heavenly books, used to say: I think the sun will rise from the west first. The detail of this is that every day when the sun sets, it comes under the Throne of Allah and prostrates, then seeks permission to return, and it is granted permission. When Allah wills that it should rise from the west, it will, as usual, prostrate under the Throne, and when it seeks permission to return, it will not be answered. This will happen three times. When as much of the night passes as Allah wills, and the sun realizes that even if it is granted permission now, it will not be able to reach the east, it will say: O Lord! How far is the east? Who will take me to the people? When the horizon becomes like a ring, it will be granted permission to return, and it will be said to it: Rise from this very place. Thus, it will rise upon the people from the west. Then Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, recited this verse: The day when some of the signs of your Lord will come, no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before.”