Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Last night I saw ghee and honey dripping from a canopy (al-zullah). I saw people holding out their hands; some were receiving much and some little. And I saw a rope hanging from the sky to the earth. It seemed to me that you (peace and blessings be upon him) took hold of it and climbed up to the sky; then another man took hold of it and he also went up; then a third man took hold of it and he also went up; then someone else took hold of the rope, but it broke; then the rope was mended, and he too climbed up." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Shall I interpret it?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Interpret it." He said: "The canopy (al-zullah) means Islam; the ghee and honey dripping from it mean the Qur'an, its softness and its sweetness; 'those receiving much and those receiving little' (al-mustakthir wa al-mustaqill) are those who learn much of the Qur'an and those who learn little; the rope coming from the sky to the earth means the truth (al-haqq) which you (peace and blessings be upon him) brought and upon which you (peace and blessings be upon him) stand, because of which Allah gave you ascendancy. After you (peace and blessings be upon him), another man took hold of this truth and gained ascendancy; then another gained ascendancy by means of it; then someone else took hold of it and the rope breaks, then in the end it is joined again, because of which he gains ascendancy. O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Tell me, did I say it correctly or wrongly?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Some right and some wrong." He said: "I swear that you (peace and blessings be upon him) must tell me my mistake." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not swear."
(b) Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that a man came; and in the hadith it says: "I adjure you (peace and blessings be upon him)."
(c) Imam Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) says that he said: "By Allah, O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Inform me of my mistake."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الأيمان / 19884