Chapter: On True and Righteous Dreams

باب فی الرؤیا الصالحۃ — سچے خواب کے بارے میں

بَابٌ فِی الرُّؤْيَا الصَّالِحَةِ

On good (righteous) dreams.

قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالٰى : حِكَايَةً عَنْ اِبْرَاهِيْمَ يٰبُنَیَّ اِنِّیْۤ اَرٰى فِی الْمَنَامِ اَنِّیْۤ اَذْبَحُكَ فَانْظُرْ مَاذَا تَرٰى ؕ قَالَ يٰۤاَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِیْۤ اِنْ شَآءَ اللهُ مِنَ الصّٰبِرِيْنَ ـ

(al-Ṣāffāt 37:102.)

Vocabulary: qāla yā bunayya — he said: O son! my dear son; innī arā — I see; fī al-manām — in a dream; annī adhbaḥuk — that I am slaughtering you; fa-nẓur mādhā tarā — so consider a little, what is your opinion; look a little, what do you think fitting; qāla yā abati — the son, that is Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him), said: Father!; ifʿal mā tuʾmar — do what you are being commanded; under the command of God, slaughter me; sa-tajidunī — you will surely find me; in shāʾa Allāh — if God wills; min al-ṣābirīn — among the patient.

Translation: Allah Most High relates by way of narration from Ibrāhīm [Abraham] (peace be upon him): "O my dear son! I see in a dream that I am slaughtering you; so consider what your opinion is." He submitted: "Dear Father, do what you have been commanded. If Allah wills, you will find me among those who are patient."

قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالٰى : حِكَايَةً عَنْ يُوْسُفَ يٰۤاَبَتِ اِنِّیْ رَاَيْتُ اَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَّالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَاَيْتُهُمْ

لِيْ سٰجِدِيْنَ ۔

(Yūsuf 12:4)

Vocabulary: yā abati — O my father! O Father!; innī raʾaytu — I saw, i.e. in a dream (its verbal noun is ruʾyā, while the verbal noun for ordinary seeing is ruʾya); aḥada ʿashara kawkaban — eleven stars; wa-l-shamsa wa-l-qamara — and I saw the sun and the moon too; raʾaytuhum — I saw them all; lī sājidīn — prostrating to me.

Translation: Allah Most High says in Sūrat Yūsuf: Yūsuf said to his father, "Father, I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon; [I saw] that they were prostrating to me."

Let it be clear that in the World of Images (ʿālam al-mithāl, the realm in which realities appear in imaged forms) some things appear in their actual form, and sometimes in a symbolic (mithālī), that is, a resembling form. Ḥaḍrat Yaʿqūb (peace be upon him) was a prophet at that time, so he appeared in the form of the sun; and his mother or maternal aunt was also a great and saintly elder, so she was shown in the form of the moon. The other brothers of Yūsuf (peace be upon him) were not prophets, but they certainly were the sons of a prophet, so they appeared in the form of stars.

It should also be known that in early times the prostration of reverence (sajda-yi taʿẓīmī) was permissible. The Messenger of God ﷺ, knowing it to be a likely occasion (maẓinna) of shirk (associating partners with Allah), made it forbidden. Now no one may perform even a prostration of reverence to anyone. The accepting of a prostration of reverence is attributed to some elders of the religion; that is either wrong or to be interpreted [otherwise] — that is, [it meant] bowing the neck.

قَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى: لَقَدْ صَدَقَ اللّٰهُ رَسُوْلَهُ الرُّؤْيَا بِالْحَقِّ ۔

(al-Fatḥ 48:27)

Vocabulary: laqad ṣadaqa'llāhu — indeed Allah showed true; rasūlahū — to His Messenger; al-ruʾyā — dream; raʾā, yarā, ruʾyā — to see a dream; raʾā, yarā, raʾyan — to hold an opinion, to understand; bi-l-ḥaqq — containing the truth.

Translation: Allah Most High says: Allah indeed showed His Messenger a true dream, which accorded with the event.

What was that dream? What was seen in it? And when is this event from? Some people say it was a dream from before the incident of Ḥudaybiya, and they are perplexed that the event concerning the dream of the Messenger of Allah did not take place. With me there is a sound narration establishing that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw this dream, containing the glad tidings of the conquest of Mecca, after Ḥudaybiya.

قَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى: لَهُمُ الْبُشْرٰى فِي الْحَيٰوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْاٰخِرَةِ ۔

(Yūnus 10:64)

Vocabulary: lahumu'l-bushrā — for these believers and the God-fearing there are glad tidings, good news; fi'l-ḥayāti'l-dunyā — in the life of the world; wa fi'l-ākhira — and in the Hereafter too.

Translation: Allah Most High says: They (the faithful and the God-fearing) will surely receive glad tidings in this world and in the Hereafter.

عَنْ اَبِيْ هريرة رضي الله عنه قَالَ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عليه وسلم لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنَ النُّبُوَّةِ اِلَّا الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ ۔

قَالُوْا وَمَا الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ؟ قَالَ "اَلرُّؤْيَا الصَّالِحَةُ" ۔

(Reported by al-Bukhārī.)

