He attributed it to the Prophet ﷺ, who said, "The Hour will not come until you fight a people whose faces are like hammered shields and whose sandals are made of hair."
حدثنا سفيان عن الزهري عن سعيد
يبلغ به النبي ﷺ لا تقوم الساعة حتى تقاتلوا قوما كأن وجوههم المجان المطرقة نعالهم الشعر
Its chain of transmission is sahih. Bukhari related it, 6:76, from Ibn Madini from Sufyan, with this same chain, but his wording indicates that they are two distinct categories of people, not a single category, as might seem to be suggested by the wording found here. Bukhari's wording is, "The Hour will not come until you fight a people whose sandals are made of hair, and the Hour will not come until you fight peoples whose faces resemble hammered shields." The same wording appears in the version of Muslim, 2:369, from Abu Bakr bin Abu Shayba and Ibn Abu Umar, both of whom narrated from Sufyan, matching Bukhari's version, except that the mention of those with hair sandals comes later. This wording found in the version of the two sheikhs is the one that matches the rest of the versions of this hadith in the Sahihayn and elsewhere. See al-Fath al-Kabir, 3:334. A meaning similar to this has already appeared in the hadith of Abu Bakr Siddiq, 12, 33.Al-mijaan, with the meem and the jeem both given a fatha and unshortened, followed by an alif then a doubled noon, is the plural of mijann, with the meem given a kasra and the jeem a fatha, meaning a shield. Ibn Athir said, he means the Turks. It has already appeared in the hadith of Abu Bakr that they are the followers of Dajjal.Al-mutraqa, with the meem given a damma and the taa sakin, Ibn Athir said, meaning the shields that have been covered with layer upon layer of leather. From this comes the expression "he tarraqa the sandal," meaning he made it layer upon layer, placing one part over another. Some have narrated it with the raa doubled to indicate intensification, but the first form is more well known.