A man had a dream and came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "I saw what looked like a canopy dripping with honey and butter, and I saw people taking from it, some taking a great deal, others taking little, and others somewhere in between. And I saw a rope stretching up to the sky." Yazid once said, "And there was a rope let down from the sky. I came and took hold of it and rose up, and Allah raised me higher. Then another man came after you, took hold of it, rose up, and Allah raised him higher. Then another man came after the two of you, took hold of it, rose up, and Allah raised him higher. Then another man came after all of you, took hold of it, but it was cut for him, then it was reconnected for him, and he rose, and Allah raised him higher."Abu Bakr said, "Messenger of Allah, allow me to interpret it for him."He gave him permission, so Abu Bakr said, "As for the canopy, it is Islam. As for the honey and butter, that is the sweetness of the Quran, with some taking a great deal, some taking little, and others somewhere in between. As for the rope, it is what you are upon. You will hold to it and rise, and Allah will raise you. Then after you will come a man who follows your path, and he will rise, and Allah will raise him. Then after the two of you will come a man who takes up what you both took, and he will rise, and Allah will raise him. Then after all of you will come a man for whom it will be cut, then reconnected, and he will rise, and Allah will raise him."Abu Bakr said, "Have I gotten it right, Messenger of Allah?"He replied, "You have gotten some right and some wrong."Abu Bakr said, "I swear by Allah, Messenger of Allah, you must tell me."He said, "Do not swear."
حدثنا يزيد أخبرنا سفيان بن حسين عن الزهري عن عبيد الله بن عبد الله بن عتبة
رأى رجل رؤيا فجاء للنبي ﷺ فقال إني رأيت كأن ظلة تنطف عسلا وسمنا وكأن الناس يأخذون منها فبين مستكثر وبين مستقل وبين ذلك وكأن سببا متصلا إلى السماء وقال يزيد مرة وكأن سببا دلي من السماء فجئت فأخذت به فعلوت فعلاك الله ثم جاء رجل من بعدك فأخذ به فعلا فعلاه الله ثم جاء رجل من بعدكما فأخذ به فعلا فأعلاه الله ثم جاء رجل من بعدكم فأخذ به فقطع به ثم وصل له فعلا فأعلاه الله قال أبو بكر ائذن لي يا رسول الله فأعبرها له فأذن له فقال أما الظلة فالإسلام وأما العسل والسمن فحلاوة القرآن فبين مستكثر وبين مستقل وبين ذلك وأما السبب فما أنت عليه تعلو فيعليك الله ثم يكون من بعدك رجل على منهاجك فيعلو ويعليه الله ثم يكون من بعدكما رجل يأخذ بأخذكما فيعلو فيعليه الله ثم يكون من بعدكم رجل يقطع به ثم يوصل له فيعلو فيعليه الله قال أصبت يا رسول الله قال أصبت وأخطأت قال أقسمت يا رسول الله لتخبرني فقال لا تقسم
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Its isnad is sahih. Sufyan bin Husayn Wasiti has already been discussed at 67. In H it reads "Sufyan, from Ibn Husayn," which is an error we have corrected from K.Bukhari narrated this hadith, 12:345, an excerpt from its beginning, through the route of Layth, from Yunus, from Zuhri, from Ubaydullah bin Abdullah, that Ibn Abbas used to relate that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "I saw tonight in a dream..." and he continued the hadith. Bukhari then said, "Sulayman bin Kathir, the nephew of Zuhri, and Sufyan bin Husayn followed him in narrating it, from Zuhri, from Ubaydullah, from Ibn Abbas, from the Prophet." Zubaydi said, from Zuhri, from Ubaydullah, that Ibn Abbas and Abu Hurairah [narrated it] from the Prophet ﷺ. Shuayb and Ishaq bin Yahya said, from Zuhri, that Abu Hurairah used to narrate it from the Prophet ﷺ, while Maamar would not attribute it with a chain until later.Bukhari then narrated it in full, 12:379–384, through the route of Layth, from Yunus, from Zuhri, with wording similar to what is given here. The Hafiz dwelt at length on this point, discussing the disagreement among the narrators from Zuhri over whether the hadith is from Ibn Abbas from the Prophet, or from Ibn Abbas from Abu Hurairah from the Prophet ﷺ, or from either Ibn Abbas or Abu Hurairah from the Prophet. At the end he said, "Bukhari's arrangement indicates that he gives preference to the narration of Yunus and those who followed him, and he affirmed this decisively in the chapter on Oaths and Vows, where he said, Ibn Abbas said, the Prophet said to Abu Bakr, 'Do not swear,' thereby affirming decisively that it is from Ibn Abbas." His saying to Abu Bakr, "Do not swear," was already given in brief form from the narration of Ibn Uyayna from Zuhri at 1894.The complete hadith was narrated by Tirmidhi, 3:252–253, through the route of Abdul-Razzaq, from Maamar, from Zuhri, from Ubaydullah, from Ibn Abbas, from Abu Hurairah. However, what will come next after this, from Abdul-Razzaq from Maamar, contains no mention of Abu Hurairah. What appears to me is that Imam Ahmad held the view that the hadith should be attributed to Ibn Abbas, without Abu Hurairah in it, and that is why he did not mention it in the Musnad of Abu Hurairah.The Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari, 12:279, "A statement of the time at which this occurred appears in the narration of Sufyan bin Uyayna as found in Muslim as well, with the wording, a man came to the Prophet ﷺ as he was returning from Uhud." On this basis it belongs to the mursal narrations of the Companions, whether it is from Ibn Abbas, or from Abu Hurairah, or from the narration of Ibn Abbas from Abu Hurairah, since neither of them was in Madinah at that time. As for Ibn Abbas, he was a young child with his parents in Makkah, for his birth was three years before the Hijrah according to the correct view, and Uhud took place in Shawwal of the third year. As for Abu Hurairah, he only came to Madinah at the time of Khaybar, in year seven.Regarding his statement "so he came to the Prophet," in K it reads "so he brought it to the Prophet.""Al-Zulla," with damma on the letter zaa, means a cloud that casts shade, and anything that provides shade, such as a shed or the like, is called a zulla."Tantifu," with either damma or kasra on the taa, means "it drips."Regarding "faman mustakthirun," in H it reads "famin mustakthir," and we have adopted what appears in K and in Fath al-Bari, quoted from the Musnad. "Al-mustakthir" and "al-mustaqill" mean the one who takes a great deal and the one who takes a little."Al-sabab" means the rope."Fa-aabaraha" (the interpretation of a dream, abr), a triliteral verb, and "abbaraha," a quadriliteral verb with doubling, both mean he interpreted it and explained what its outcome would be."Yakhudhu bi-ihdakuma," meaning by your (dual) caliphate, adornment, form, and guidance.Regarding "fa-yaluw," in K it reads "fa-yuallihu Allah" instead of "thumma yaluw."