The point is that when someone says, “I saw the sun, the moon, the crescent, or something else in water or a mirror,” all rational people agree that this seeing differs from seeing the same thing directly, without an intermediary. If someone says, “He did not see the thing itself; rather, he saw its likeness, its image, reflected rays, or the like,” this does not invalidate what people know and say: that he saw it in water or a mirror. Such seeing in water or a mirror is literal, though qualified.
Likewise, the Prophet’s statement, peace and blessings be upon him:
“Whoever sees me in a dream has truly seen me, for Satan cannot take my form.”
It is just as he said, peace and blessings be upon him: the person has truly seen him in a dream. Whoever denies that he has truly seen him in a dream is mistaken. Whoever says that seeing him directly while awake is the same as seeing him through an intermediary, under the qualification of sleep, is also mistaken. Hence the dream-vision admits of interpretation and explanation, unlike the waking vision.
Similarly, whatever words a person hears from him in a dream constitute hearing him in a dream; this is not the same as hearing him while awake. A dreamer may see people who speak to him, while those people are entirely unaware of it. He has only seen their likenesses. Nevertheless, it is said that he truly saw them in a dream. This qualification excludes dreams arising from one’s own thoughts. For “dreams are of three kinds”: a dream conveying glad tidings from Allah; a dream through which Satan causes distress; and a dream arising from what a person thinks about while awake and then sees in sleep. This classification is established in an authentic report from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,