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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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With pens of longing and the ink of love,

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We write words more precious than gold,

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Describing the Master of Creation, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—

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The Prophetic Characteristics (Shama'il).

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Chapter: On What Has Been Narrated Concerning Seeing the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in a Dream.

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The author concluded his book *Al-Shama'il* with this chapter

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To establish the connection between knowing the Shama'il and verifying the authenticity of seeing him in a vision.

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For whoever lacks knowledge of his characteristics and features (peace be upon him)

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Cannot possibly verify that the one he saw in his dream was indeed the Prophet (peace be upon him).

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This underscores the paramount importance of sacred Islamic knowledge,

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As well as the necessity of studying the noble virtues of the Prophet (peace be upon him),

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Along with his physical attributes and moral characteristics.

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Once a Muslim knows the Prophetic characteristics,

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He remains safe from being deceived or having his mind led astray by Satan’s cunning, tricks, and obfuscations—

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Just as many people were deceived by dreams they saw in their sleep,

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Falsely imagining that they had seen the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a dream,

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Under which alleged visions countless religious innovations and misguidances—for which Allah has sent down no authority—spread far and wide.

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On the authority of 'Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him),

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From the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said:

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"Whoever sees me in a dream has indeed seen me, for Satan cannot assume my form."

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And on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

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The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

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"Whoever sees me in a dream has indeed seen me, for Satan cannot take my appearance"—or he said—"cannot resemble me."

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These two hadiths prove that whoever sees the Prophet (peace be upon him) in his known, established appearance—

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Not in some other form—has truly seen him (peace be upon him).

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That is, he saw him in his real physical image, because Satan can never take his form.

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Satan might, however, assume other appearances:

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He comes to a person in a dream and says to him,

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"I am the Prophet," or "Abu Bakr," or "'Umar," or someone else, while he is lying.

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The scholars said: Allah Almighty singled out the Prophet (peace be upon him)

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By ensuring that people's visions of him are true and entirely genuine,

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And He prevented Satan from taking his physical appearance so that he cannot lie through him during sleep.

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Just as it is impossible for Satan to assume his form while awake—

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For had that occurred, truth would have been confused with falsehood—

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The dream-interpretation scholars said:

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"If an unlearned person says, 'I saw the Prophet (peace be upon him),'

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He should be asked to describe his physical appearance;

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If it matches the narrated physical description, it is accepted; otherwise, it is rejected."

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Whenever a man would relate to Muhammad Ibn Sirin

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That he had seen the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a dream,

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Ibn Sirin would say: "Describe to me the one you saw."

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If the man described features unfamiliar to him,

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He would say: "You did not see him."

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On the authority of 'Asim Ibn Kulayb, who said:

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My father related to me

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That he heard Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) say:

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The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

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"Whoever sees me in a dream has indeed seen me,

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For Satan cannot take my likeness."

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My father said:

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"I mentioned this hadith to Ibn 'Abbas,

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Saying, 'I have seen him,'

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And I remembered Al-Hasan Ibn 'Ali,

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So I said, 'I likened him to Al-Hasan.'"

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Ibn 'Abbas replied: "He indeed used to resemble him."

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This hadith shares the same meaning as the preceding hadiths:

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Satan cannot take the form of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a dream.

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As for the statement of Kulayb, 'Asim's father:

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"I mentioned this hadith to Ibn 'Abbas,"

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Meaning Ibn 'Abbas said: "Describe him to me."

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Kulayb said:

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"I mentioned Al-Hasan Ibn 'Ali,"

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Meaning: "When I saw him in the dream,

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His appearance reminded me of the appearance of Al-Hasan Ibn 'Ali,

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So his features were similar to his."

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Thereupon Ibn 'Abbas said: "He indeed used to resemble him."

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This stands as proof of what was previously affirmed regarding the care the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) paid to this matter,

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And their rigorous verification of anyone claiming to have seen the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a dream:

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Did he see him in his known appearance or in a different one?

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If it matched the known physical features, he had indeed seen him,

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For Satan cannot assume his appearance.

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But if it was in some other appearance,

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Then he has not thereby seen the Prophet (peace be upon him).

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On the authority of Yazid al-Farisi—

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Who used to transcribe copies of the Qur'an—

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He said: "I saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a dream during the time of Ibn 'Abbas,

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So I said to Ibn 'Abbas,

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'I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in my sleep.'

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Ibn 'Abbas replied,

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'The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to say:

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"Satan cannot resemble me,

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So whoever sees me in his sleep has indeed seen me."

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Can you describe this man whom you saw in your sleep?'

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He said, 'Yes, I can describe a man of medium height,

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Lean in body and flesh, light brown complexion leaning toward white,

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Deep black eyes with naturally dark rims, pleasant smile, beautiful roundness of face,

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His beard filling from here to here,

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Completely filling his upper chest.'

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'Awf said, 'I do not know what else was included in this description.'

