Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 490 [Read full issue]
Prayer of a Tree
Narrated by Ibn Abbas: "A Man went to the Prophet, upon him be the peace and blessings of Allah, and said, 'Last night, in a dream, I saw myself praying beneath a tree. When I prostrated myself, the tree prostrated too, and I hear it say: "O Lord! Write for me the recompense (of the prayer), delete because of it a sin, make of it a treasure for me, and accept it of me as You accepted it of the Prophet Dawud, upon him be peace".' I later witnessed the Prophet of Allah, upon him be peace, prostrate and repeat the words of the tree as related by the man from his dream."
Now, as is apparent, the man who had the dream had so completely absorbed the teachings of Islam that even in his sleep they gave fruit to his soul. But, more importantly, we learn that the heart of the Prophet, the Master, enveloped in the love of Allah, could be moved by anything spiritual so that it picked up the words of the dua ascribed to the tree, and retained them so that the Prophet could repeat them in his own prostration. Indeed, the harmony of the Prophets with their Lord is one that reverberates at the slightest touch.
Source:
"Remembrance and Prayer" - Muhammad Al-Ghazali, p. 144