that has never crossed his mind, yet his dream is as clear as if he were being led by the hand; whereas a man may see something and his dream amounts to nothing.”

‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib said: “Shall I explain this to you, Commander of the Faithful? Allah says:

‘Allah takes souls at the time of their death, and during sleep those that have not died. He then retains those for whom He has decreed death and releases the others until an appointed term.’

“Allah takes all souls. Whatever they see while they are with Him in heaven is a true dream. As for what they see when they are released to their bodies, the devils meet them in the air and deceive them, telling them falsehoods and lying in their visions.” ‘Umar marvelled at what he said.

Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn Ishāq ibn Mandah mentioned this in his book al-Rūh wa-l-Nafs (The Spirit and the Soul), saying: “This is a well-known report from Safwān ibn ‘Amr and others.” His wording is:

‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib said: “Commander of the Faithful, Allah Most High says:

‘Allah takes souls at the time of their death, and during sleep those that have not died. He then retains those for whom He has decreed death and releases the others until an appointed term.’

“Souls are taken up during sleep. Whatever they see while in heaven is true. When they are returned to their bodies, the devils meet them in the air and deceive them. Whatever they see as a result of that is false.”

Imam Abū ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mandah said: “It was also reported from Abū al-Dardā’.” He said: “Ibn Lahī‘ah narrated from ‘Uthmān ibn Nu‘aym al-Ru‘aynī, from Abū ‘Uthmān al-Asbahī, from Abū al-Dardā’, who said: ‘When a person sleeps, his soul is taken up until it is brought to the Throne.’ He said: ‘If the person is in a state of ritual purity, the soul is permitted to prostrate; but if he is in a state of major ritual impurity, it is not permitted to prostrate.’” Zayd ibn al-Hubāb and others narrated it.