Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake. And I have seen its eastern and western ends. And the dominion of my Ummah would reach those ends which have been drawn near me and I have been granted the red and the white treasure and I begged my Lord for my Ummah that it should not be destroyed because of famine, nor be dominated by an enemy who is not amongst them to take their lives and destroy them root and branch, and my Lord said: Muhammad, whenever I make a decision, there is none to change it. I grant you for your Ummah that it would not be destroyed by famine and it would not be dominated by an enemy who would not be amongst it and would take their lives and destroy them root and branch even if all the people from the different parts of the world join hands together (for this purpose), but it would be from amongst them, viz. your Ummah, that some people would kill the others or imprison the others.

I asked my Lord three things and He has granted me two but has withheld one. I begged my Lord that my Ummah should not be destroyed because of famine and He granted me this. And I begged my Lord that my Ummah should not be destroyed by drowning (by deluge) and He granted me this. And I begged my Lord that there should be no bloodshed among the people of my Ummah, but He did not grant it.

By Allah, I have the best knowledge amongst people about every turmoil which is going to appear in the period intervening me and the Last Hour; and it is not for the fact that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) told me something confidentially pertaining to it and he did not tell anybody else about it, but it is because of the fact that I was present in the assembly in which he had been describing the turmoil. and he especially made a mention of three turmoils which would not spare anything and amongst these there would be turmoils like storms in the hot season. Some of them would be violent and some of them would be comparatively mild. Hudhaifa said: All (who were present) except I have gone (to the next world).

The Last Hour would not come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold, for which people would fight. Ninety-nine out of each one hundred would die but every man amongst them would say that perhaps he would be the one who would be saved (and thus possess this gold).

I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour would come (when) the Romans would form a majority amongst people. 'Amr said to him (Mustaurid Qurashi): See what you are saying? He said: I say what I heard from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). Thereupon he said: If you say that, it is a fact for they have four qualities. They have the patience to undergo a trial and immediately restore themselves to sanity after trouble and attack again after flight. They (have the quality) of being good to the destitute and the orphans, to the weak and, fifthly, the good quality in them is that they put resistance against the oppression of kings.

Once there blew a red storm in Kufah that there came a person who had nothing to say but (these words): `Abdullah b. Mas`ud, the Last Hour has come. He (`Abdullah b. Mas`ud) was sitting reclining against something, and he said: The Last Hour would not come until shares of inheritance are not distributed and there is no rejoicing over spoils of war. Then he said pointing towards Syria, with the gesture of his hand like this: The enemy shall muster strength against Muslims and the Muslims will muster strength against them (Syrians). I said: You mean Rome? And he said: Yes, and there would be a terrible fight and the Muslims would prepare a detachment (for fighting unto death) which would not return but victorious. They will fight until night will intervene them; both the sides will return without being victorious and both will be wiped out. The Muslims will again prepare a detachment for fighting unto death so that they may not return but victorious. When it would be the fourth day, a new detachment out of the remnant of the Muslims would be prepared and Allah will decree that the enemy should be routed. And they would fight such a fight the like of which would not be seen, so much so that even if a bird were to pass their flanks, it would fall down dead before reaching the end of them. (There would be such a large scale massacre) that when counting would be done, (only) one out of a hundred men related to one another would be found alive. So what can be the joy at the spoils of such war and what inheritance would be divided! They would be in this very state that they would hear of a calamity more horrible than this. And a cry would reach them: The Dajjal has taken your place among your offspring. They will, therefore, throw away what would be in their hands and go forward sending ten horsemen, as a scouting party. Allah's Messenger (saws) said: I know their names and the names of their forefathers and the color of their horses. They will be the best horsemen on the surface of the earth on that day or amongst the best horsemen on the surface of the earth on that day.

Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion). He said: What do you discuss about? They (the Companions) said. We are discussing about the Last Hour. Thereupon he said: It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (Allah be pleased with him), the Gog and Magog, and land-slides in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia at the end of which fire would burn forth from the Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly.

