Dream:
In my dream I was in this far away place and it seemed as though the earth was shaking and splitting but I was with Allah; so truly was I with Allah that I felt that I could have spoken to Allah and receive an answer in some way from Him. I was in such a high and dominant, overbearing state that Allah was with me and knowing and seeing and hearing all and everything that I did. My thoughts and feelings and hurts were all plain and unhidden from Him.
I was too afraid to speak to Him and just kept prostrating. In one of the parts of land, it split apart and here was something in the ground that I jumped in to retrieve.
Then I was sitting and watching people walk around, African people. Then I saw this tall African man who had to use crutches to walk, otherwise he would fall because he was so skinny his knees (which had wraps around them) could not support his weight.
Interpretation:
That is a very blessed dream and a sign that the state you achieved is Maqam al-Ihsan, the Station of Perfected Character, “to worship Allah as if you are seeing Him and if you do not see Him, then know that He sees you” from the famous hadith of Gibril (as). That is the goal of Tasawwuf, Sufism, and the ideal state. May Allah grant you to see that state in your waking life.
The shaking and earth splitting are what happens on the Last Day, as mentioned in Surat al-Zalzala, the Earthquake:
When Earth is shaken with her (final) earthquake
And the earth throws up her burdens (from within),
And man cries (distressed): ‘What is the matter with her?’
On that Day will she declare her tidings:
For that thy Lord will have given her inspiration.
Then you see the Africans, who represent the believers, for they are weak, and they are often servants, which is the believer’s goal, to be a servant of Allah. The tall man’s knees being wrapped, indicate the pain from his incessant worship, for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to pray so much at night that his feet would become swollen, and his wife Sayyida `Ayesha asked him “why do you worship so much when Allah has forgiven your former and latter sins (meaning ‘you are pure, perfect and sinless’)?” to which the Prophet (s) replied, “ala akuna `abdan shakura – should I not be a thankful servant.” So this is a sign that you are on the way of thankfulness, and that Allah is granting you for that more and more, as He said:
Wa la in shakartum la-azeedanakum
If you thank Me, I will give you more. (14:7)
W ‘Allahu `alam,
Taher Siddiqui
reviewed and approved by Shaykh Hisham Kabbani