Salih b. `Isa b. Ahmad b Muhammad al-`Ijli narrated to us. He said: Abu Bakr Muhammad b. `Ali b. `Ali narrated to us. He said: Abu Nasr al-Sha`rani narrated to us in Masjid Hamid. He said: Salama b. al-Wadah narrated to us from his father from Abi Isra’il from Abi Ishaq al-Hamadani from `Asim b. Damra from al-Harith al-A`war.

He said: I was with Amir al-Mu’minin `Ali b. Abi Talib in Hira when we came across a monk striking the bell of his monastery. So, `Ali b. Abi Talib said: O Harith! Do you know what this bell is saying? I said: Allah, His Messenger, and the cousin of His Messenger know best. He said: He strikes like this world and its ruin, and it says: “There is no god but Allah, truly, truly, verily, verily. Surely, this world has deceived us and busied us. We have become capricious and astray. O son of this world – easy, easy! O son of this world – reduce, reduce! O son of this world – gather, gather! This world will be annihilated, century after century. Not a day passes except that it weakens our pillars. We have lost the abode that remains, and we have taken residence in the abode that perishes. We will not know what we have left until we die.” Al-Harith said: O Amir al-Mu’minin! Do the Christians know this? He said: Had they known this, they would not have taken the Messiah as a god besides Allah. He said: So, I went to the monk and I said to him: By the right that the Messiah has upon you – strike the bell from the side that you have struck it. He said: So, he began striking it, and I said [the earlier saying] letter by letter until I reached “until we die.” So, he said: By the right of your Prophet – who informed you of this? I said: The man who was with me yesterday. So, he said: Does he have a relation to the Prophet? I said: He is his cousin. He said: By the right of your Prophet – did he hear this from your Prophet? He said: I said: Yes. So, he converted to Islam, then said to me: By Allah! I saw in the Torah that there will be a final prophet who will interpret what the bell says.