the leading scholars of the various lands, both East and West.

When I wrote what I did, I was in a place where I had no access to books. I knew that this hadith was in al-Tirmidhī’s Jāmiʿ, but I did not have it at hand. When it later became available to me, I found that he had discussed it along much the same lines as I had, explained that it was authentic, and reported al-Bukhārī’s judgment that it was authentic and that the correct version was the hadith of Muʿādh.

In the section on Quranic commentary, under Surah Sād, al-Tirmidhī first narrated the hadith transmitted by Maʿmar, from Ayyūb, from Abū Qilābah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“My Lord came to me last night in the most beautiful form.” He said, “I think it was in a dream.” He said, “This is how it is worded in the hadith.”

“Then He said, ‘O Muhammad, do you know what the Highest Assembly is disputing about?’ I replied, ‘No.’ He placed His hand between my shoulders until I felt its coolness between my breasts—or he said, ‘at my throat’—and I came to know what is in the heavens and what is on earth. He said, ‘O Muhammad, do you know what the Highest Assembly is disputing about?’ I replied, ‘Yes, about acts of expiation. Acts of expiation are remaining in the mosques after the prayers and walking