And the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had entrusted Bilāl with waking them at dawn. Sleep that prevents a person from fulfilling what he has been commanded to do, and drowsiness, are from Satan, though they are excused. Hence it has been said: “Drowsiness in a gathering for the remembrance of Allah is from Satan.” Likewise, nocturnal emissions during sleep are from Satan, yet a sleeping person is not held accountable.

It is established in the two Sahīh collections that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Dreams are of three kinds: a dream from Allah, a dream from Satan, and a dream in which a person sees during sleep what he has been thinking about while awake.”

It has also been said that these are the words of Ibn Sīrīn. Nevertheless, the division of dreams into two kinds—one from Allah and another from Satan—is undoubtedly authentically reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

These two kinds arise from the whisperings of the self and the whisperings of Satan, and both are excused, for a sleeping person is exempt from accountability. Satan’s whispering veils the heart like a fleeting image in the imagination, causing a person to forget the faith he possesses until he becomes blind to the truth and falls into falsehood. If he is among those who fear Allah, his condition is as Allah describes:

“Indeed, when those who fear Allah are touched by a suggestion from Satan, they remember, and at once they see clearly.”

For Satan has touched them with a passing influence that veils the heart. It may be thin or thick, but it is a covering over the heart that prevents it from seeing the truth. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“When a servant commits a sin, a black spot is marked on his heart. If he repents, desists, and seeks forgiveness, his heart is polished clean. But if he continues to sin, it grows until it covers his heart. That is