what he has seen will not harm him, Allah willing, as stated in the hadith Mālik related in his Muwatta’, from Yahyā ibn Sa‘īd, from Abū Salamah ibn Abd al-Rahmān, who said: I heard Abū Qatādah ibn Rib‘ī say: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say:
“A good dream is from Allah, and a nightmare is from Satan. If any of you sees something he dislikes, let him spit lightly to his left three times upon waking and seek refuge with Allah from the evil of what he has seen. It will then never harm him, Allah willing.”
Abū Salamah said: “I used to have dreams that weighed more heavily upon me than a mountain, but after hearing this hadith, I no longer paid them any heed.” Ibn Wahb’s narration is similar, except that it says: “I seek refuge in that by which Allah’s angels and messengers have sought protection, from the evil of what I have seen, lest anything from it that I dislike befall me in this world or the Hereafter. Let him also turn onto his other side.”
The meaning is that a good dream—one that brings glad tidings of good in this world or the Hereafter—admits no influence from Satan. It comes from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and, when seen by a righteous man, constitutes one of forty-six parts of prophethood. Other narrations state forty-five parts or seventy parts. These fractions concern dreams of the kind described in the hadith: some are correctly interpreted and come to pass as interpreted, while others are incorrectly interpreted and do not come to pass as interpreted. It is in this sense that such a dream constitutes one part in forty-five, forty-six, or seventy. For if they all came to pass as interpreted, they would be like prophethood in revealing matters of the unseen. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Nothing of prophethood will remain after me except glad tidings.” They asked: “What are these glad tidings, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “A good dream which a righteous man sees, or which is seen concerning him: it is one of forty-six parts of prophethood.”
Thus, a good dream bringing glad tidings from Allah constitutes one of the parts mentioned in the hadith if it is seen by a righteous man. If it is not seen by a righteous man, however, then even though it is from Allah Most High, it is not to be described as one of forty-five parts of prophethood, nor of forty-six, nor of seventy.