Let the Abyssinians alone as long as they let you alone, and leave the Turks alone as long as they leave you alone. Abu Dawud and Nasai transmitted it.

The Prophet (saws) said: Let the Abyssinians alone as long as they let you alone, and let the Turks alone as long as they leave you alone.

"The Hour will not begin until the Muslims fight the Turks, a people with faces like hammered shields who wear clothes made of hair and shoes made of hair."

Abu Bakra reported God's messenger as saying, "Some of my people will alight in low-lying ground which they will call al-Basra beside a river called the Tigris over which there is a bridge. Its people will be numerous and it will be one of the capital cities of the Muslims. At the end of time the descendants of Qantura'[*] will come with broad faces and small eyes and alight on the bank of the river. The town's inhabitants will then separate into three sections, one of which will follow cattle into the desert and perish, another of which will seek security for themselves and perish, but a third will put their children behind their backs and fight with the invaders, and they will be the martyrs." Abu Dawud transmitted it. * The common explanation by Arabic writers is that Qantura' was a slave girl of Abraham from whom the Turks were descended. (Cf. Genesis, 25:1, which says that Abraham took a wife named Keturah -- in Hebrew Qeturah.) Ibn al-Athir, an-Nihaya fi gharib al-hadith, 3:314, says the Turks and Chinese were descended from the offspring of Qanturs'. Lisan al-'Arab, 6:432, says her offspring were the Turks, and some say the negroes. Mirqat, 5:166 f., finds a difficulty because Abraham was a descendant of Shem and the Turks were descended from Japheth. It suggests that Qantura' was a descendant of Abraham who married a descendant of Japheth. Dr. J.A. Boyle of Manchester University has drawn my attention to an article in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 12:287, which quotes an Armenian historian, Grigor of Akner (1250-1335 A.D.), as saying that Kendura, a handmaiden of Abraham, bore Imran who became the ancestor of the Parthians.

The last hour will not come before the Muslims fight with the Turks, a people whose faces look as if they were shields covered with skin, and who will wear sandals of hair.

The Last Hour would not come until the Muslims fight with the Turks-a people whose faces would be like hammered shields wearing clothes of hair and walking (with shoes) of hair.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "The last hour will not come before you fight with a people whose sandals are of hair, and before you fight with the Turks who have small eyes, red faces, short noses, whose faces look as if they were shields covered with skin." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

In the tradition telling that people with small eyes, i.e. the Turks, will fight against you, the prophet (saws) said: You will drive them off three times till you catch up with them in Arabia. On the first occasion when you drive them off those who fly will be safe, on the second occasion some will be safe and some will perish, but on the third occasion they will be extirpated, or he said words to that effect.

Buraida told that in the tradition telling that people with small eyes, i.e. the Turks, would fight with them, the Prophet said, "You will drive them off three times till you catch up with them in Arabia. On the first occasion when you drive them off those who fly will be safe, on the second occasion some will be safe and some will perish, but on the third occasion they will be extirpated," or words to that effect. Abu Dawud transmitted it.

"When the Prophet (PBUH) commanded them to dig the trench (Al-Khandaq), there was a rock in their way preventing them from digging. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) stood, picked up a pickaxe, put his Rida' (upper garment) at the edge of the ditch and said: 'And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can change His Words. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.' [1] One-third of the rock broke off while Salman Al-Farisi was standing there watching, and there was a flash of light when the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)struck (the rock). Then he struck it again and said: 'And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. Nonce can change His Words. Ans He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower' And another third of the rock broke off and there was another flash of light, which Salman saw. Then he struck (the rock) a third time and said: 'And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can change His Words. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.' The last third fell, and the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) came out, picked up his Rida' and sat down. Salman said: 'O Messenger of Allah, Each time you struck the rock there was a flash of light.' The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said to him: 'O Salman, did you see that?' He said: 'Yes, by the One Who sent you with the truth, O Messenger of Allah.' He said: 'When I struck the first blow, the cities of Kisra and their environs were shown to me, and many other cities, and I saw them with my own eyes.' Those of his Companions who were present said: 'O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to grant us victory and to give us their land as spoils of war, and to destroy their lands at our hands.' So the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) prayed for that. (Then he said:) 'Then I struck the second blow and the cities of Caesar and their environs were shown to me, and I saw them with my own eyes.' They said: 'O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to grant us victory and to give us their lands as spoils of war, and to destroy their lands at our hands.' So the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) prayed for that. (Then he said:) 'Then I struck the third blow and the cities of Ethiopia were shown to me, and the villages around them, and I saw them with my own eyes.' But the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said at that point: 'Leave the Ethiopians alone so long as they leave you alone, and leave the Turks alone so long as they leave you alone.'" [1] An-An'am 6:115.