the person being addressed, who is addressing him? Here lies the crucial distinction. What he is addressed with comes only from the whisperings of Satan and the self. They may be addressed with good things as a bribe from Satan. They are not addressed with what they recognize as false, lest they be repelled by him. Rather, Satan addresses each of them with what that person considers true.

When a monk disciplines himself, he sometimes sees within himself an image of the Trinity and may even be addressed by it. This is because he had previously pictured it to himself; once his soul was polished through spiritual discipline, it appeared to him. The believer who loves Allah and His Messenger sees the Messenger in his dreams in accordance with his faith. Likewise, he sees Allah Most High in his dreams in accordance with his faith, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

For this reason, many who practise asceticism and devotion become helpers of the disbelievers. They claim that they have been commanded to do this and are addressed with such instructions, imagining that Allah is the One who commanded them. Allah is far exalted above that. Rather, what commands them to do this is the self, Satan, and the polytheism within their souls. Had they been sincere in their devotion to Allah, none of this would have befallen them. This happens only to someone whose worship contains some association of partners with Allah, or who follows a religious innovation. It never happens to someone who is sincere and adheres to the Sunnah.

And since “dreams” are of “three kinds”:
a dream from Allah;