that is the dream that proves false.”’

“‘Umar said, ‘These are three matters whose answers I had been seeking. Praise be to Allah that I have found them before death.’”

He also narrated it through a third chain, in which Ibn ‘Abbās questioned ‘Umar about it. He said: Ahmad ibn Sulaymān ibn Ayyūb narrated to us: Yazīd ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Samad narrated to us: Ādam ibn Abī Iyās narrated to us: Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Ayyāsh narrated to us, from Tha‘labah ibn Muslim al-Khath‘amī, from Ibn Abī Talhah al-Qurashī, that Ibn ‘Abbās, may Allah be pleased with him, said to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, “Commander of the Faithful, may I ask you about some matters?”

He replied, “Ask whatever you wish.”

He said, “Commander of the Faithful, what causes a man to remember, and what causes him to forget? What causes dreams to come true, and what causes them to prove false?”

‘Umar replied, “As for your question about what causes a man to remember and what causes him to forget, there is a cloud over the heart like the cloud that covers the moon. When it envelops the heart, the son of Adam forgets; when it clears away from the heart, he remembers what he had forgotten. As for what causes dreams to come true or prove false, Allah says:

‘Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die, during their sleep.’

“Those souls that enter the dominion of heaven have dreams that come true, while those that remain short of the dominion of heaven have dreams that prove false.”

I say: These two chains of transmission state that false dreams occur when the ascent to the heights is not completed. The first states that they arise from what happens after the soul’s return. Both are possible, for the outcome varies according to whether a necessary condition is absent or an impediment is present.

‘Ikrimah and Mujāhid said, “When a person sleeps, he has a connection along which the soul travels