Does seeing the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in a dream actually happen? And what is the evidence for that?

The Shaykh : The first question: Does seeing the Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) in a dream actually happen? And what is the evidence for that?
If the dreamer saw the Messenger (peace be upon him) in reality, then it is a true dream; that is, if he saw the Messenger (peace be upon him) with the attributes established in the books of the Sunnah, then he saw him in truth; because the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: . But if he saw an image and was told that it is the Messenger of Allah, as if he saw, for example, an old man whose beard is white like cotton; then this is not the attribute of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and the like of that among the attributes. So whoever sees the Messenger with attributes that match the Prophetic characteristics, then he has seen him in truth, otherwise he has not.
If someone sees the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in a dream; does that mean he saw him in his true form? And how does he know that it is him (peace and blessings be upon him and his family)? And how does he know that it is him when he did not see him in his lifetime?
The answer: That after it is established that he saw the Messenger (peace be upon him) in a dream—meaning it is not a state of sleep and illusion, but rather he is clear-minded in what he says—there is no doubt that he saw the Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him).
And the questioner’s question: How does he know, when he did not see the Messenger in his lifetime?
The answer: It is not the case that everyone who claims that he saw the Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is told: he saw the Messenger in a dream in truth. Rather, if the attributes that he saw in the dream of the person who claims to be the Messenger match what was reported in the books of hadith regarding the characteristics of the Messenger, then at that time we say: his dream is true. But if he saw in the dream the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) with attributes and characteristics that contradict the Prophetic characteristics, then at that time he has not seen the Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him). So I think the questioner is confused because he hears that everyone who sees the Messenger (peace be upon him) in a dream has seen him in truth.
The answer: No, rather there is this detail: whoever sees him matching his attributes and characteristics has seen him, otherwise he has not. And based on this detail, we must understand the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him): . If he said: , and then you ask the dreamer and say to him: Please, describe the Messenger (peace be upon him) to us? For example, what was his beard like? He will tell you: white like cotton. He did not see the Messenger (peace be upon him); because the Messenger did not grow old! And it was reported in "Sahih al-Bukhari" and others that there were ten or eleven white hairs in his beard and that was it. So when the dreamer says: I saw him completely gray-haired, we know for certain that he did not see the Messenger (peace be upon him); because what is the benefit of his saying (peace be upon him) in the hadith: ? Is this Satan who shows the dreamer himself as the Messenger and gray-haired, is the Messenger gray-haired? Then he did not resemble the Messenger (peace be upon him). Likewise, for example: tell us how you saw him? Was he walking? Sitting? Standing? And so on? No, I saw him walking. How was he walking? By Allah, he was walking like this, with a hump—for example—, this is not the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), why? Because among his characteristics and attributes is that when he walked, it was as if he was being set down from a slope (peace be upon him), he was strong, and he would outpace the strongest of men, and so on. So if the dreamer described the attributes of the Messenger (peace be upon him) that he saw in his person in the dream, and they matched the attributes of the Messenger (peace be upon him) that his noble Companions saw, then it is a true dream, otherwise it is not.
We must now keep in mind that the dreamer is in one of three states; any dreamer who claims that he saw the Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is either able to describe, meaning he has the attributes of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in his mind, or he has in his mind that he actually saw the Messenger (peace be upon him) and is able to describe his attributes (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), or he does not have it in his mind. Many people—and I am among them—see any dream, and in the morning it evaporates from my mind and it is as if I did not see anything. I saw it, by Allah, but how? The matter is completely lost on me. So here, the dreamer of the Messenger (peace be upon him) is in one of two states, and one of the two states takes two states. He is in one of two states:
The first state: Either he is able to describe or he is not able to describe; because of forgetfulness, or because he did not actually see a clear image. For example: he was told in the dream that the person walking in front of you is the Messenger (peace be upon him), or standing in front of you, yes, he did not see his face! He will not be able to describe—for example—, so if he is not able to describe, we cannot tell him: you told the truth or you made a mistake, Allah knows best. This is the first state.
The second state: He is able to describe; because he actually saw him. Here comes the previous detail; he is able to describe, and he described, and his attributes (peace be upon him) matched what is known in the books of hadith and the Sunnah, then it is a true dream; . And if he gave contradictory attributes, then as you know, it is not the dream that the Messenger (peace be upon him) intended.