What we are told from the writings of the sages and spiritual dignitaries
that an indication of a truthful dream is to hear the recitation of the Qur'an
or the benedictions upon the Prophet (s)
or Zikr Allah.
If any of these things occur in your dream, it is proof that your dream is true.
However, I must inform you that this is only the case when the dream is about your faith or religion.
Even normal dreams that have nothing to do with God and the Prophet (s) can also be true.
[But] how do we identify those [true] dreams?
Sign of a True Dream
This world, living in this world can be likened to a movie, a film - like, if you were to go to a cinema to watch a film
You watch the story, you see the characters
but do you think that what you are seeing on the screen is live-action?
It's not, right? It has already been acted out and edited
Who knows when it was filmed...
You will only know when you watch it.
In a similar way, everything that is happening in the world has already transpired in the ethereal realm
and then it reoccurs in this world.
Now [the question is] where is that ethereal realm where all of this transpires?
Just as you carry out rehearsals for singing, musicals, acting, etc.
similarly, there are rehearsals for this universe, too.
Everything that is to happen here [in this world] first occurs in the ethereal world.
And there, if God decides he wants to change things, he edits whatever he doesn't like
he makes those cuts right there [in the ethereal realm].
That [particular] realm is known as Aalam e Misaal (Realm of Examples).
When God said in the Qur'an: 'And God explains things to you through ''misaal''...'
You, scholars and translators, thought this meant 'God explains through examples'
However, this is not what God said.
God here refers to the scenes depicted in Aalam e Misaal.
'God explains things to you through ''misaal''...'
This means that once you become a fakir, God will show you scenes of the future in Aalam e Misaal.
So you can act accordingly.
So you have perfection [in your work].
Or, if there is something [happening in the world] that shouldn't be, you can make the cuts.
So, true dreams come from that particular realm.
From Aalam e Misaal.
Now, this is a very important point that you must listen to carefully.
What we are told from the writings of the sages and spiritual dignitaries
that an indication of a truthful dream is to hear the recitation of the Qur'an
or the benedictions upon the Prophet (s)
or Zikr Allah.
If any of these things occur in your dream, it is proof that your dream is true.
However, I must inform you that this is only the case when the dream is about your faith or religion.
Even normal dreams that have nothing to do with God and the Prophet (s) can also be true.
[But] how do we identify those [true] dreams?
It's not necessary for all true dreams - that have nothing to do with the religion - would be accompanied by the recitation of the Qur'an.
The recitation of the Qur'an and Zikr Allah is only proof of the truthfulness of the dreams pertaining to faith, and religion.
[However], there are some dreams that have nothing to do with religion or faith, they pertain to your life in general, but they are true dreams.
What is the criterion to recognise such dreams?
You don't have the criterion for such dreams.
For that, you need to go to someone who has access to Aalam e Misaal.
He'll simply ask, 'This person has seen this dream, is it true? Did it come from here or just his imagination?'
And the Muakkal (angelic creatures) will tell him, 'Nope, it's not from here [the realm of Misaal]. It's a false dream'.
If the Muakkal say, 'Yes, it is in [the realm of Misaal]', then he would say, 'Yes, it's a true dream. It shall come to pass'.
It has been made easy to recognise true dreams pertaining to religion so that you cannot be fooled by Satan.
In those dreams, you will hear Zikr Allah, recitation of the Qur'an...but then there is a difference here.
It's important to hear the recitation and not just see a thick book with Arabic writing - it could be a book full of Arabic profanities, you never know.
Sometimes Satan shows you a thick book [in your dreams] and you presume it must be the Qur'an.
You are deceived due to your own mentality.
Now, similarly, people are quite perplexed when it comes to seeing the Prophet (s) [in dreams].
Many notable scholars were misguided due to this.
There is a hadith in which the Prophet (s) stated: 'man ra’ani faqat ra al haq'
which means: 'one who has seen me has seen the truth'.
And 'Satan cannot take up my appearance'.
Now, when [those scholars] came across this hadith and they read it, they failed to understand it.
The meaning they derived from this hadith was that one who has seen the Prophet (s) in their dream has seen the truth
because Satan cannot adopt [the Prophet (s)'s] guise.
This is why many great scholars fell prey to deception on this point.
For instance, Mulla Jiwan used to be a notable leader of the Deobandis
and then there was Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi.
