He heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, "You will make a secure peace treaty with the Romans, then you and they together will fight an enemy beyond them. You will be granted victory and take spoils, then you will withdraw and camp at a meadow with hillocks.There a man among the Romans will say, 'The Cross has prevailed,' and a man among the Muslims will reply, 'Rather, Allah has prevailed.' The Muslim will leap toward their cross, which is not far from him, and break it. The Romans will then turn on the one who broke their cross and strike off his neck. The Muslims will rush to their weapons and the two sides will fight, and Allah will honor that band of Muslims with martyrdom.The Romans will say to their commander, 'We have spared you the trouble of the Arabs,' and they will gather for the great battle. They will come against you under eighty banners, beneath each banner twelve thousand men."
أنه سمع رسول الله ﷺ يقول: تصالحون الروم صلحا آمنا حتى تغزو أنتم وهم عدوا من ورائهم، فتنصرون وتغنمون، وتنصرفون حتى تنزلوا بمرج ذي تلول، فيقول قائل من الروم: غلب الصليب، ويقول قائل من المسلمين: بل الله غلب، فيثور المسلم إلى صليبهم، وهو منه غير بعيد، فيدته، وتشور الروم إلى كاسر صليبهم، فيضربون عنقه، ويثور المسلمون الى أسلحتهم، فيقتتلون، فيكرم الله تلك العصابة من المسلمين بالشهادة، فتقول الروم لصاحب الروم: كفيناك العرب، فيجتمعون للملحمة، فيأتونكم تحت ثمانين غاية، تحت كل غاية اثنا عشر ألفا.
Narrated by Abu Dawud (4292, 4293, 2767), Ibn Majah (4089), and Ahmad (16826), and graded sahih by Ibn Hibban (6708, 6709) and Hakim (4/421), all of them through the route of Uzai, from Hassan bin Atiya, from Khalid bin Madan, from Jubayr bin Nufayr, from Dhu Mikhbar or Dhu Mikhmar, and he related it. The wording given here follows Ibn Hibban.In the versions found in Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and Hakim, it becomes clear that Hassan bin Atiya heard this hadith from Khalid bin Madan along with a group of others, among them Makhul and Ibn Abu Zakariya. Hassan bin Atiya said, "Makhul and Ibn Abu Zakariya inclined toward Khalid bin Madan, and I inclined along with them, so he related to us from Jubayr bin Nufayr." Jubayr said, "Dhu Mikhbar, a man from among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, took us along, so we came to him, and Jubayr asked him about the truce. He said, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say,'" and he related it.Hakim said, "Its chain of transmission is sahih." I say, it is as he said, and it has other routes, and what I have mentioned is the soundest of them. Dhu Mikhbar, also said to be Dhu Mikhmar, is the Habashi, the nephew of the Najashi. He came to the Prophet ﷺ, served him, and then settled in Sham. Isabah (2478).