سورة الروم

Imam Hasan (peace be upon him): In the books Kamal al-Din and Tamam al-Ni'ma a long hadith is narrated in which Imam Hasan (peace be upon him) says: Hasan ibn Ali (peace be upon him), by the command of his father Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), replied to Khidr (peace be upon him) — who had asked Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) about certain matters — [as follows]: As for what you asked, when a person sleeps where does his soul go? Know that the soul is attached to the wind, and the wind is attached to the air, until the time when the sleeper stirs to wake. So if Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, permits that soul to be returned to its owner, that wind draws the soul and that wind draws the air, and thus the soul returns and settles in the body of its owner. And if Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, does not permit that soul to be returned to its owner, the air draws the wind and the wind draws the soul, and it is no longer returned to its owner until he is raised on the Day of Resurrection.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Ya'qub ibn Shu'ayb said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), quoting the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), say: "In the children of Adam there are three hundred and sixty veins, one hundred and eighty of which are in motion and one hundred and eighty are still. If the ones in motion were to become still, or conversely the still ones were to move, the person would not be able to sleep." And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), every morning and evening, in thanksgiving for the soundness of the veins, would say three hundred and sixty times: الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعالَمِینَ کَثِیراً عَلَی کُلِّ حَالٍ [Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, abundantly in every state].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): In the book Nur al-Thaqalayn a hadith is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) in refutation of the Dahriyya (the materialists): Drowsiness brings on sleep, which gives ease and restores strength ... and if a person were only to turn to sleep by reflecting on his need for the body's rest and the restoration of its powers, it would not be far that this would become burdensome to him and he would not do it, until his body became emaciated.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Rida (peace be upon him): A man from Sham asked Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) in the Grand Mosque of Kufa: "... In how many modes is sleep?" The Imam said: "It is of four kinds: the Prophets sleep on their backs, lying face upward, and their eyes do not sleep, awaiting the revelation of their Lord; the believer sleeps on his right side, facing the qibla; kings and their children sleep on their left side, so that what they eat may be well digested for them; and Iblis and his brothers, and every madman and diseased person, sleep face down, prostrate on their face."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Ibrahim ibn Abd al-Hamid narrates: Imam Kazim (peace be upon him), quoting the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), said: The mother of Sulayman ibn Dawud (peace be upon him) said to him: "O my son! Beware of much sleep at night, for indeed much sleep at night leaves a man poor on the Day of Resurrection."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) cursed three [types of people]: the one who eats his provision alone, the one who travels through the wilderness alone, and the one who sleeps in a house alone.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): O Ali (peace be upon him)! There are three things from which madness is feared; ... a man sleeping alone.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Three qualities incur the wrath of Allah; sleeping in the day without having stayed awake at night; laughter without a cause; and eating when already full.