Do you know what Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi saw in his dream?
God forbid, he saw that he was walking atop the Pul Sirat
and he saw that the Prophet (s) was just about to fall off the bridge.
And Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi says he saw that he saved the Prophet (s) from falling off the bridge - God forbid.
Now how could someone tell him his dream was false? He used this hadith to support [his claims].
Now, if he were to be asked this: 'how did you identify that it is truly the Prophet (s) you have seen in your dream?'
I have seen you. If you come in front of me, I will know it's you.
I've seen you before, right?
But you have never seen the Prophet (s).
How did you know it's truly the Prophet (s) when it is the very first time seeing him?
This is where you are deceived.
Now, we used to think that those who witnessed the Prophet (s)'s splendour physically in their lifetime,
surely they couldn't be deceived in their dreams because they've seen the Prophet (s).
Well, that's what I believed... that they've seen the Prophet (s) [physically].
So, Satan couldn't possibly deceive them in their dreams.
Because they've seen the Prophet (s), they'd recognise immediately whether it is truly the Prophet (s) or not.
I was of this conjecture for a long time, even after the Occultation.
After the Occultation, a man painted a very obscene picture.
He painted that His Divine Eminence is sitting and there is a dagger behind Them
It was pointed at His Divine Eminence's back.
He painted this.
His name was Muneer Memon
I called Muneer and said, 'What is this you've painted?'
He said, 'I painted what I saw in my dream'.
I said to him, 'Don't you think a dream can be false?'
He replied, 'No. How can a dream be false for us? I have spent so much time with His Divine Eminence, I have seen Them'.
When he said this, I heard the Lord's voice telling me, 'Say to him: you saw me with your eyes...
and when you're asleep and dreaming, your eyes are closed so how can these physical eyes help you recognise the truth in your dream?'
The eyes with which you have seen the Lord are closed when you're asleep.
You're not seeing dreams with your physical eyes.
It's not with these eyes but another set of eyes.
Had you seen the Lord with the eyes with which you see dreams, then you would never be deceived.
Those that are approved by the Prophet (s) and have spiritually seen the Prophet (s), they too are deceived.
I'm not even talking about those [who saw the Prophet (s)] in this world.
Satan even tries to misguide those [who have seen the Prophet (s) spiritually].
The Prophet of God said in regards to this, 'la yatashabahu bihi'
[Satan] cannot adopt the guise of the Prophet (s).
Now, there are technicalities at play here.
For example, there was a man in Pakistan who copied everything about Starbucks - the colour scheme, the logo, everything - he just changed the name to 'Sattarbuksh'.
So Starbucks filed a case against him.
He went to court and said, 'I have utilised my own name. I haven't copied you [Starbucks]'.
'I have written 'Starbucks'
Sattar Baksh is my own name'.
It was an issue of copyrights, you see.
But for copyrights, he would have to have used Starbucks but he used [his own name] Sattar Buksh.
So, [in a way] he was deceiving people by making minor changes.
We have all been fooled in Pakistan in the same way. We would prefer to use things that were made in Japan because it was reliable.
So I would often buy watches in my college days. And one day, I did exactly that.
But then I saw that on the back of the watch was written: 'Made as Japan'.
Instead of 'Made in Japan', it read 'Made as Japan'.
I thought, 'what the heck is this!'
Because people don't pay attention to these things.
And if someone were to file a case against them, they would simply point to their product and say: 'we have clearly stamped 'Made as Japan', it doesn't say '[Made] in Japan', does it?'
These are the technicalities - the Devil is not permitted to adopt the complete guise of the Prophet (s).
He is not allowed to do so.
Satan and the Devil are not permitted to utter the words, God forbid, 'I am Muhammad (s)'
He cannot say this. But you should know this already.
He cannot say it because it is false.
He cannot say: 'I am Muhammad'.
But he can [point and] say, 'He is Muhammad'.
Now, he can point at absolutely anyone.
He cannot adopt the complete guise [of the Prophet (s)].
So what does he do? He makes slight changes
so that he evades the restrictions of the divine law.
He will change the shape of the ears or make the nose bigger or smaller
or he will change the size of the eyes.
Now, since he made these changes in the appearance of the Prophet (s), therefore, it is not the complete guise of the Prophet (s).