Behold, turmoil would appear from this side, from where the horns of Satan would appear.

I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The (system) of night and day would not end until the people have taken to the worship of Lat and 'Uzza. I said: Allah's Messenger, I think when Allah has revealed this verse:" He it is Who has sent His Messenger with right guidance, and true religion, so that He may cause it to prevail upon all religions, though the polytheists are averse (to it)" (ix. 33), it implies that (this promise) is going to be fulfilled. Thereupon he (Allah's Apostle) said: It would happen as Allah would like. Then Allah would send the sweet fragrant air by which everyone who has even a mustard grain of faith in Him would die and those only would survive who would have no goodness in them. And they would revert to the religion of their forefathers.

By Him in Whose Hand is my life, a time would come when the murderer would not know why he has committed the murder, and the victim would not know why he has been killed.

The Ka'ba would be destroyed by an Abyssinian having two small shanks.

The Last Hour would not come unless you fight with people whose faces are like hammered shields and the Last Hour would not come until you would fight against those wearing the shoes of hair.

"We were in the company of Jabir b. 'Abdullah that he said it may happen that the people of Iraq may not send their qafiz and dirhams (their measures of food stuff and their money). We said: Who would be responsible for it? He said: The non-Arabs would prevent them. He again said: There is the possibility that the people of Syria may not send their dinars and mudds. We said: Who would be responsible for it? He said this prevention would be made by the Romans. He (Jabir b. Abdullah) kept quiet for a while and then reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) having said there would be a caliph in the last (period) of my Ummah who would freely give handfuls of wealth to the people without counting it. I said to Abu Nadra and Abu al-'Ala: Do you mean 'Umar b. 'Abd al-Aziz? They said: No (he would be Imam Mahdi).

One who is better than I informed me, that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said to `Ammar as he was digging the ditch (on the ocassion of the Battle of the Ditch) wiping over his head: O son of Summayya, you will be involved in trouble and a group of the rebels would kill you.

A group of rebels would kill you.

Kisra (Khusrau king of Persia) would die and Qaisar (Ceasar King of Rome) would die; there would be no Qaisar after him, but, by the One in Whose Hand is my life, you would spend their treasures in the cause of Allah.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Zuhri.

When Kisra would die there would be no Kisra after him; the rest of the hadith is the same as Abu Huraira reported.

You have heard about a city, one side of which is on land and the other is in the sea (Constantinople). They said: Allah's Messenger, yes. Thereupon he said: The Last Hour would not come unless seventy thousand persons from Bani lshaq would attack it. When they would land there, they will neither fight with weapons nor would shower arrows but would only say: "There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest," and one side of it would fall. Thaur (one of the narrators) said: I think that he said: The part by the side of the ocean. Then they would say for the second time: "There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest" and the second side would also fall, and they would say: "There is no god but Allah and Allah is the Greatest," and the gates would be opened for them and they would enter therein and, they would be collecting spoils of war and distributing them amongst themselves when a noise would be heard saying: Verily, Dajjal has come. And thus they would leave everything there and go back.

You will fight against the Jews and you will kill them until even a stone would say: Come here, Muslim, there is a Jew (hiding himself behind me) ; kill him.

I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Before the Last Hour there would be many liars, and there is an addition in the hadith transmitted on the authority of Abu Ahwas of these words:" I said to him: Did you hear it from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him)? He said: Yes."

We were along with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) that we happened to pass by children amongst whom there was Ibn Sayyad. The children made their way but Ibn Sayyad kept sitting there (and it seemed) as if Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) did not like it (his sitting with the children) and said to him: May your nose he besmeared with dust, don't you bear testimony to the fact that I am the Messenger of Allah? Thereupon he said: No, but you should bear testimony that I am the messenger of Allah. Thereupon 'Umar b. Khattab said: Allah's Messenger, permit me that I should kill him. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: If he is that person who is in your mind (Dajjal ), you will not be able to kill him.

