METAHISTORICAL APOCALYPSES are those that are entirely unconnected with historical events, and are set in the eschatological future. They can, however, contain certain historical data, and there are occasionally historical personalities submerged under code-names and descriptions, though often these have been either idealized or demonized almost out of recognition. There can be no doubt that the division postulated here is artificial, since even in historical apocalypses the flow leads frequently into. metahistorical ending. Therefore the content has been judged on the basis of the cycle as. whole; for example, the fact that Ibn Ṣayyād is the Dajjāl (or at least. type of the Dajjāl) leads me to deal with him here, despite the fact thatthere are certain historical elements to the story, and similarly with the Sufyānī. It is. serious question whether the messianic cycles should be fitted into this section. One of the principal areas of difference is the political significance of the traditions in the different cycles. For this reason the messianic cycles must be dealt with by themselves, since they clearly form. unit utilized heavily by the government and its opponents. While it cannot be denied that elements of the Sufyānī Cycle, for example, have political significance, it should be equally obvious that even this most extreme of examples is nowhere near as full of these influences as the messianic cycles that follow it. Just as obviously, the Sufyānī Cycle was exclusively used as. vehicle by the opposition, and in all likelihood the government (whichever dynasty that may be) never influenced it at all. For this reason it is grouped together with the nightmare cycles of the Dajjāl and the two offshoots of this cycle.

The other question is where to fit the two Qur'ānic cycles of the dābba and Yājūj and Mājūj. Both of these have no obvious political overtones, which is probably the reason for their retarded state of development. The dābba is connected with the Dajjāl by the comments of the Muslim apocalyptists, who sought to identify it with the figure of the jassāsa in the "Dajjāl Chained in the West" Cycle. Having at this moment no better solution to the problem of the identity of this creature,. have adopted this connection. As for Yājūj and Mājūj, since in. number of traditions they are the final event (though not in all), here they are used to bring the survey to. close. These conclusions could be contested, since clearly the dābba is. harmless creature and does not belong topically in the company of the Dajjāl, while Yājūj and Mājūj are just as clearly nightmare entities designed to frighten.