Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 2043 — Keeping guard

It is narrated from an elderly shaykh who used to stand guard on the coast that he said: One night it was my turn to keep watch, and apart from me no other guard went out on duty. I climbed the building designated for keeping watch, and while awake it repeatedly seemed to me as though the sea was rising so high that it reached the level of the mountain peaks. Then I fell asleep and saw in a dream as though I had a banner in my hand and the people of Madinah were walking behind me while I was in front of them. When morning came and I returned to Madinah, I met the commander of the army and Abu Salih, the freed slave of Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him); these two were the first to come out of Madinah. They asked me: Where are the rest of the people? I replied that they had all gone back before me. They said: Why do you not tell us the truth, when we are the very first to have come out of Madinah? At that I told them that in fact no one other than me had gone out on guard duty. Abu Salih asked: What did you see there? I said: By Allah! It repeatedly appeared to me that the sea was rising so high that it reached the level of the mountain peaks. Abu Salih said: "You have spoken the truth. Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) related to us this saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'There is no night in which the sea does not try three times to surge over the people of the earth; it asks Allah Almighty for permission to pour out over them, that is, to break upon them as a flood, but Allah Almighty holds it back.'" I further said that I had also seen in a dream that I had a banner in my hand and the people of Madinah were walking behind me. Abu Salih said: "If your dream is true, then tonight you have gathered a reward equal to that of the whole town of Madinah." The narrator says that before this incident Abu Salih used to keep somewhat aloof from me, but after it he became at ease with me, and while talking with me he said that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) had instructed us that three of us should work together: one to trade for us, one to go out on jihad, and one to take responsibility for bringing in goods. So this was my turn, and now I am returning to Madinah. I (Ibn Hajar) say: Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated only the marfu' part of this report (the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)) by way of Yazid.