I accompanied Ibn Sayyad to Mecca and he said to me: What I have gathered from people is that they think that I am Dajjal. Have you not heard Allah's Messenger (may peace upon him) as saying: He will have no children, I said: Yes, of course. Thereupon he said: But I have children. Have you not heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: He would not enter Mecca and Medina? I said: Yes, of course. Thereupon he said I have been once in Medina and now I intend to go to Mecca. And he said to me at the end of his talk: By Allah, I know his place of birth his abode where he is just now. He (Abu Sa'id) said: This caused confusion in my mind (in regard to his identity).

Abu'l-Qasim, It is like a fine white musk, whereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: 'You have told the the truth.

May Allah have mercy upon you, why did you incite Ibn Sayyad in spite of the fact that you knew it would be the extreme anger which would make Dajjal appear in the world?

There is never a prophet who has not warned the Ummah of that one-eyed liar; behold he is one-eyed and your Lord is not one-eyed. On his forehead are the letters k f. r. (Kafir).

Dajjal is blind of left eye with thick hair and there would be a garden and fire with him and his fire would be a garden and his garden would be fire.

I went to Hudhaifa b. Yaman and said to him: Narrate what you have heard from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) pertaining to the Dajjal. He said that the Dajjal would appear and there would be along with him water and fire and what the people would see as water that would be fire and that would burn and what would appear as fire that would be water and any one of you who would see that should plunge in that which he sees as fire for it would be sweet, pure water, and 'Uqba said: I also heard it, testifying Hudhaifa.

What is the matter with you? We said: Allah's Messenger, you made a mention of the Dajjal in the morning (sometimes describing him) to be insignificant and sometimes very important, until we began to think as if he were present in some (near) part of the cluster of the date-palm trees. Thereupon he (saws) said: I harbor fear in regard to you in so many other things besides the Dajjal. If he comes forth while I am among you, I shall contend with him on your behalf, but if he comes forth while I am not amongst you, a man must contend on his own behalf and Allah would take care of every Muslim on my behalf (and safeguard him against his evil). He (Dajjal) would be a young man with twisted, contracted hair, and a blind eye. I compare him to `Abd-ul-`Uzza b. Qatan. He who amongst you would survive to see him should recite over him the opening verses of Sura Kahf (xviii). He would appear on the way between Syria and Iraq and would spread mischief right and left. O servant of Allah! adhere (to the path of Truth). We said: Allah's Messenger, how long would he stay on the earth? He (saws) said: For forty days, one day like a year and one day like a month and one day like a week and the rest of the days would be like your days. We said: Allah's Messenger, would one day's prayer suffice for the prayers of day equal to one year? Thereupon he (saws) said: No, but you must make an estimate of time (and then observe prayer). We said: Allah's Messenger, how quickly would he walk upon the earth? Thereupon he (saws) said: Like cloud driven by the wind. He would come to the people and invite them (to a wrong religion) and they would affirm their faith in him and respond to him. He would then give command to the sky and there would be rainfall upon the earth and it would grow crops. Then in the evening, their pasturing animals would come to them with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched. He would then come to another people and invite them. But they would reject him and he would go away from them and there would be drought for them and nothing would be left with them in the form of wealth. He would then walk through the waste land and say to it: Bring forth your treasures, and the treasures would come out and collect (themselves) before him like the swarm of bees. He would then call a person brimming with youth and strike him with the sword and cut him into two pieces and (make these pieces lie at a distance which is generally) between the archer and his target. He would then call (that young man) and he will come forward laughing with his face gleaming (with happiness) and it would be at this very time that Allah would send Jesus, son of Mary, and he will descend at the white minaret in the eastern side of Damascus wearing two garments lightly dyed with saffron and placing his hands on the wings of two Angels. When he would lower his head, there would fall beads of perspiration from his head, and when he would raise it up, beads like pearls would scatter from it. Every non-believer who would smell the odor of his self would die and his breath would reach as far as he would be able to see. He would then search for him (Dajjal) until he would catch hold of him at the gate of Ludd and would kill him. Then a people whom Allah had protected would come to Jesus, son of Mary, and he would wipe their faces and would inform them of their ranks in Paradise and it would be under such conditions that Allah would reveal to Jesus these words: I have brought forth from amongst My servants such people against whom none would be able to fight; you take these people safely to Tur. And then Allah would send Gog and Magog and they would swarm down from every slope. The first of them would pass the lake of Tiberias and drink out of it. And when the last of them would pass, he would say: There was once water there. Jesus and his companions would then be besieged here (at Tur, and they would be so much hard pressed) that the head of the ox would be dearer to them than one hundred dinars and Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would supplicate Allah, Who would send to them insects (which would attack their necks) and in the morning they would perish like one single person. Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then come down to the earth and they would not find in the earth as much space as a single span which is not filled with their putrefaction and stench. Allah's Apostle, Jesus, and his companions would then again beseech Allah, Who would send birds whose necks would be like those of Bactrian camels and they would carry them and throw them where God would will. Then Allah would send rain which no house of clay or (the tent of) camels' hairs would keep out and it would wash away the earth until it could appear to be a mirror. Then the earth would be told to bring forth its fruit and restore its blessing and, as a result thereof, there would grow (such a big) pomegranate that a group of persons would be able to eat that, and seek shelter under its skin and milch cow would give so much milk that a whole party would be able to drink it. And the milch camel would give such (a large quantity of) milk that the whole tribe would be able to drink out of that and the milch sheep would give so much milk that the whole family would be able to drink out of that and at that time Allah would send a pleasant wind which would soothe (people) even under their armpits, and would take the life of every Muslim and only the wicked would survive who would commit adultery like asses and the Last Hour would come to them.