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Thereupon Ibn 'Abbas said,

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'Had you seen him while awake, you could not have described him beyond this!'"

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In this hadith is the statement of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) to Yazid al-Farisi:

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"Can you describe this man whom you saw in your sleep?"

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That is, he wanted to examine the description of what he saw;

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If it matched what he knew of the Prophet's description (peace be upon him),

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Then he had truly seen him, because Satan cannot assume his appearance.

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Yazid said: "I can describe a man of medium height,"

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Meaning average, neither noticeably tall nor short.

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His saying: "Lean in body and flesh, light brown complexion leaning toward white,"

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Means he was not of a pure, pale, chalky whiteness,

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But rather a white skin tinged with redness.

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His saying: "Deep black eyes with naturally dark rims,"

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Means his eyelids possessed a natural darkness,

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As though he were wearing kohl without actually applying it.

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His saying: "Pleasant smile, beautiful roundness of face,

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His beard filling from here to here,"

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Means between his right ear and his left ear;

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"Completely filling his upper chest" owing to its thickness,

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For his beard (peace be upon him) was full and thick.

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His saying: "'Awf said"—meaning Ibn Abi Jamilah,

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The narrator from Yazid—

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"I do not know what else was included in this description,"

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Meaning regarding other physical features he mentioned,

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As he perhaps only memorized these details.

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Thereupon Ibn 'Abbas said:

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"Had you seen him while awake,

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You could not have described him beyond this!"

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Meaning that this description you provided of the man

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Whom you saw in the dream

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Corresponds perfectly to his physical appearance (peace be upon him),

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Such that if you had seen him while awake and described him,

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You would not have been able to add anything to this description.

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Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

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"Whoever sees me"—meaning in sleep—

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"Has indeed seen the Truth."

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And on the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him),

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The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

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"Whoever sees me in a dream has indeed seen me,

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For Satan cannot impersonate me."

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And he said:

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"And the dream of a believer is one of forty-six parts of prophethood."

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These two hadiths carry the same meaning as the earlier ones:

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Whoever sees the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a dream

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Has indeed seen the Truth,

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And Satan cannot impersonate him—

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That is, he cannot take his likeness or assume his form.

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And his saying:

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"And the dream of a believer is one of forty-six parts of prophethood":

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In this is the virtue of the true vision with which Allah Almighty honors His believing servant,

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And it is among the glad tidings.

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The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

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"Nothing remains of prophethood after me except glad tidings."

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They asked, "O Messenger of Allah,

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And what are glad tidings?"

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He said:

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"A righteous dream that a man sees or is shown to him."

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It is also mentioned in the hadith

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That prophethood was divided into forty-six parts,

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And true dreams were made one of those parts.

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'Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak said:

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"If you are tested with judgeship, adhere strictly to the narration (athar)."

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On the authority of Ibn Sirin, he said:

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"This knowledge is religion,

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So consider well from whom you take your religion."

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The author (may Allah have mercy on him) intended

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To clarify the status of prophetic narrations (athar)

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And the status of chain-supported reports (asand),

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And that whoever desires for himself the soundness of his religion

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Along with the safety of his creed and worship,

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Must remain firmly attached to the narrated tradition.

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For the religion of the Prophet (peace be upon him)

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Consists of narrations transmitted through chains of transmission.

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The statement of 'Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him):

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"If you are tested with judgeship, adhere strictly to the narration,"

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Means: if you are put to trial and appointed as a judge—

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And judgeship is ruling and resolving disputes among people,

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Containing an indication that judgeship is a form of trial—

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His saying "adhere strictly to the narration"

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Means following the teachings and traditions of the Prophet (peace be upon him),

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Pursuing his reports,

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And adhering firmly to the path of the righteous salaf.

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In the second narration,

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Ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"This knowledge is religion"—

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Meaning the science of hadith,

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Which is raised, attributed, and ascribed to the Prophet (peace be upon him),

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Is religion itself.

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His saying: "So consider well from whom you take your religion"

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Means:

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Receiving knowledge exclusively from trustworthy, upright narrators

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And refraining from taking it from anyone else.

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'Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

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"The chain of transmission (isnad) is part of religion;

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Were it not for the isnad,

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Whoever wished would say whatever he wished."

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Thus, not everyone who narrates hadiths has his narration accepted;

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Rather, one must first verify his uprightness and precision.

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Ibn Sirin also said:

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"They used not to ask about the chain of transmission,

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But when the civil discord (fitnah) occurred,

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They said: 'Name your men to us.'

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So they would look to the People of the Sunnah

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And accept their hadith,

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And they would look to the People of Innovation

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And not accept their hadith."

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The author (may Allah have mercy on him)

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He concluded with these two reports

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to draw attention to the fact that when a Muslim studies the Prophetic characteristics (Shama'il)

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or studies any other religious matter,

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he must pay close attention to authentic reports

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that are firmly established—

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namely, the hadiths attributed directly to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

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and those attributed to the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).