As for this qualification, it was introduced by some later scholars.

Al-Qādī said: “Abū Hafs narrated through his chain of transmission from Ibn Jurayj, from ʿAtā’, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, saw his Lord with his heart twice.’ He also narrated through his chain of transmission from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: ‘Muhammad saw his Lord with his heart.’”

Al-Qādī said: “This variation in the reports from him does not concern the Night of the Ascension. Rather, it concerns the Prophet’s vision of Him in a dream at a time other than that night. He saw Him with his heart, as we shall explain later.”

I say: These latter wordings are authentically reported from Ibn ʿAbbās in the Sahīh. He mentioned them when explaining the words of Allah Most High:

“And indeed he saw him another time.” (13) [al-Najm 13]

Ibn ʿAbbās did not say that the Prophet’s vision with his heart took place in a dream; rather, it takes place while awake.