He would come but would not be allowed to enter the mountain passes to Medina. So he will alight at some of the barren tracts near Medina, and a person who would be the best of men or one from amongst the best of men would say to him: I bear testimony to the fact that you are Dajjal about whom Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) had informed us. The Dajjal would say: What is your opinion if I kill this (person), then I bring him back to life; even then will you harbour doubt in this matter? They would say: No. He would then kill (the man) and then bring him back to life. When he would bring that person to life, he would say: By Allah, I had no better proof of the fact (that you are a Dajjal) than at the present time (that you are actually so). The Dajjal would then make an attempt to kill him (again) but he would not be able to do that. Abu Ishaq reported that it was said: That person would be Khadir (Allah be pleased with him).

No one asked Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) more about Dajjil than I asked him. He said: He should not be a source of worry to you for he would not be able to do any harm to you. I said: Allah's Messenger, it is alleged that he would have along with him (abundance of) food and water. Thereupon he said: He would be very insignificant in the eye of Allah (even) with all this.

What is this hadith that you narrate that the Last Hour would come at such and such time? Thereupon he said: Hallowed be Allah, there is no god but Allah (or the words to the same effect). I have decided that I would not narrate anything to anyone now. I had only said that you would see after some time an important event that the (sacred) House (Ka'ba) would be burnt and it would happen and definitely happen. He then reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: The Dajjal would appear in my Ummah and he would stay (in the world) for forty - I cannot say whether he meant forty days, forty months or forty years. And Allah would then send Jesus son of Mary who would resemble 'Urwa b Mas'ud. He (Jesus Christ) would chase him and kill him. Then people would live for seven years that there would be no rancour between two persons. Then Allah would send cold wind from the side of Syria that none would survive upon the earth having a speck of good in him or faith in him but he would die, so much so that even if some amongst you were to enter the innermost part of the mountain, this wind would reach that place also and that would cause his death. I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Only the wicked people would survive and they would be as careless as birds with the characteristics of beasts. They would never appreciate the good nor condemn evil. Then Satan would come to them in human form and would say: Don't you respond? And they would say: What do you order us? And he would command them to worship the idols but, in spite of this, they would have abundance of sustenance and lead comfortable lives. Then the trumpet would be blown and no one would hear that but he would bend his neck to one side and raise it from the other side and the first one to hear that trumpet would be the person who would be busy in setting right the tank meant for providing water to the camels. He would swoon and the other people would also swoon, then Allah would send or He would cause to send rain which would be like dew and there would grow out of it the bodies of the people. Then the second trumpet would be blown and they would stand up and begin to look (around). Then it would be said: O people, go to your Lord, and make them stand there. And they would be questioned. Then it would be said: Bring out a group (out of them) for the Hell-Fire. And then it would be asked: How much? It would be said: Nine hundred and ninty-nine out of one thousand for the Hell-Fire and that would be the day which would make the children old because of its terror and that would be the day about which it has been said: "On the day when the shank would be uncovered" (lxviii. 42).

