to Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?”

He then mentioned seeing Allah in the Hereafter, followed by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, seeing his Lord in a dream. It is thus clear that, in his view, the reports from Ibn ‘Abbās concern a vision while awake, though he did not say “with his eyes.”

The questioner’s appeal to this verse and the reply to him—asking, “Do you not see the sky?” and, when he answered, “Yes,” asking, “Do you see all of it, then?”—indicate that he affirmed vision with the eyes. It may, however, be said that he affirmed vision with the heart instead, and that the Prophet’s vision with his heart is like vision with the eyes, as previously mentioned in the statements of Imam Ahmad and others. Ibn ‘Abbās’s statements would then not be contradictory, and this would be a vision with his heart while awake.

What provides conclusive support for this interpretation is that this report comes through Simāk, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbās. Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Tabarānī, and others narrated through Isrā’īl, from Simāk, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbās, concerning the words of the Most High:

“The heart did not lie about what it saw.” (11) [al-Najm 11]