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: Of prophethood nothing remains except the bearers of glad tidings. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked: What are the bearers of glad tidings? He said: Good dreams.

وَزَادَ مَالِكٌ بِرِوَايَةِ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍ "يَرَاهَا الرَّجُلُ الْمُسْلِمُ اَوْ تُرٰى لَهٗ" ۔

(Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.)

Translation: Imām Mālik has added these words through the narration of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār: a good dream which a Muslim sees, or which is seen concerning him.

عَنْ اَنَسٍ رضي الله عنه قَالَ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اَلرُّؤْيَا الصَّالِحَةُ جُزْءٌ مِّنْ سِتَّةٍ وَّاَرْبَعِيْنَ جُزْءًا مِّنَ النُّبُوَّةِ ۔

(Agreed upon (al-Bukhārī and Muslim) — Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.)

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: Good dreams are the forty-sixth part among the parts of prophethood.

(For six months the Ḥaḍrat [the Prophet ﷺ] kept seeing dreams, and six months is the forty-sixth part of twenty-three years.)

عَنْ اَبِيْ قَتَادَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عنه قَالَ قَالَ رسولُ اللّٰه صلّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَنْ رَاٰنِيْ فَقَدْ رَاَى الْحَقَّ ۔

(Agreed upon (al-Bukhārī and Muslim).)

Translation: It is narrated from Abū Qatāda (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: Whoever has seen me has seen the truth.

عَنْ اَبِيْ هريرة رضي الله عنه قَالَ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَنْ رَاٰنِيْ فِي الْمَنَامِ فَسَيَرَانِيْ فِي الْيَقْظَةِ وَلَا يَتَمَثَّلُ الشَّيْطَانُ بِيْ ۔

(Agreed upon (al-Bukhārī and Muslim).)

Translation: It is narrated from Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: Whoever has seen me in a dream will soon see me in wakefulness, and Shayṭān cannot take on my form.

عَنْ اَبِيْ قَتَادَةَ رضي الله عنه قَالَ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اَلرُّؤْيَا الصَّالِحَةُ مِنَ اللّٰهِ وَالْحُلْمُ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاِذَا رَاٰى اَحَدُكُمْ مَا يُحِبُّ فَلَا يُحَدِّثْ بِهٖ اِلَّا مَنْ يُّحِبُّ وَاِذَا رَاٰى مَا يَكْرَهُ فَلْيَتَعَوَّذْ بِاللّٰهِ مِنْ شَرِّهَا وَمِنْ شَرِّ الشَّيْطَانِ وَلْيَتْفُلْ ثَلَاثًا وَّلَا يُحَدِّثْ بِهَا اَحَدًا فَاِنَّهَا لَنْ تَضُرَّهٗ ۔

(Agreed upon (al-Bukhārī and Muslim) — Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.)

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Abū Qatāda (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: A good dream is from Allah and a bad dream is from Shayṭān. So when any one of you sees something which he likes, let him not relate it except to someone whom he loves; and when he sees something which he dislikes, he should seek Allah's refuge from its evil and from (Shayṭān), and spit [lightly] three times, and not relate it to anyone; then it will not harm him.

عَنْ اَبِيْ رَزِيْنِ الْعُقَيْلِيِّ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عنه قَالَ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صلّى اللّٰه عليه وسلم رُؤْيَا الْمُؤْمِنِ جُزْءٌ مِّنْ سِتَّةٍ وَّاَرْبَعِيْنَ جُزْءًا مِّنَ النُّبُوَّةِ وَهِيَ عَلٰى رِجْلِ طَائِرٍ مَّا لَمْ يُحَدِّثْ بِهَا فَاِذَا حَدَّثَ بِهَا وَقَعَتْ وَاَحْسِبُهٗ قَالَ لَا تُحَدِّثْ اِلَّا حَبِيْبًا اَوْ لَبِيْبًا ۔

(Reported by al-Tirmidhī — Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.)

Vocabulary: min sittatin wa arbaʿīna juzʾan — the forty-sixth part; mā lam yuḥaddith bihā — as long as he does not relate it; ḥabīban aw labīban — one who loves [him], or an intelligent, understanding, wise person.

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Abū Razīn al-ʿUqaylī (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: The dream of a believer is one part of the forty-six parts of prophethood, and it is (as it were) on the leg of a bird (that is, it has not settled) as long as he does not relate it; then when he relates it, it comes to pass. And I think that he said: Do not relate it to anyone except a friend or an intelligent person.

عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عنه اَنَّ رسولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عليه وسلم قَالَ "مِنْ اَفْرَى الْفِرٰى اَنْ يُّرِيَ الرَّجُلُ عَيْنَيْهِ مَا لَمْ تَرَيَا" ۔

(Reported by al-Bukhārī.)

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him): The greatest lie and slander of all is that a man should show his eyes something which his eyes have not seen.

عَنْ اَبِيْ سَعِيْدٍ رضي الله عنه عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عليه وسلم قَالَ "اَصْدَقُ الرُّؤْيَا بِالْاَسْحَارِ" ۔

(Reported by al-Tirmidhī.)

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Abū Saʿīd (may Allah be pleased with him) that the noble Prophet ﷺ said: The dreams of the early dawn are the most true.