its construction, though it requires qualifications, including that he had not seen him before, and that a Companion is not included in the general wording.”

I say: I know of no basis for this restriction, unless it is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah recorded by al-Bukhari (6993), attributed directly to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the wording: “Whoever sees me in a dream will see me while awake, and Satan cannot assume my form.” Al-ʿAyni mentioned in Sharḥ al-Bukhārī (24/140) that what is meant is the people of his own time, peace and blessings be upon him; that is, whoever saw him in a dream, Allah would enable him to migrate to him and grant him the honor of meeting him, peace and blessings be upon him.”

Yet I am doubtful that the wording, “will see me while awake,” is authentically established, for the narrators differed over the precise wording of this phrase. Al-Bukhari narrated it as we have mentioned, while Muslim (7/54) added: “or it is as though he saw me while awake”—with this uncertainty. Al-Ḥāfiẓ said (12/383): “In the route mentioned, al-Ismāʿīlī has: ‘he has indeed seen me while awake,’ in place of, ‘he will see me.’ The same occurs in the hadith of Ibn Masʿūd recorded by Ibn Mājah, and it was authenticated by al-Tirmidhī and Abu ʿAwānah. Ibn Mājah also recorded, in the hadith of Abu Juḥayfah: ‘it is as though he saw me while awake.’ Thus, there are three wordings: ‘he will see me while awake’; ‘it is as though he saw me while awake’ (see what preceded under no. 1004); and ‘he has indeed seen me while awake.’ Most of the hadiths in this chapter are like the third wording, except for the phrase ‘while awake.’”