The Most Beloved Dream

DAILYREFLECTION

Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I served the Prophet ﷺ for ten years in Madinah, and I never saw anyone more beautiful or blessed than him.”

He was a boy when he entered the Prophet’s home, and a man when he left it. For ten years he saw him every day, the light on his face, the mercy in his speech, the perfection in his manners. And then the Prophet ﷺ returned to his Lord.

Anas lived on for nearly ninety more years. Imagine what that longing must have felt like, the silence of nights once filled with his voice, the ache of remembering his footsteps, the emptiness of living in a world without him.

Al-Muthanna ibn Sa‘id narrates that Anas said, “By Allah, there is not a single night that passes except that I see my beloved ﷺ in it.”

And when he said that, he wept. For ten years he served him in this world. For ninety years, he saw him in his dreams. And now, by Allah’s permission, he is with him again.

Before he died at over a hundred years old, Anas asked to be buried with the belongings he still had from the Prophet ﷺ, a few strands of his blessed hair and his walking stick. What must that reunion in the barzakh have been like, after a lifetime of yearning and ninety years of nightly reunion in dreams?

But here is the hope: You don’t have to have lived with the Prophet ﷺ to connect with him. That door was never closed.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “There is no one who sends salam upon me except that Allah returns my soul to me so that I may respond to his salam.” Right now, wherever you are, if you whisper “Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad,” he ﷺ responds to you. The connection is not poetic; it is real. He also said, “Among the best of your days is Friday. So send many prayers upon me, for your salawat are presented to me.”

Know that some of the most righteous people never saw the Prophet ﷺ in their dreams. Others, less observant, were given that dream as mercy, a push to return, a spark to begin again. And yet, for those who do see him, it is no small thing.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever sees me in a dream has truly seen me, for Shaytan cannot assume my form.” It is a true meeting between souls, but not the goal of the seeker.

The goal is to live a life that resembles his. To speak gently when provoked. To forgive when wronged. To stand at night in gratitude when no one is watching. To live so closely to his way that if he were to appear before you in this life or the next, he would recognize you as one of his own.

And maybe then, when your heart beats in rhythm with his sunnah, Allah will honor you with seeing him in your sleep, or when you wake in the next world and meet him at last.

REFLECT ON THIS:

If the Prophet ﷺ were to appear before us today, would he recognize his character reflected in the way we live?

^{Share your reflections in the poll at the end of the email.}

WATERMELONWATCH

• Israeli forces conducted new strikes in eastern Gaza City and near Khan Younis despite a U.S.-brokered truce, asserting they targeted “terrorist infrastructure”; Palestinians report fresh casualties and mounting fear.

• The cease-fire remains fragile following Israeli air-strikes that killed more than 100 people, including dozens of children, in one of the deadliest days since the truce began.

• Humanitarian teams continue to operate under fire: staff from the Palestine Red Crescent Society are risking their lives to deliver vaccines to children while medical supplies remain critically low.

• International pressure is mounting: Ireland condemned the deadly strikes and called on all parties to implement the truce and increase aid access to Gaza.

• Despite the violence, grassroots resilience persists: displaced families in Gaza say that even under bombardment they are organising mutual aid networks—sharing food, water and shelter support among neighbours.

QURANCORNER

Each day, you’ll be introduced to one of the 300 most common Qur’anic words. The Qur’an has about 77,430 words in total, all built on just 2,000 root words. By learning these frequently recurring ones, you’ll recognize 70–80% of the Qur’an’s vocabulary and begin connecting more deeply as you read.

Anta (أنت) - You

A word of direct address - Anta speaks to one soul, face-to-face. It’s intimate, clear, and unmistakable. In moments of guidance, love, or correction, Anta reminds us that the message isn’t distant… it’s personal. It’s as if the voice turns toward you alone and says: You, yes you.