an image will be punished and commanded to breathe life into it, yet he will never be able to do so.” Al-Bukhārī narrated it.

Taḥallama means that a person claims to have seen such-and-such in a dream while he is lying. Al-ānuk—with a long initial vowel, a ḍammah on the nūn, and a softened kāf—refers to molten lead.

[Commentary]
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Nawawī—may Allah have mercy on him—said in his book Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, in the chapter on the prohibition of lying, citing the narration of Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both): The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever claims to have dreamed a dream he did not see will be charged to tie two grains of barley together, and he will never be able to do so.” That is, whoever lies about a vision, saying, “I saw such-and-such in my sleep,” while he is lying, will on the Day of Resurrection be ordered to tie two grains of barley together. Everyone knows that, no matter how hard a person tries, he cannot tie two barley grains together; yet he will continue to be tormented and told, “You must tie them.” This threat proves that fabricating a dream one never saw is among the major sins.

Some foolish people do this: one will say, “Last night I dreamed such-and-such,” simply to make others laugh—this is forbidden. Worse still is for someone to say, “I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and he told me such-and-such,” and the like; that is even more serious because it is a lie against the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

As for relating a dream one truly saw, there is no harm in it, though one should realize that what a person sees while asleep falls into three categories. One category is something good that pleases and gladdens him; such a dream should be related only to someone who loves him, for a person has many who envy him. Therefore, when he sees a pleasant dream—