Mishkat al-Masabih

Anas reported God’s messenger as saying:“One night it seemed to me in a dream that I was in the house of ‘Uqba b. Rafi' and was brought some of the fresh dates of Ibn Tab*. I interpreted it as meaning that to us is granted eminence (rif’a) in this world, a blessed hereafter (al- ‘aqiba) in the next, and that our religion has been good (tab)."** Muslim transmitted it. * While some suggest that Ibn Tab was a man who lived either in the desert or in Medina who had dates, the correct explanation is more likely that this is the name of a type of Medina dates and not a man’s name. ** A good omen is taken from the basic meanings of the parts of these names.