Among the miracles of the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) and his insight, and his seeing in a dream the word that he found difficult to read in the manuscript.

The Shaykh : (laughs) What is the first one I told you about? Perhaps some of you remember some of the incidents that happened. I was once in the shop, working behind the counter fixing watches, when a Palestinian Shaykh entered. He was wearing a Palestinian turban, a large wrap. He is one of our brothers who responded to the Salafi call, but he was an employee, a teacher in some schools outside Damascus. His connection with me was close when he was in Damascus, and then he left us, and we learned that he had been employed. One day, a man, a farmer, came to me with him. After he greeted me and welcomed me...The Shaykh : He said, "This brother of ours has a wristwatch with him. I forgot now what he wants from it." Immediately, I said to him, "Yes, tell me the brand of the watch." It was Radco. The strange thing, which remains in the rest of the story, is that its agent is here with us in Damascus. So when he mentioned the watch and its brand, and that he wanted to show it to me, I don't know for what reason? That does not matter in the story or in the lesson. I said to him, "You bought this from Homs." He said, "Yes."The Shaykh : He was surprised, but, glory be to Allah! Yes, yes. At that time, a strong student of knowledge entered, resembling our brother Ali in the simplicity of his build, and he has strength in the Arabic language. Here is also the joke: he is from a town called Dayr 'Atiyyah, also one of our Salafi brothers, but he is an employee, a teacher. After the man gave his greeting, with affection and a pleasant smile, he said, "Oh Professor, or oh Shaykh, by Allah, I don't know what he said that day. There is a verse that confused me, and I want to see what your opinion is about it." I said to him, "Perhaps it is the saying of Allah the Exalted: He said, "It is." I said to him, "What is a Salafi...?" Then I returned to blaming him, pretending, "You still say the Salafis deny revelation (kashf)?" (laughs) This is the second revelation, and that was the first. The matter is like these matters that happen to others, those who are more knowledgeable than us, and those who are less knowledgeable than us, those who are more righteous than us, and those who are worse than us, and so on. There is no revelation in it, no righteousness, and nothing at all. It is just...

The questioner : The convergence of ideas.

The Shaykh : No, it is not the convergence of ideas, but careful observation. So I explained to them so that they do not think that I am one of the people of revelation (kashf). I explained to them how the story is, how I know...The Shaykh : That he is a Palestinian employee in one of the villages around Homs. And naturally, when a villager wants to buy a watch, he does not buy it from the village; he buys it from the nearest capital to him. So he buys it from Homs. I did what we call my computer, with quick observation. I said to him, "You bought this from Homs, and its agent is where in Damascus?" Because I used to buy from him. So the insight came in its place. It came immediately after. The matter of the verse: how did I discover this secret? I know a commentator of the Tafsir, perhaps many times, and I know that there are verses that are problematic for the commentators, related to Adam and Eve (peace be upon them), and their apparent meaning is that they associated partners with Allah. Adam was a prophet, the first obligated prophet. What is the verse? The problem is Added to the fact that this person who entered is a strong student of knowledge, so he would not ask a simple question about a simple verse, but it would be a truly problematic verse. The confusing verses. So I said to him, "Perhaps it is..." and he said the same one.
Al-Halabi : Also, if we forget, as they say, we will not forget your story in the dream, about the word that was difficult for you in the manuscript.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
Al-Halabi : And Allah the Exalted and Sublime opened up in the dream...

The Shaykh : Yes, by Allah.

The questioner : YThe Shaykh : He saw the word in the dream, and it was difficult for him all day.

The Shaykh : Yes, by Allah.

The questioner : Yes, indeed, what Allah willed.

The Shaykh : I saw it in the dream, but I don't understand. I don't know what I saw. This is also one of the wonders. My habit is that if I see a dream, I remember that I saw a dream, but I don't remember what it was.

The questioner : I wrote it...

The Shaykh : No, the story is written, but I am telling the story now. The important thing is, my habit is that I don't remember the dream. So I was sleeping at night, I felt I was talking about something, talking in a slow voice. What was the word? It was "fardan fardan" (one by one).
Al-Halabi : When I heard it from you...

The Shaykh : Or else, what did you inherit? Weakness? By Allah, give me a book from my books of hadith. You inherited weakness, one by one. He is talking about a person, his name, I think, is al-'Urzumi, and his family and his fathers inherited weakness, one by one. A manuscript copy in the Dar al-Kutub al-Mu'ayyada (Zahiriyyah Library) in the handwriting of the hadith master of Sham in his time, in the sixth century, Ibn Asakir al-Dimashqi. A treatise for him, in his handwriting, and his handwriting is beautiful.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, I don't remember now, but, glory be to Allah, I had a person copy the treatise. He copied it. When he came to the word "fardan fardan," he did not know how to read it. He brought it to me, and I did not know how to read it. I slept that night, and I woke up saying in the dream, "fardan fardan." It is something unusual.

The questioner : Tawhid, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Beautiful. I woke up, and at that moment, as if it was revelation from the sky, or not revelation after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), it said to me, "It is your habit that you forget the dream. Get up and write." I took a normal paper and a pen and wrote "fardan fardan."

Another questioner : Who spoke to you?

The Shaykh : I am telling you, as if it was revelation, or not revelation after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Yes, I got up in the morning, prayed Fajr, the light came out. And for the joke, we have Ahmad 'Abd, may Allah have mercy on him, a literary man, a poet, the owner of the Arab Hashimi Library. He frequently visited the library, and he was the unique literary man who used to visit the library and look at the manuscripts. So he had more practice in calligraphy than me. We showed it to him, and it was not resolved for him. When I saw him standing, I said, "By Allah, he might have a connection to the problem of Ibn Asakir's treatise." So I came and hid it, and it was it. Why was it difficult for us? The writer wrote "fardan," the ra is connected to the dal, and the dal is connected to the alif. You know that the dal is one of the letters that is separated before and after, so he connected the ra to the dal, and the dal almost became like a lam, and then he connected the tail of the dal to the alif, and the two words are exactly like each other, as if they are images. He did not know how to read it except by the way of revelation with me. (laughs)
The Shaykh: It reminded me...

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : This ra...

The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.
Al-Halabi : Here, my Shaykh, Ibn Asakir reached this word. It reminded me of the handwriting of Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Hadi. Do you remember his handwriting? It is strange, like English, all connected.

The Shaykh : Yes, his handwriting is very difficult, and unfortunately, we lost benefits from his books because his ink is spreading.
Al-Halabi : O, Glorified is Allah

The Shaykh : Meaning the page comes out black because of what? The ink of the letter is spreading from above and below.
Al-Halabi : My Shaykh, you mentioned that this story is written.

The Shaykh: How?
Al-Halabi : The story of this man.

The Shaykh : It is written here.
Al-Halabi : I don't think so, my Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes.
Al-Halabi : What is written here is the story of the lost paper.

The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct, it is written here.
Al-Halabi : If Allah wills, you will write it, by the permission of Allah.

The Shaykh : Meaning, I have not seen it written.
Al-Halabi : No, my Shaykh, I only heard it from you orally.