The same is true of its ascent and subsequent return to the body during sleep and wakefulness. For this reason, some people liken its descent into the grave to a ray of sunlight, but this is not an exact analogy. The sun itself does not descend. The light that appears on the earth is an accident produced by the sun; it is neither the sun itself nor an attribute subsisting in it. The spirit itself, however, ascends and descends.

For in the well-known hadith of al-Barā' ibn 'Āzib—may Allah be pleased with him—concerning the taking of the soul and the trial of the grave—a hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad and others, also narrated in abridged form by Abū Dāwūd, as well as by al-Nasā'ī and Ibn Mājah, and narrated in full by Abū 'Awānah in his Sahīh. In the latter's narration, Zādhān says, “I heard al-Barā',” which disproves the claim that he did not hear it from him. Al-Hākim also narrated it in his Sahīh through Abū Mu'āwiyah, who said: Al-A'mash narrated to us: al-Minhāl ibn 'Amr narrated to us, from Abū 'Amr Zādhān,

“From al-Barā' ibn 'Āzib—may Allah be pleased with them both—who said: ‘We went out with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for a funeral. We reached the grave, but its burial niche had not yet been dug.’”

He then related the hadith in full. Al-Hākim also narrated it through Muhammad ibn al-Fadl, who said: Al-A'mash narrated to us; he then related it.

At its end, he said: Fudayl narrated to us: My father narrated to me, from Abū Hāzim, from Abū Hurayrah, this same hadith, except that he said:

“He was put to sleep, like one whom none but his dearest loved one awakens.”

He said: Shu'bah, Zā'idah, and others also narrated it from al-A'mash, and Mu'ammal narrated it from