my dream a canopy from which ghee and honey were dripping. I saw people gathering what fell from it with their hands: some collected a great deal, others only a little. Then, suddenly, a rope was stretched from the earth up to the sky. I saw you grasp it and climb; after you a man grasped it and climbed; then another man grasped it and climbed; then yet another man grasped it, whereupon it snapped. It was then reattached for him and he climbed with it.

Abu Bakr said, “O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be ransomed for you—allow me to interpret it.”

He replied, “Interpret.”

Abu Bakr said, “The canopy is the canopy of Islam. The ghee and honey that dripped from it are the Quran—its sweetness and its softness. As for the people gathering it, they are those who take abundantly from the Quran and those who take only a little. The rope stretching from heaven to earth is the truth upon which you stand: you grasp it and Allah raises you; then a man will grasp it after you and rise; then another man will grasp it and rise; then yet another man will grasp it and it will snap for him, but it will be joined again and he will rise by it.”

He then asked, “Tell me, O Messenger of Allah, did I hit the mark or did I err?”

He said, “You were partly right and partly wrong.”

Abu Bakr responded, “By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, you must inform me of the part I got wrong!”

He replied, “Do not swear.”