We have already pointed out that the phrase “in His very essence” is unnecessary; it only agitates people’s minds, and omitting it is preferable—and Allah knows best.

I say: al-Samʿānī reported, “I heard Ḥāmid ibn Abī al-Fatḥ say, ‘I heard Abū Bakr ibn al-Zāghūnī relate:

A trustworthy man told me that he saw three figures in a dream. One of them said, “Cause it to sink,” another said, “Drown it,” and the third said, “Flatten it”—meaning the town. Then one of them replied, “No, for close to us there are three men: ʿAlī ibn al-Zāghūnī, Aḥmad ibn al-Ṭalāyah, and Muḥammad ibn So-and-so.”’”

Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn al-Zarīrānī (1) dictated to me that he had read, in Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-Zāghūnī’s own handwriting, the following statement: “Abū Muḥammad al-Ḍarīr recited the Quran to me according to the reading of Abū ʿAmr. I later saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a dream and recited the Quran before him from beginning to end in that same recitation while he listened. When I reached, in Sūrat al-Ḥajj, His words, ‘Indeed, Allah will admit those who believe and do righteous deeds…’ [al-Ḥajj 22:14], he gestured with his hand—as if to say, ‘Listen’—and then said, ‘Whoever recites this verse will be forgiven.’ He motioned for me to continue, and when I reached the opening of Yā Sīn he said, ‘Whoever recites this surah shall be safe from poverty,’” and he mentioned the rest of the dream.

I also found, in Abū al-Ḥasan’s handwriting, a treatise of his on the question of the Divine Letter and Sound that contains several faults (2). May Allah forgive him; would that he had remained silent.