He makes these slight, undetectable changes and then shows you [false] scenes.
And he will say, 'This is him [the Prophet]'.
Now, those who have seen [the Prophet] and they possess esoteric knowledge,
they also possess two forms of criteria.
Now, what is the criterion that we have?
The criterion that we have - and it is not knowledge, it is a criterion.
HDE Gohar Shahi kept my entire spiritual sensory system with Them for three years
and this dyed my souls in the ethereal colours of the Lord.
Therefore, whenever the Lord appears before me, my souls recognise Them instantly.
In a similar way, if these celestial spirits were in the company of Prophet Muhammad (s),
they would become acquainted with the Prophet (s).
Let me tell you of the biggest difficulty in the ethereal realm.
You see, there are nine different types of spiritual gatherings of Prophet Muhammad (s).
Nine different types of spiritual gatherings of the Prophet (s).
How many? Nine different types of spiritual gatherings of Prophet Muhammad (s).
One spiritual gathering is hosted by the lower self of the Prophet (s).
Another gathering is hosted by the spiritual heart of the Prophet (s) - it is identical in appearance to the Prophet (s) but it's the spiritual heart of the Prophet (s).
All the celestial spirits of the Prophet (s) host a different spiritual gathering.
Sometimes it's the blessed soul of the Prophet (s), other times it's the Ana of the Prophet (s), Mehmood.
The inferior saints such as Ghaus, Qutb and Abdaal have access to the spiritual gathering of the lower self of the Prophet (s).
Therefore, they do not know about the Malakuti spiritual gathering [relating to the spiritual heart of the Prophet (s)].
Those whose spiritual hearts have been in the company of the Prophet (s) gain access to the Malakuti spiritual gathering of the Prophet (s).
[But] they do not know about the spiritual gathering of the blessed soul of the Prophet (s), Rouh e Ahmed.
There are only two stations, that have the same form of recognition.
First, the Station of Muhammad, where the soul of Muhammad (s) resides
and second, the Station of Mehmood, where the Ana of Muhammad (s) resides.
The method by which you recognise both of these stations is the same.
There is no such accomplished fakir who has access to all nine spiritual gatherings of the Prophet (s).
This is why Satan attempts to deceive absolutely everyone.
This is why it is said that sainthood is the fortieth stage of prophethood.
Everything witnessed through a dream or spiritual insight by a prophet, all the divine inspirations that a prophet receives would be completely true.
Whereas for a saint, 40 out of 100 dreams, spiritual insights and divine inspiration would be true and 60 could potentially be false.
However, the saints possess esoteric knowledge that helps them determine [the truth].
They are able to distinguish [the truth from falsehood] due to the esoteric knowledge.
However, those who reach the stage of Divine Union do not depend on knowledge.
[Because] their souls are kept with [the Lord].
Those whose souls are kept with [the Lord] don't depend on knowledge; their souls are dyed in the colours [of the Lord].
Satan is very cunning, he has even created a fake form of divine light.
One day, he [Satan] brought someone to me and said, 'Look here, you call him a hypocrite though he is enlightened'.
So, I looked at him and saw lights emanating from the man's chest.
I silently prayed to the Lord to guide me. And I heard Their voice...
'If what you see is divine energy then why isn't your Zikr increasing?'
'If this is truly the light of God then why isn't it increasing your Zikr?'
This is the criterion.
I mean, if you've taken a real painkiller then it should relieve you of a headache, right?
Similarly, if his heart is enlightened with God's light, it should increase your Zikr, shouldn't it? Then why isn't it?
Then the Lord instructed me to recite: 'qul audhu bi rabbin naas malikin naas illahin naas min sharril waswasul khannas'
I had just begun reciting the verse when that 'divine light' was extinguished.
It was just normal light.
It was not divine light.
This is why it is imperative that you find a Spiritual Master on this path.
Just as a lawyer would ask you to tell him the truth, as it is.
If you've stolen, tell him. If you haven't and you're being accused, tell him.
[Lawyers might think], ‘I’ll get him to tell me all his secrets so I can blackmail him’.
Similarly, the Spiritual Master knows everything. He doesn't have to ask you anything.
Whereas, a lawyer has to be told.
However, your Spiritual Master doesn't need to ask; he can see everything.
He can see your intentions, too.
He can see your celestial spirits, too.