Dog According to Ibn Siren, dream interpreters disagree on what a dog represents in dreams. Some of them regard it as a slave or a servant, others as a despot, a terrible person, and a slanderer, if it barks. The black dog is an Arab. On the other hand, a dog could also mean a weak enemy with little chivalry, if any. The she-dog is a mean woman. If she bites, such a woman would harm the dreamer. If a dog tears the dreamer’s clothes, it would mean that a low man would backbite him. For Al-Nabulsi, the dog symbolizes a policeman of low rank, a gate-man, or a guardian, a niggardly person, a weak enemy, and a stupid, profligate, and aggressive man who never hesitates to commit foolish or criminal acts, especially if it barks; it would mean that he has an awful temper, that he is terrible. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Quran If one sees himself completing the reading of the entire Quran in a dream, it means that a splendid reward from his Lord is awaiting him, and that he will get whatever he asks for. If a disbeliever sees himself reading the holy Quran in a dream, the verses of admonition will help him in his life, the verses of punishment will be his warning from Allah Almighty and the parables will denote his need to contemplate the meaning. If one sees himself writing the verses of the holy Quran on slabs of a mother of pearl, or on a piece of cloth in a dream, it means that he interprets it according to his own liking. If one sees himself inscribing a Quranic verse on the ground in a dream, it means that he is an atheist. It is also said that reading the Quran in a dream means fulfillment of one's needs, clearing of one's heart and establishment of one's success in his life. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Milk • Drinking cattle milk: Legitimate profits from the ruler. • Human male milk (sperm) being poured on the dreamer: Will face financial hardships and ultimately go to prison. • Milking a she-camel: A reference to alien workers in the Arab world. • Milking a she-camel and drinking such milk: (1) Will marry a virtuous woman. (2) Will have a good son who will one day show his gratitude to his parents. • Milking a she-camel to obtain blood: Tyranny. • Milking a she-camel to get poison: Will reap illicit profits, thus committing a sin. • A merchant milking a she-camel: Blessed transactions and gains, and life will smile on him inasmuch as there was milk. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Vagina • Dreaming that one’s wife has no vagina: A matter will be stalled, and the dreamer will be helpless and humiliated. • The vagina being cut: Bad omen, meaning perhaps that enemies will prevail. • Biting the vagina of an unknown woman: Relief and joy. • The vagina of an unidentified old woman: Relief in life. Holding firm a woman’s vagina with one’s hand, which turns into a penis: Her morals will change. If it remains a penis, she will remain authoritarian, impudent, loud, and impossible to tame. • Vaginal or pubic hair: (1) Period is on the way. (2) Poetic diatribe, a speciality of ancient Arab poets. It is noteworthy that in Arabic the words for hair and poem resemble each other. The former is shaar and the latter sheer. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Blindness (Gold; Heedlessness; Inheritance; Poverty) In a dream, blindness means heedlessness, misguidance or receiving an inheritance. A blind man in a dream represents a poor person and because of his poverty, his actions mostly harm his religious life. Blindness in a dream also means a calamity, an accident, a misfortune, sadness, harm, sorrows and distress. If a blind man sees himself wrapped with new cloth in a dream, it means his death. If one sees himself blind in a dream, it means debts he owes, or a pilgrimage he must attend. If one is blinded in a dream, it means that he will betray his covenant with his Lord. Becoming blind in a dream means suffering from poverty and becoming needy after being rich, or it could mean satisfaction and contentment, or it could mean losing a dear person. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Camel (Arabian camel; Bactrian camel; Ride) Riding a camel who is obedient to his master in a dream means solving one's problem at the hand of a foreigner. If an Arab helps resolving one's problem in the dream, it means that the person in the dream will perform a pilgrimage to Allah's House in Mecca. If he dismounts his camel during his journey in a dream, it means that he will be inflicted with a disease that will obstruct his journey. If one sees himself leaping over a camel in a dream, it means distress, a sickness or a growing enmity toward an insolent person. If one finds himself unable to control his camel in a dream, it means being overcome by a strong opponent. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Mouse The mouse symbolizes the dreamer’s household: those who dwell in his house—his wife and children, et cetera—a debauched woman, or, some say, a devilish Jewish woman or a Jew, as related by Al-Nabulsi. It could also refer to a thief. Many mice means profit and welfare. Mice of the same color allude to women. The rat is a digging thief. • Dreaming of a mouse playing in one’s house: Prosperity will increase because, according to the ancient Arabs, mice invade only those places that are prosperous. And only people who are not hungry can afford to play. • Seeing mice in one’s house: Dangerous women will enter that house. • A mouse leaving one’s house: Livelihood and blessings will decrease. • Owning a mouse: Will have a servant because, like servants, mice share the food of the master. • White and black mice coming and going: Long life, as the white indicate the days and the black the nights. To borrow the expressions of Ibn Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Wedding • On the contrary, a wedding party in which dancing or any form of entertainment takes place heralds a tragedy. A particularly bad omen is the zaghrouda, the strident, long-drawn, and trilling shrill produced by Arab women by moving the tongue with the rapidity of the drumstick of an electric bell as a manifestation of joy. One zaghrouda means minor worries. • A person giving a wedding party: Catastrophe. • Being invited to a wedding ceremony: Joy and happiness, provided no food or banquet is seen. • Organizing or looking after the preparations of a wedding party: Some members of the dreamer’s family will attend his funeral. • If the wedding ceremony takes place in a house where a person is ill: The latter will die. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Silver But ancient Arab interpreters were divided about the interpretation of dreams involving silver. To some finding silver tablets or bars meant joy or that the dreamer would procure some in reality. To others it meant worries and sorrow; it all depended on the personality of the dreamer himself. According to Al-Kirmani, genuine and intact silver meant some truthful news would arrive. Broken silver is a reference to misleading information and animosity. • Finding some molten piece of silver or receiving it from someone: The dreamer will marry a woman from that person’s folk. • A golden or silver salt cellar: An agreeable woman, as in Arabic salt is melh and agreeable is maliha. But silver is always better than gold. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Grape Black grapes during the right season symbolize fear and disease; otherwise they mean trouble and worries. They are also a harbinger of cold weather. Grapes were believed by the ancient Arabs to be harmful. They also thought that no benefit could be derived from the black color and hated black grapes in any case. Among other things, they argued that the grape was originally white, placed near the son of Nuh (Noah). When his father cursed him, it suddenly turned black. Certain dream interpreters felt that the black grape meant nothing but money that will not last. Separate from the bunch, it symbolized extreme fear or chills. Others regarded the black grape as a not so bad dream, in view of a verse in the Holy Quran: “And of the fruits of the date-palm, and grapes, whence ye derive strong drink and (also) good nourishment. Lo! therein, is indeed a portent for people who have sense.” (“Al-Nahl” [The Bees], verse 67.) They also thought so because the Prophet Zakareyyah (Zacharia) used to find it at Mariam’s (Mary’s) place. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Bee A bee has different meanings depending on whether the dreamer is a civilian, farmer, or military man, for bees produce honey, which is something sweet, useful, and beneficial and, according to a verse of the Holy Quran, a remedy for people. Paradoxically, bees could also be an allusion to disease, by association of ideas. At the same time, bees have a clear-cut hierarchy and are highly disciplined, tenacious, and toiling creatures. They symbolize the military or the Muslim army (once one of the most powerful in the world). In any case, a bee in a dream is a laborious and very gifted person in terms of earning his or her livelihood and whose companions can only benefit from him, but a dangerous person as well. For the ancient Arabs, a bee symbolized the Bedouin or, in abstract terms, perseverance, gains, and the accumulation of wealth. And since Muslims believe that bees are inspired by God to follow a certain order and discipline in excelling in the production of various types of honey with different aromas, they are thought to symbolize knowledge or know-how, division of labour or categorization, erudition, and the authoring of literary or scientific works. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Child birth (Giving birth) Seeing one's wife giving birth to a baby son in a dream when in fact she is not pregnant means wealth. If a pregnant woman sees herself giving birth to a baby girl in a dream, it means a boy, and if she gives birth to a boy in the dream, it means a girl. Giving birth to a girl means relief from distress, while giving birth to a boy in the dream means distress and worries. If a sick person sees his mother giving birth to him in a dream, it means the approach of his death, for a deceased person is wrapped in a shroud, while a newborn is wrapped with a receiving cloth. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Milk Milking an Arabian she camel in a dream means working in an Arab country. Milking an Asian Bactrian camel in a dream means working in another country. If blood comes out of the glands of a she-camel instead of milk in a dream, it means deviation from Allah's path, or it could represent a tyranny. If a venom flows from one's glands instead of milk in the dream, it means earning unlawful money. If a merchant, or a business man milks any milk producing animal in a dream, it means profits. Sucking the gland of a pregnant she-camel, one, two, or three times in a dream means steadfastness in one's religion, performing one's obligatory prayers, distributing charity, acquiring knowledge and wisdom. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Garment If one sees himself wearing a silken raiment and portraying a religious jurist in a dream, it means that he is a seeker of worldly titles who may invent something new. Announcing lost and found garments in a dream means attending a pilgrimage to Mecca or a journey to an Arab country. A woman wearing a thin garment in a dream represents her integrity, while if she is wearing a thick garment, it represents her labor and hardships. If one sees himself putting on a new garment after taking a ritual bath in a dream, it means prosperity or repayment of his debts. If one's new garment is torn and cannot be repaired in the dream, it means inability to bear children. If the garment can be repaired in the dream, it means that there is an evil spell over the person wearing it. