That a dream could one day ignite the greatest revolution in the Islamic civilization—such things are rare. But in the life of Imām al-Bukhārī, even the rare became real. This is how it unfolded.
One night, the Imam was in deep, peaceful sleep when he beheld the Prophet ﷺ in his dream. He stood before the Prophet with reverence. Suddenly, strange things began to fly toward the Prophet’s blessed body. And there he was—al-Bukhārī—fending them off with a fan, shielding the Messenger of God ﷺ from harm. He awoke, startled. The sweetness of having seen the Prophet lingered in his heart like fragrance in still air.
Every true dream, as scholars say, has a meaning—an interpretation rooted in spiritual perception. Dream interpretation, after all, is both an art and a sacred science. The Qur’an itself narrates how the Prophet Yusuf عليه السلام interpreted visions. The best among the Companions in this field was none other than Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq. The Prophet ﷺ himself interpreted many dreams.
Al-Bukhārī, well-versed in this knowledge, rose and approached one of the leading dream interpreters of his time. He described the vision. The interpretation was swift and striking: “You will defend the words of the Prophet from those who might corrupt them.”
That dream, al-Bukhārī later said, was the first spark that inspired his Kitāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ—what the world now knows as Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.
Another moment of inspiration had already planted its seed. As he once recounted: “I was seated in a lesson with Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh when someone remarked, ‘What if someone compiled a concise book that gathers only the most authentic hadiths of the Prophet?’ That suggestion settled deep in my heart. From that day forward, the thought never left me. Thus began the journey toward Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.”
This book was more of a spiritual covenant. A trust. A sacred legacy. Every word, every chain, every syllable had to be exact. Not even a single letter could be mistaken.
Al-Bukhārī said. “Compiling the Ṣaḥīḥ was not a brief task. It took me sixteen years. I selected it from over six hundred thousand hadiths. I sought to produce a sound legal document between myself and Allah, so I included only what I was fully convinced to be authentic. Before writing each hadith, I would bathe, purify myself, offer two rakʿahs of prayer, and ask Allah for success.”
This was not just a book. It was an act of worship. A prayer written with ink. Once completed, the Imam presented it to some of the greatest scholars of the time: Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh, ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn. These giants of knowledge praised it unanimously.
They said, “Every narration in this collection is ṣaḥīḥ—authentic.” Yet they raised concern over four hadiths. Even so, later scholars, like al-ʿUqaylī, affirmed: “On all four points, al-Bukhārī was correct. His chain of transmission was sound and rigorous.”
The full title of the book, as given by the Imam himself, reveals its grand vision: “al-Jāmiʿ al-Musnad al-Ṣaḥīḥ al-Mukhtaṣar min Umūri Rasūlillāh ﷺ wa Sunanihī wa Ayyāmihī”
A concise and authentic compilation of the affairs, traditions, and days of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. It was the first book of its kind—a collection solely of rigorously authentic hadiths (ṣaḥīḥ). Along with Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, it is counted among the two most reliable books of hadith. But as Imām al-Nasāʾī famously said, “Between the two, al-Bukhārī’s is superior.”
The Muslim ummah received it with unified reverence. Its rulings became binding. Its hadiths became living law.
Al-Bukhārī himself said that the earliest outlines of the book were drafted in Masjid al-Ḥarām. There, within the Sacred Mosque, he conceived the arrangement, chapters, and structure. Later, he continued the writing through his extensive travels. According to Ibn ʿAdiyy, it was between the Prophet’s grave and pulpit in Madinah that he finalized the chapter headings. Thus, the book was composed in the holiest spaces: Makkah and Madinah.
According to Imām al-Nawawī, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī contains 7,275 hadiths with repetitions. Without repetitions, around 4,000. Some hadiths appear multiple times—intentionally. For al-Bukhārī used the same hadith to illuminate different themes: law, belief, ethics, worship. Each chapter heading reflects a subtle dimension of knowledge.
Even his headings are a treasury of scholarly insight. So great is this work that scholars often say: “After the Qur’an, then comes al-Bukhārī.”
Under the heavens, no book has earned such status. Scholars viewed the very recitation of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī as a source of divine blessing. Tājuddīn al-Subkī wrote:
“Reciting al-Bukhārī helps in fulfilling one’s needs. We have tested this many times. It brings relief in all afflictions.”
Ibn Kathīr reported: “There was a well-known tradition of reciting Kitab al-Bukhārī to pray for rain. And rain would descend. We have seen this happen.”
Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn quoted his uncle Sayyid Asīl al-Dīn: “In my life, I recited Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 120 times for different personal and communal crises. Every single time, the difficulty was lifted.”
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī is a spiritual epic. A miracle written by a man of humility and unmatched precision. A dream once dreamt in the stillness of night, now shining as one of Islam’s greatest gifts to the world.
