Al-Mahdi (a.s.)

'at the end of time, a caliph will be present who would distribute wealth without any account....

the author of 'esaaf-ur-raghebeen' has narrated the same tradition on page 149 of his afore-said book.

the author says: 'caliph' in the above tradition refers to Mahdi as per the context of some other traditions.

the author of 'eqdud-durar' narrates from imam abu omar mada'eni who narrates from abu sa'eed khudri that the messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) said: at the end of time a youth with a handsome face and protracted nose shall emerge from my progeny and he shall fill the earth with equity and justice just as it was previously filled with cruelty and tyranny.

the author of yanabi-ul-muwadda' (on page 430) narrates from the author of 'mashkat-ul-masabeeh' who narrates from muslim (from his book 'sahih') and ahmad (from his book 'musnad') who narrate from jabir-ibn-abdullah ansari that the messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) said:

'at the end of time, a caliph will be present who would distribute' wealth without any 'account.'

yet another tradition says: at the time of the end of my nation, a caliph will come who would distribute' wealth without any reckoning.'

the author of 'yanabi-ul-muwadda' narrates from the author of 'fara'ed-ul-semtain' who narrates from ali-ibn-hallal who narrates from his father that the holy prophet (s.a.w.a.) said: 'Mahdi will come at the end of time and will fill the earth with equity and justice just as it was previously filled with cruelty and oppression.'

the author says: in most of our shi'ite traditions as well as the traditions of our sunni brethrens the word of «--» (the end of time) and the occurrence of some of the important events, the greatest of them being the emergence of the promised Mahdi can be seen. however it is a fact that sometimes it is said: the word «--» and its meaning is literal as can be understood from these two words i.e. before 'qiyamat'. sometimes too, it is said: « refers to some part of a time which when compared to the past times is placed at the last. just as we say: hazrat muhammad-ibn-abdullah (s.a.w.a.) is the prophet of «--» (the end of time) i.e. the period of his prophethood messengership, precepts and laws is put last as compared to the period of messengership of the previous prophets. thus in absolute terms, the holy prophet is the last prophet which means that the prophet should come after him, otherwise he will not be called the last prophet.

sometimes «--» is used and it refers to the last period of the holy prophet's messengership. in other words, if we divide the period of his prophethood into certain portions, the last portion of it would be the «--» (end of time) and the holy prophet's sentence: 'the nation wherein i am placed in the beginning, Mahdi is the middle and isa in the end will never be destroyed' refers to the same.