I committed to memory a hadith from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and I did not forget it after I had heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The first sign (out of the signs of the appearance of the Dajjal) would be the appearance of the sun from the west, the appearance of the beast before the people in the forenoon and which of the two happens first, the second one would follow immediately after that.

Narrate to me a hadith which you had heard directly from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and there is no extra link in between them. She said: Very well, if you like, I am prepared to do that, and he said to her: Well, do It and narrate that to me. She said: I married the son of Mughira and he was a chosen young man of Quraish at that time, but he fell as a martyr in the first Jihad (fighting) on the side of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). When I became a widow, 'Abd al-Rahman b. Auf, one amongst the group of the Companions of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him), sent me the proposal of marriage. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) also sent me such a message for his freed slave Usama b. Zaid. And it had been conveyed to me that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) had said (about Usama): He who loves me should also love Usama. When Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) talked to me (about this matter), I said: My affairs are in your hand. You may marry me to anyone whom you like. He said: You better shift now to the house of Umm Sharik, and Umm Sharik was a rich lady from amongst the Ansar. She spent generously for the cause of Allah and entertained guests very hospitably. I said: Well, I will do as you like. He said: Do not do that for Umm Sharik is a woman who is very frequently visited by guests and I do not like that your head may be uncovered or the cloth may be removed from your shank and the strangers may catch sight of them which you abhor. You better shift to the house of your cousin 'Abdullah b. 'Amr b. Umm Maktum and he is a person of the Bani Fihr branch of the Quraish, and he belonged to that tribe (to which Fatima) belonged. So I shifted to that house, and when my period of waiting was over, I heard the voice of an announcer making an announcement that the prayer would be observed in the mosque (where) congregational prayer (is observed). So I set out towards that mosque and observed prayer along with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and I was in the row of the women which was near the row of men. When Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) had finished his prayer, he sat on the pulpit smiling and said: Every worshipper should keep sitting at his place. He then said: Do you know why I had asked you to assemble? They said: ...

There will be no land which would not be covered by the Dajjal but Mecca and Medina, and there would no passage out of the passages leading to them which would not be guarded by angels arranged in rows. Then he (the Dajjal) would appear in a barren place adjacent to Medina and it would rock three times that every unbeliever and hypocrite would get out of it towards him.

I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The people would run away from the Dajjal seeking shelter in the mountains. She said: Where would be the Arabs then in that day? He said: They would be small in number.

We used to go to Imran b. Husain passing in front of Hisham b. 'Amir. He, one day, said: You pass by me (in order) to go to some persons, but (amongst the living persons) none remained in the company of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) more than I and none knows more ahadith than I. I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: There would be no creation (creating more trouble) than the Dajjal right from the creation of Adam to the Last Hour.

Hasten to do good deeds before six things happen: the rising of the sun from the west, the smoke, the Dajjal, the beast and (the death) of one of you or the general turmoil.

Worshiping during the period of widespread turmoil is like emigration towards me.

I and the Last Hour have been sent like this. Shu'ba said: I heard Qatada as saying in his narration: The excellence of one over the other. And I do not know whether he narrated it from Anas or Qatada himself said so.

