This also befalls many monks, and many other would-be devotees who count themselves among the Muslims. One of them may actually see, while awake, a figure who says to him, “I am the Friend (Abraham),” or “I am Moses,” or “I am the Messiah,” or “I am Muhammad,” or “I am so-and-so,” naming one of the Companions or of the disciples; he even sees the figure sailing through the air. In truth it is nothing but a devil, and the shape he appears in bears no real resemblance to the person he claims to be.

The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “Whoever sees me in a dream has indeed seen me, for Satan cannot imitate my form.” Hence seeing him in a dream is genuine. As for the waking state, he is not beheld with the physical eye—nor is any other deceased person—although many people think they have seen, while awake, someone they take to be a prophet, whether beside his grave or elsewhere.

Someone may even witness a grave split open and a human-like figure emerge; he supposes that the dead man himself has come out of his tomb, or that his very soul has assumed a body and emerged. In reality it is only a jinni that has taken on his likeness to mislead the onlooker, for the soul is not