Al-Kafi reports through Musafir that Imam Ali al-Rida first asked whether there were fish in a nearby water channel and, after Musafir confirmed it, said that he had seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the previous night. In the dream the Prophet addressed him, “O Ali, what is with us is better for you.” Later Imami commentators understood the words as pointing toward the nearness of death, while al-Majlisi also discussed why the report begins with the question about the fish.
Al-Kafi preserves a short dream report from Musafir about Imam Ali al-Rida. The scene begins with an unusual question. The Imam asks Musafir whether there are fish in the water channel. Musafir looks and confirms that there are. Only then does the Imam tell him about what he had seen the previous night.
Imam al-Rida says that he saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a dream. The Prophet addressed him directly by name: “O Ali, what is with us is better for you.” The report gives no long dream landscape and no extended conversation. Its weight rests on this single sentence. Read in the setting in which al-Kafi places it, the words were understood as an indication that departure from this world and joining what was with the Prophet was drawing near.
The opening question about the fish attracted later commentary because it seems deliberately placed before the dream. Al-Majlisi records more than one explanation. One interpretation is that the Imam was showing that his certainty about what he was about to say was like his certainty that fish were present in the water before him. Another explanation treats the fish as a sign connected with the nearness of his death. These are later explanations of the report, not extra words from the dream itself.
A later version transmitted from al-Khara'ij makes the connection with death more explicit. It repeats the dream message and then adds that Imam al-Rida died a few days afterward. Because that wording belongs to a later transmission, it is best used as a supporting continuation rather than silently inserted into the wording of al-Kafi.
There is also a separate report attributed to Imam al-Rida that helps explain how dreams are treated within this Imami tradition. After speaking about seeing his father in a dream, he is reported to have told al-Hasan: “Our dream and our wakefulness are one.” This saying is not part of Musafir’s report, but it is directly relevant to the significance given to such dreams in reports about the Imam.
The strongest presentation therefore stays close to the dream itself: the confirmed fish in the channel, the vision of the Prophet ﷺ the previous night, the direct address “O Ali,” and the message that what was with the Prophet was better for him. Al-Majlisi later graded the al-Kafi report hasan. The later interpretations and the report that death followed after a few days can clarify its meaning, while remaining clearly distinguished from the original dream wording.
Imam al-Rida says that he saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a dream. The Prophet addressed him directly by name: “O Ali, what is with us is better for you.” The report gives no long dream landscape and no extended conversation. Its weight rests on this single sentence. Read in the setting in which al-Kafi places it, the words were understood as an indication that departure from this world and joining what was with the Prophet was drawing near.
The opening question about the fish attracted later commentary because it seems deliberately placed before the dream. Al-Majlisi records more than one explanation. One interpretation is that the Imam was showing that his certainty about what he was about to say was like his certainty that fish were present in the water before him. Another explanation treats the fish as a sign connected with the nearness of his death. These are later explanations of the report, not extra words from the dream itself.
A later version transmitted from al-Khara'ij makes the connection with death more explicit. It repeats the dream message and then adds that Imam al-Rida died a few days afterward. Because that wording belongs to a later transmission, it is best used as a supporting continuation rather than silently inserted into the wording of al-Kafi.
There is also a separate report attributed to Imam al-Rida that helps explain how dreams are treated within this Imami tradition. After speaking about seeing his father in a dream, he is reported to have told al-Hasan: “Our dream and our wakefulness are one.” This saying is not part of Musafir’s report, but it is directly relevant to the significance given to such dreams in reports about the Imam.
The strongest presentation therefore stays close to the dream itself: the confirmed fish in the channel, the vision of the Prophet ﷺ the previous night, the direct address “O Ali,” and the message that what was with the Prophet was better for him. Al-Majlisi later graded the al-Kafi report hasan. The later interpretations and the report that death followed after a few days can clarify its meaning, while remaining clearly distinguished from the original dream wording.
Conclusion
This may be published with caution as an Imami report in which Imam Ali al-Rida saw the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in a dream and heard, “O Ali, what is with us is better for you,” a message later understood as an indication of approaching death.
Sources
Al-Kafi 1/4/47/6 reports Musafir from Imam Ali al-Rida, who says he saw the Messenger of Allah in a dream and heard a statement indicating that what was with them was better for him.
Displayed grading for the same al-Kafi hadith: حسن.
Mir'at al-'Uqul, commentary on al-Kafi 1/260 hadith 6: al-Majlisi grades the report hasan and records multiple explanations for the question about fish in the canal, including certainty by analogy and a sign of approaching death.
Bihar al-Anwar 49:54, quoting al-Khara'ij: Musafir reports the dream statement 'O Ali, what is with us is better for you,' followed by 'then he died after some days.'
Qurb al-Isnad, p.348, hadith 1258: after a report about seeing his father in a dream, Imam al-Rida is attributed the statement 'O Hasan, our sleep/dream and our wakefulness are one.'