Abdullah bin Hawala al-Azdi came and stayed with me. He said to me, while he was lodging with me in my house, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent us out on foot around Medina to gain spoils, but we returned without gaining anything. He recognized the exhaustion on our faces, so he stood among us and said, 'O Allah, do not entrust them to me, for I would be too weak. Do not entrust them to themselves, for they would be incapable of bearing it. And do not entrust them to other people, for they would prefer themselves over them.'Then he said, 'Syria, Rome, and Persia will surely be opened up for you,' or 'Rome and Persia, until one of you will have such and such number of camels, such and such number of cattle, and such and such number of sheep, until one of them is given a hundred Dinars and is displeased with it.'Then he placed his hand on my head, or on the crown of my head, and said, 'Ibn Hawala, when you see the caliphate has settled in the Holy Land, then earthquakes, calamities, and great events have drawn near, and the Hour on that day will be closer to the people than this hand of mine is to your head.'"
نزل علي عبد الله بن حوالة الأزدي فقال لي: وإنه لنازل علي في بيتي بعثنا رسول الله ﷺ حول المدينة على أقدامنا لنغنم، فرجعنا ولم نغنم شيئا، وعرف الجهد في وجوهنا فقام فينا فقال: اللهم لا تكلهم إلي فأضعف، ولا تكلهم إلى أنفسهم فيعجزوا عنها، ولا تكلهم إلى الناس فيستأثروا عليهم. ثم قال: ليفتحن لكم الشام والروم وفارس أو الروم وفارس حتى يكون لأحدكم من الإبل كذا وكذا، ومن البقر كذا وكذا، ومن الغنم حتى يعطى أحدهم مائة دينار فيسخطها. ثم وضع يده على رأسي-أو هامتي-، فقال: يا ابن حوالة، إذا رأيت الخلافة قد نزلت الأرض المقدسة فقد دنت الزلازل والبلايا والأمور العظام، والساعة يومئذ أقرب إلى الناس من يدي هذه من رأسك.
Ahmad (22487) and Hakim (4/425) both narrated it through Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi, who said, "Muawiya bin Salih told us," from Damra bin Habib, that Ibn Zaghb al-Iyadi told him, and he related it.Abu Dawud (2535) narrated it through Assad bin Musa, from Muawiya bin Salih, with the same chain. It does not contain the words, "Sham will certainly be conquered for you... and he will become discontent with it."Hakim said, "This hadith has a sahih isnad, though the two of them (Bukhari and Muslim) did not include it, and Abdul-Rahman bin Zaghb al-Iyadi is well known among the Successors of the people of Egypt." End of quote. Hakim named him Abdul-Rahman in this way, but others said he is Abdullah bin Zaghb. However, there is disagreement over whether he was a companion, and the more correct view is that he was a Successor whose hadith is hasan.Abdullah bin Hawala has another hadith about the merit of residing in Sham, which follows.