Bird The unknown bird symbolizes the Archangel of Death; a traveller; labour; or a man’s actions or deeds. Big and ferocious or rapacious birds are the kings, chiefs, prominent people, scholars, and rich people or those who make a good living. Waterbirds represent the nobles who hold two posts at a time, since these birds do as they like in the water and in the air. They could also symbolize people who travel by land and by sea. Dreaming of them is better than dreaming of any other species, because they have an easier livelihood and are less rapacious. Singing birds or those that wail simply refer to singers. Small birds are the young boys. • An unknown bird picking up a gravel, a leaf, or some worm and taking off to the sky from a house in which someone is ill: The patient will die. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Building The element of a good building in a dream represents love, affection, unity, progeny, prosperity, a garment of honor, and girls in one's family. A strong edifice means strength and firmness. It also means support, help and a long life. Raising a new edifice in a dream represents either personal or collective material benefits in this world. If one sees himself building an edifice in a dream, it means having intercourse with his spouse. If one builds a church, it defines him as Christian. If he builds a mosque, it defines him as Muslim. If a man of knowledge sees himself building a mosque as an offering to please Allah Almighty in a dream, it means that he will compile a study from which others will benefit or that people will seek his advice in religious matters or interpretations. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Pearl Pearls and other jewels symbolize beauty, perfection, and sexual passion for women and boys. Raw, ill-shaped, or scattered pearls are a reference to children and to good words; hidden pearls refer to exceptionally beautiful girls, slaves, or servants in view of verses from the Holy Quran about Paradise: “And (there are) those with wide, lovely eyes, like unto hidden pearls … Lo! We have created them a (new) creation and made them virgins, lovers, friends …” (“Al-Waqiah” [The Event], verses 22–23, 36–37.) The pearl also alludes to a male child who won’t live. Perfectly shaped or aligned pearls represent the Holy Quran and good learning. Likewise, big pearls are preferable to small ones, as they represent, for example, the longer chapters of the Holy Book or financial prosperity. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Hyena Thus, when interpreted to means a woman, it means that one may marry such a woman. Shooting a hyena with an arrow in a dream means corresponding with such a woman. Throwing a stone or a walnut at a hyena in a dream means slandering a woman. Hitting a hyena with a sword in a dream means lashing at such a woman with bad words. Drinking hyena's milk in a dream means suffering losses at the hand of such a woman through betrayal. Stabbing a hyena in a dream means doing business with such a woman, or managing her business, or getting married to someone in her family. Getting hold of the skin, bones, or hair of a hyena in a dream means taking advantage of such a woman and using her for her money. If it is a male hyena in the dream, then it represents a criminal and a despised person. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Beard • Having a white, shining beard: Will have power and prestige and be well noted in the country, as, according to Ibn Siren, Abraham’s beard was white. • The beard becoming hoary or gray: Prestige and respectability. • The beard graying and then turning completely white: Will become poor and unheeded. A black-bearded young man told Ibn Siren he dreamed that his beard had turned completely white and that he was trying to dye it, to no avail, as the dye wouldn’t hold. The interpreter replied that his fortune was declining and that he was trying to conceal this fact, in vain, which he admitted. • Having a jet-black or pitch-black beard: Will grow prosperous and self-sufficient, especially if the black was greenish, in which case it would mean tremendous wealth and authority coupled with tyranny, as that was said to be the color of the hair of Moses pharaoh. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
House The house gate or door is the father of the family. The mortise and tenon symbolize the female and male sexual organs as they fit into each other. Locked together, they represent the husband embracing his wife. By extension, the mortise and tenon could also refer to the couple’s two children, a boy and a girl, to two brothers, or to two persons sharing the same house. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Back (Behind; Posterior; Rear side) In a dream, the back of a human being represents what people hold for him of praises or blame, acceptance or rejection, honor or humiliation, or it could represents one's debts. Seeing the back of a human being in a dream also means following his tracks or practices. If a positive look manifests therein, such as a sweet fragrance or the emergence of a radiant light, or if it turns into iron in the dream, it signifies one's gratitude regarding his own condition. In a dream, the rear side of the human being represents his outward appearance or what renders the human being acceptable, or it could represent his garment, an ostentatious person, a show of grandeur, pride about one's social class, a show of being wealthy, the surroundings of one's house, the outskirts of a town, the outer display of one's religion or his school of thought. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Tambourine (Drum; Musical instruments) In a dream, a tambourine means adversities, pain and sufferings. It also means fame for the one carrying it. If a girl dancer carries it in the dream, it means that she may win a lottery, or acquire a publicly known fortune. The sound of a tambourine in a dream represents a recognized and a baseless fallacy. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Eye • One’s eye becoming dim: The dreamer is eyeing a friendly woman indecently. • Having weak eyesight: (1) The dreamer needs people’s help and is going adrift. (2) The dreamer’s children will be ill. • The eyes falling on one’s knees: Death of a brother and a son or any two other dear persons. • Seeing a slave girl (the word in Arabic meaning “A running one”) or a couple of eyes flying rapidly in the sky: Will make money from business or a craft. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Pregnancy • A boy under the age of puberty being pregnant: A reference to his father. • A pregnant woman: (1) Her wealth will increase, commensurate with the size of her belly. (2) She will persevere till she makes the money she wants, which will grow constantly. She will be proud of her achievements and highly dignified and praised. (3) Trouble, unhappiness, worries, and concealed matters. • A girl under the age of puberty being pregnant: A reference to her mother. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Yashmak (Turk. Double veil worn by Muslim women; Apparel; Attire; arb. Khimar; Niqab) A yashmak or a veil covering the lower part of the face up to the eyes in a dream represents a young girl who will live a long life, or it could represent one who devotes her life to religious and spiritual studies. (Also see Khimar; Veil) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Burial If the other person places him inside a coffin in a dream, it means that he will move to a new home. If the other person fills the grave with dirt on top of him in the dream, it means that he will be piled with money equal to the amount he is being buried under in the dream. It is said that to be buried alive in a dream means losing one's spirituality or religious commitment, unless one comes out of it alive. If one walks out of his grave covered with dirt, then shakes off the dust in the dream, it means that his state is hopeless or that his repentance has little chance to hold. To be buried alive in a dream means imprisonment or despise by others, or a severe punishment which makes one's chastisement an exemplary lesson to others, If a gnostic or a wise man is seen buried alive inside his own house, or if he is brought out of it alive in a dream, it means that one will inherit him in knowledge, wisdom and status. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Salt Salt has controversial interpretations. Ibn Siren did not like dreams involving salt. Some say white salt represents asceticism coupled with welfare and blessings. Cooking salt means worries, trouble, and disease or money earned the hard way and bringing about many problems. • Finding salt: Hardships and a severe ailment. • Eating bread and salt: Contentment. • A saltbox: A pretty girl. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Stair Stairs symbolize the rise in life and elevation in the Hereafter. They also allude to the notion of step by step, the travellers stopovers or transit points, the years of life, or days of work toward a certain goal. The staircase also refers to the majordomo or the housekeeper, the dreamer’s horse or whatever animal he rides, et cetera. For a ruler or a governor of some kind steps made of mortar mean promotion, welfare, and religion. For a merchant they mean business with piety and ethics. Steps made of bricks are resented, because bricks enter the fire. If made of stone, they mean promotion and welfare but arrived at with a stone heart. Made of wood, they mean welfare and promotion with hypocrisy and dissimulation. Steps made of gold mean that the dreamer will govern and enjoy abundance. If the steps are made of silver, the dreamer will have as many slave girls or servants. Brass or bronze steps mean that he will have the best of this world. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Rose Receiving a rose from a young man in a dream means receiving a promise that will not hold too. Seeing a crown of roses over one's head in a dream means getting married. Roses on a tray in a dream signify the pleasure of youth that does not last, or they could denote the temporary joy of this world. Roses in a dream also signify praiseworthiness, or enjoying a good reputation. Rose oil or attar which is made from the petals of damask roses in a dream means intelligence, clarity of mind, a friendly and a gentle person. If a sick person sees himself laying on a bed of flowers in a dream, it means that he might die within forty days, because forty days represent the life span of a rose blossom. Cutting off a rosebush in a dream means distress. Harvesting roses in a dream means joy. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Kiss (Love; Passion; Rose; Tenderness) A kiss in a dream means satisfying one's need, want or desire, or it could mean subordinating one's enemy. Kissing a man or embracing him lustfully in a dream means getting hold of what one intends to acquire from him. If it is a lustful kiss, then it means accomplishing one's pursuit of benefits, knowledge, or guidance. If it is an amicable kiss, it means that the one who received the kiss will receive benefits from the one who kissed him, or learn something from him, or reap a new understanding of things through him. Kissing a child in a dream means love, care and tenderness toward that child. Kissing a servant in a dream means soliciting the friendship of her master or employer. Kissing a married woman in a dream means seeking friendship with her husband. Kissing someone in authority in a dream means replacing him in his function. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Duck The duck symbolizes a woman or a slave or servant girl. It also refers to a dangerous but God-fearing man, a virtuous one, or a hermit. • Eating duck meat: Will receive money from slave women or domestic helpers or from a maiden or will conquer the heart of a rich woman who will prove to be a blessing. • A duck talking to the dreamer: Will be dignified and honoured by a woman. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Ship If he still dies from his trial in the dream, it means that he may be killed, and his death will still be an escape from something he feared most. An empty ship in a dream means business profits. Seeing a passenger ship transporting people in a dream means safety. If the ship is floating still in the dream, it means imprisonment. To hold to the rope of a ship in a dream represents a religious person who joins the company a pious teacher. Even if one sees himself dropping the ropes, or lowering the anchor in his dream, it means that he will remain in the company of such a person. Riding a ship along with one's family, relatives and friends in a dream means honor, prosperity and escape from one's enemies. If one sees himself crossing the sea with a small boat in the dream, it represents a danger he will face. Seeing a ship floating nicely in a dream means happiness. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Moon The moon symbolizes the emperor, the supreme commander, or a person as influential as the former. The stars around it are his soldiers, the Pleiades are his houses or his wives and slave girls. It could also refer to the knowledgeable man, the scholar or all sorts of guides, evidence, references, and indications, for it lights people’s way in the darkness, especially during the last three nights in the Arabic month, which are the darkest. It alludes as well to children, the husband or wife, the master, and the beautiful female, owing to its beauty, particularly when it is full. Likewise, the moon alludes to whatever increases and decreases, because this, in fact, is what happens to it regularly when it starts as a crescent, turns into a full moon, then becomes again like a bracket. The new moon, or crescent, also represents a king, a prince, a commander, a leader, the newborn as it starts appearing from the vagina or as it utters its first cries, the hot bread just coming from the oven, a person reappearing after a long absence, the muath-then, or the one who cries for prayers, as he appears in his minaret, the orator at the podium, et cetera. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Pearl • Throwing a pearl under one’s feet: The dreamer will marry his daughter to someone of a different kind, perhaps an alien. • A pearl breaking: The dreamer will break with or lose his son. • Pearls scattered in a garbage dump: The dreamer is scoffing at good learning. • Using pearls as fuel: The dreamer is misleading someone or inciting him to do something wrong by using all his rhetoric. • A man whose wife is pregnant holding a pearl: She will have a girl. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
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