If this young boy lives, he may not grow very old till (he would see) the Last Hour coming to you.

Between the two blowings of the trumpet (there would be an interval of forty). They said: Abu Huraira, do you mean forty days? He said: I cannot say anything. They said: Do you mean forty months? He said: I cannot say anything. They said: Do you mean forty years? He said: I cannot say anything. Then Allah would cause the water to, descend from the sky and they (people) will sprout like vegetable. The only thing in a man which would not decay would be one bone (the tailbone) from which the whole frame would be reconstituted on the Day of Resurrection.

Who amongst you would like to have this for a dirham? They said: We do not like to have it even for less than that as it is of no use to us. He said: Do you wish to have it (free of any cost)? They said: By Allah, even if it were alive (we would not have liked to possess that), for there is defect in it as its ear is very short; now it is dead also. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: By Allah, this world is more insignificant in the eye of Allah than it (this dead lamb) is in your eye.

I came to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as he was reciting:" Abundance diverts you" (cii. 1). He said: The son of Adam claims: My wealth, my wealth. And he (the Holy Prophet) said: O son of Adam. is there anything as your belonging except that which you consumed, which you utilised, or which you wore and then it was worn out or you gave as charity and sent it forward?

I think you have heard about the arrival of Abu `Ubaida with goods from Bahrain. They said: Allah's Messenger, yes, it is so. Thereupon he said: Be happy and be hopeful of that which gives you delight. By Allah, it is not the poverty about which I fear in regard to you but I am afraid in your case that (the worldly) riches way be given to you as were given to those who had gone before you and you begin to vie with one another for them as they vied for them, and these may destroy you as these destroyed them.

When one of you looks at one who stands at a higher level than you in regard to wealth and physical structure he should also see one who stands at a lower level than you in regard to these things (in which he stands) at a higher level (as compared to him).

By Allah, I am the first person amongst the Arabs to throw an arrow in the cause of Allah and we used to go with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and there was no food for us to eat but only the leaves of hubla and samur trees (they are wild trees) and as a result thereof one amongst us would relieve himself as does the goat. (How strange it is) that now the people of Banu Asad (the progeny of Zubair) instruct me in religion and try to impose punishment upon me (in regard to it). If it is so (that I am so ignorant of religion), then indeed, I am undone and my deeds have been lost. Ibn Numair, however, did not make a mention of the word (idhan) thus? (in his narration).

'Utba b. Ghazwan delivered us a sermon and he praised Allah and lauded Him, then said: Now coming to the point, verily the world has been given the news of its end and that too quite early. Nothing would be left out of it but only water left in the utensil which its owner leaves, and you are going to shift to an abode which knows no end, and you should shift with the good before you, for we have been told that a stone would be thrown at one side of the Hell and it would go down even for seventy years but would not be able to reach its bottom. By Allah, it would be fully packed. Do you find it something strange, and it has been mentioned that there yawns a distance which one would be able to cover in forty years from one end to another of Paradise, and a day would come when it would be fully packed and you must be knowing that I was the seventh amongst seven who had been with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and we had nothing to eat but the leaves of the tree until the corners of the mouth were injured. We found a sheet which we tore in two and divided between myself and Sa'd b. Malik. I made the lower garment with halt of it and so did Sa'd make the lower garment with half of it and today there is none amongst us who has not become the governor of a city from amongst the cities (of the Islamic Commonwealth) and I seek refuge with Allah that I should consider myself great whereas I am insignificant in the eye of Allah. Prophethood does not remain for ever and its impact fades with the result that it changes eventually into kingship, and you would soon come to know and experience those rulers who would come after us and see (how far they are from religion).

Never had the family of Muhammad (may peace be upon him) eaten to the fill since their, arrival in Medina with the bread of wheat for three successive nights until his (Holy Prophet's) death.

We the family of Muhammad (may peace be upon him) used to spend (the whole) month in which we (did not need to) kindle the fire as (we had nothing to cook) ; we had only dates and water (to fill our bellies).