his community regarding prayer. He thus reduced the prayers by forty-five on nine occasions. Two further instances are established by the Book.”

Al-Qādī said, “Hanbal reported: ‘I asked Abū Abd Allāh, “Did he see his Lord?” He replied, “It was a dream-vision; he saw Him with his heart.”’” Al-Qādī said, “This entails denying that he saw Him that night.”

He continued, “Al-Athram reported that Ahmad was told of a man who said, ‘He saw Him, but I do not say whether with his eyes or with his heart.’ Abū Abd Allāh said, ‘This is good.’ The apparent meaning of this is to affirm the vision without specifying whether it was with the eyes or the heart.” Al-Qādī said, “The first report is more authentic.”

I say: Ahmad’s statements are not contradictory. We have already quoted the wording of al-Athram’s report and noted that he approved leaving the statement unqualified, for he had