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Palm tree Uprooting a palm tree in a dream also means a dead end to one's plans, or it could mean a dispute. A palm tree in a dream also represents one's paternal aunt. Palm trees in a dream also represent Arab women. If one sees a seedling become a big palm tree in a dream, it means that a child in that community will grow to be a great scholar. It also connotes that a weak person will grow strong. Seeing a palm tree in a dream also means longevity, a scholar, a teacher, children, a wife, a house, a property, a king, a year, new clothing, money, or bearing a child. To prune or trim a palm tree in a dream means that one's adversity at his work or related to his travels will be dispelled. (Also see Palmyra; Tree) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Anus If one's anus bleeds in the dream, it means money. If one sees himself excreting in a dream, it means spending money with a clear intent of benefiting from it. Seeing the anus of an unknown woman in a dream means material losses, or it could mean difficulties in acquiring the necessary money for one's livelihood. Seeing worms coming from one's anus means departing from one's children or loss of one's children. If a cloth comes out of one's anus in a dream, it means severing relations with strangers who took advantage of one's children and abused their rights. Having sexual intercourse with a woman through the anus in a dream means asking for something in the wrong way. If one sees a peacock coming out of his anus in a dream, it means that he will beget a beautiful daughter. If he sees a fish coming out of his anus in a dream, it means that his wife will beget an ugly looking daughter. (Also see Pederasty; Sexual intercourse; Sodomy) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Breast • A young woman dreaming of having milk in her breast: Will conceive and deliver. • An old woman dreaming of having milk in her breast: Will lose her money and become poor. • The breast having lengthened till touching the belly: (1) If the dreamer is a little boy, he will die. (2) If the dreamer is a man, he is indulging in frivolous matters that arouse the wrath of God. (3) If the dreamer is a childless man, he will become poor and desolate. (4) If the dreamer is a woman, it means extreme sorrow because, says Ibn Siren, in their sorrow Arab women pull and scratch their breasts. • Sucking a woman’s breast: Will get ill. • The dreamer sucking the breast of his pregnant wife: She will give birth to a male child. • A pregnant woman dreaming of sucking another lady’s breast: Will give birth to a girl. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Horse • A horse dying at a person’s hands or in his house: The death of such a person. • Riding on a white-footed horse with a white fringe and all white harness while dressed as a full-fledged horseman: Will gain power and prestige, merit praise, and live secure from all enemies. A bay, roan, or reddish brown horse would be best if the dreamer were a combatant. The salamander (a color of Arab horses) refers to dignity and disease. • Riding on a horse and making it run till it sweats: Will be overcome by passion and commit sins to earn your living. It is noteworthy that sweat emanating from running is an expenditure on some sinful matter, in view of the verse of the Holy Quran that reads: “Run (flee) not, but return to the good things of this life which were given you, and to your homes, in order that ye may be called to account. They said: Alas for us! Woe to us! We were indeed wrongdoers!” (“Al-Anbiyae” [The Prophets], verses 13–14.) Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Donkey • A donkey that goes along well or keeps the pace: The best of this world. • A saddled donkey: A child with a golden spoon (born and living in prosperity). • A donkey with a long tail: The dreamer’s empire or tradition will be preserved by his successors. • Death of a donkey: The owner will die, will be isolated, or will lose his money and his business or his shop will be destroyed or he will be ousted from it. Otherwise, the slave who serves him or his father or grandfather who supported him will pass away, his endeavours will fade, or his master, who was under his spell will die, sell him, or go away. For a woman, her husband will divorce her, die, move away, or travel and leave her behind. • A donkey whose owner is unknown and which, instead of obeying, keeps braying: An ignorant and loud person in view of a verse of the Holy Quran that reads as follows: “Be modest in thy bearing and subdue thy voice. Lo! the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass.” (“Surat Luqman,” verse 19.) According to the ancient Arabs, it could also be a reference to Jews: “The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Law of Moses, yet apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books. Wretched is the likeness of folk who deny revelations of Allah. And Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk.” (“Surat Al-Jumuah” [The Congregation], verse 5.) Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Tree The tree symbolizes religion and sects in view of the allegory in the Holy Quran of the good tree (date palm) and the good words: “Seest thou not how Allah coineth a similitude: A goodly saying, as a goodly tree, its roots set firm, branches reaching into Heaven.” (“Ibrahim” [Abraham], verse 24.) Likewise, the Muslims Holy Prophet likened the good tree to the Muslim. The one he saw himself holding in a spiritual odyssey,52 he said, was the duty of praying, which he had brought to his followers. Ancient Arab dream interpreters said that whereas the tree referred to the man’s deeds, religion, or ego, its leaves symbolizes his character, its beauty his nice shape and clothing, its branches his brothers, relatives, folk, and beliefs, its heart his hidden essence and his secrets, its bark his appearance, skin, and all that he uses to adorn himself with, and its semen his faith, piety, assets, and life. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
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