Hudhaifa told that he asked God's messenger whether there would be evil after this good just as there was evil before it, and when he was told that there would he asked wherein protection lay and was told that it lay in the sword. He asked if any would be spared after the use of the sword and he replied, "Yes, there will be an amirate with specks in its eye and an illusory truce¹." He asked what would come next and he replied, "Then people who summon men to error will arise; and if God has in the earth a Caliph who flays your back and takes your property, obey him; otherwise die holding on to the stump of a tree." He asked what would come next and he replied, "Then the dajjal will come forth accompanied by a river and a fire. He who falls into his fire will certainly get his reward and have his load taken off him, but he who falls into his river will have his load retained and his reward taken off him." He asked what would come next and he replied, "Then a foal will be born but not ridden before the last hour comes." In a version he said, "An illusory truce and a community with specks in its eye." He asked God's messenger what the illusory truce meant and he replied, "The hearts of people will not return to their former condition." He asked whether there would be evil after that good and he replied, "There will be wrong belief which will blind and deafen men to the truth² in which there will be summoners at the gates of hell. If you, Hudhaifa, die adhering to a stump, it will be better for you than following any of them." Abu Dawud transmitted it. [1] This is a free translation of the words hudna 'ala dakhan which mean literally "a trace upon malice (or, evil disposition)," indicating a trace which is liable to ho broken at any time. [2] Literally, 'blind and deaf, wrong belief.