1 . أَخْبَرَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ الطَّالَقَانِيُّ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ يَقُولُ: لَا يَخْرُجُ الْمَهْدِيُّ حَتَّى يَنْزِلَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ، وَلَا يَنْزِلُونَ حَتَّى يَجْتَمِعَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ بِخُرَاسَانَ، وَالْمُنَافِقُونَ بِالشَّامِ.

Translation of the saying:

Ahmad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Taloqani informed us, he said: I heard Mansoor say: “The Mahdi will not rise until the Angels are sent down, and they will not be sent down until the believers gather in Khorasan and the hypocrites in the Levant.”

2 . أَخْبَرَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ عَبْدِ الْحَمِيدِ الْجُوزَجَانِيُّ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ يَقُولُ: لَا يَخْرُجُ الْمَهْدِيُّ حَتَّى يَمِيزَ اللَّهُ الْخَبِيثَ مِنَ الطَّيِّبِ، فَيَجْمَعَ الطَّيِّبَ فِي خُرَاسَانَ، وَالْخَبِيثَ فِي الشَّامِ، قُلْتُ: أَرَأَيْتَ مَنْ يَتَوَقَّفُ، فَلَا يَمِيلُ إِلَى أَحَدِهِمَا؟ قَالَ: لَا يَذَرُهُ اللَّهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ حَتَّى يَمِيلَ إِلَى أَحَدِهِمَا، وَإِنْ جُدِعَ أَنْفُهُ -وَفِي خَبَرٍ آخَرَ:- يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ مَلَكًا، فَيَضْرِبُهُ بِسَوْطٍ كَمَا يَضْرِبُ أَحَدُكُمْ حِمَارَهُ، حَتَّى يَمِيلَ إِلَى أَحَدِهِمَا!

Translation of the saying:

Isa ibn Abd al-Hamid al-Jowzjani informed us, he said: I heard Mansoor say: “The Mahdi will not rise until God separates the wicked from the good, then gathers the good in Khorasan and the wicked in the Levant.” I said: “What is your opinion of one who stops and does not incline toward either of them?” He said: “God will not leave him in that (state) until he inclines toward one of them, even if his nose is cut off.” -And it has been said in another report (from His Honor about such a person):- “God will send an Angel to him, so he will strike him with a whip, as one of you strikes his donkey (when it does not move), until he inclines toward one of them!”

Explanation of the saying:

His intended meaning of the good believers who will gather in Khorasan are the companions of the black flags who will prepare the ground for the Mahdi’s advent; as it is proven that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, has commanded the believers to join them; as it has been narrated that he said: «فَمَنْ أَدْرَكَهُمْ مِنْكُمْ أَوْ مِنْ أَعْقَابِكُمْ، فَلْيَأْتِهِمْ وَلَوْ حَبْوًا عَلَى الثَّلْجِ»; “Whoever of you or your descendant comes to know of them must go to them, even by crawling on snow,” and he mentioned their leader, Mansoor, and said: «وَجَبَ عَلَى كُلِّ مُؤْمِنٍ نَصْرُهُ»; “It is obligatory for every believer to support him,”[1] and his intended meaning of the wicked hypocrites who will gather in the Levant are the companions of Sufyani who will rise in the Levant before the Mahdi’s advent, then he will cause corruption and shed blood on the earth, and he said that the Mahdi will not rise until after those gather in Khorasan and these in the Levant because their gathering in them is one of the inevitable signs of the Mahdi’s advent. As for His words: “The Mahdi will not rise until the Angels are sent down,” he has explained it in detail in saying 158 of his pure sayings, so refer to it.