In many sayings and narrations, certain signs of appearance are said to be five signs. There are also other signs that will be mentioned in the next chapter:
1. Departure of Yamani
Yamani is one of the Shi’ite followers of Amir al-Muʾminin Ali (AS) and he will depart before the appearance in order to fight Sufyani from Yemen. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (AS) says: Sufyani, Yamani, and Khurasani will depart in the same year, month, and day. Their departure is followed by each other like necklace beads. Wherever you look, there will be fear, panic, and stress. Woe unto him who fight them. Among them, there is no purer flag than the Yamani’s flag which is the flag of guidance and invites you to your owner. When Yamani departs, he will forbid the trade of weapons. When he departs, hurry to him because his flag is the flag of guidance and no Muslim should stand against him. Whoever does this will go to hell because Yamani invites people to Truth and the right path. Imam Sadiq (AS) said: One of the children of Zayd, my uncle will depart in Yemen. According to a saying: Where will be Sufyani, and that is when the breaker of his eyes has not yet departed from Yemen; Based on this narration, Yamani could be before Sufyani and he is the first certain sign.
In the Name of God, the compassionate, the merciful
Signs of the appearance of emaam Mahdi as
Introduction
Approaching the time of the appearance, the sky and earth exhibit their signs. The earthly signs are different kinds of maskh (Becoming an animal of some humans), ghazf (Slander or throw), and khasf (sinking into the earth), and sky signs are different voices and sounds. And of course, the voice of Satan is heard from the earth. It is very important to find the first clue in the series of events. In the books "Vision of Mahdi (AJ) in Qur’an", "The Time of Liberation=roozegaar-e-rahaaii", "Mahdi (AJ), the expected=Mahdi (AJ) montazar", "The Book of Occultation" – "Kitab Al-Ghaibah (by al-Numani)", "al-Beyat-o-lellaah", "The Time of Appearance=asr-e-zohoor", etc. there are clues by which the series could be listed and common events will be founded. In “Vision of Mahdi (AJ) in Qur’an”, the series of events are presented as follows: 1. Conflict between the children of Fulan; 2. Herald that heralds from the sky; 3. Sound of victory from Damascus; 4. Khasf of Jabiyah (earth-sinking in Jabiyah); 5. Destruction of a part of the Damascus mosques’ right side; 6. Rebellion of a group of Turks; 7. Disordered situation of Rome; 8. Arrival of Turk brothers on an Island (in northern Syria); 9. Residence of Rome in Ramlah (in Palestine). Oh, Jabir, that would be the day in which a lot of conflicts will arise in every eastern land, and Sham is the first land to be destroyed. In that time, there will be conflict among the three flags. A red and white flag, a black and white one, and the flag of Sufyani. The series of events could be classified into three parts. Some events and sayings talk about the series until the Sufyani’s departure, some others until the voice from the sky, and the third part talks about the series of events generally, until the time of appearance.
