Lion The lion is a ruler, a tyrant, or a powerful and very dangerous person, in view of the ferocity and devastating anger of that animal. It also symbolizes the warrior, the swindler, the thief, the treacherous worker, the policeman, the insatiable enemy, and perhaps hardships and death, because he who stares at it turns pale, loses his self-control, and is as good as dead, says Ibn Siren. Furthermore, it represents the ruler who embezzles public funds and commits injustice and the lurking enemy. The lioness symbolizes the daughter of a king. The baby lion (lion’s whelp or cub) is a boy. A man told Ibn Siren, “I dreamed that I was embracing and nursing a baby lion.” When the great seer looked at him, saw his humble appearance and miserable garments, and understood that he could not be eligible for any honour, he said, “What could you possibly have to do with the children of princes?!” and he added, “Is your wife, by chance, breast-feeding the son of a prince?” “Yes,” was the reply. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Spoils If one sees himself pillaging or plundering something in a dream, it means that he will recant a covenant, or ruin something useful, stray from Allah's path, or it could mean that he will marry a young girl whom he will abuse sexually. If what he ruins is a cast of precious metal in the dream, then it denotes bad words he speaks, or jealousy and envy he carries. (Also see Booty) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
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
Navel One's navel in a dream also means happiness, and could represent the wife's lover, a beloved, or one's will. Thus, if one's navel looks beautiful in the dream, its beauty will show in his life; but if it looks ugly, it means that he may live a wretched life. A navel in a dream also represents one's homeland. Any pain one suffers from his navel in a dream represents the adverse conditions of his family or country. If an immigrant suffers from any affliction to his navel in a dream, it means that he will return to his homeland. (Also see Body) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Tree • Seeing many date palms in an unusual place: Will command as many men. • Seeing many date palms in a garden or a fertile land and taking their fruits: Will obtain money from honest and noble people. • A dead person sitting on top of a tree or owning one: • If the tree is big and beautiful, the dead man is in Paradise. • If the tree seen in the dream is ugly and full of thorns or black and filthy, like the Zachum oil tree or the thorn tree, he is being tortured in Hell. • A sick man sitting on top of or owning a tree: His fate will depend on the condition of the tree as witnessed in the dream. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Voice The bleating of a ewe in a dream means kindness shown by one's mistress, his wife, or by a gracious man. The bleating of a Billy goat or a ram in a dream means happiness and prosperity. The neighing of horses in a dream means receiving guidance from a noble person, or it could represent a courageous soldier. The braying of a donkey in a dream means hideousness, or the ugly character of a despicable enemy. The braying of a mule in a dream means a hardship which is combined with a difficult person, or it could mean vain talk, or indulging in suspicious acts. The mooing of a calf, a cow, or a steer in a dream means a riot. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Moustache Shaving, clipping or adjusting one's moustache in a dream means lessening one's burdens. A moustache in a dream also means money. A bad cut in one's moustache in a dream means a mishap or losing money. Having an unusually long moustache in a dream means going against the currents, or it could mean an illness that will deprive one from eating solid food, or it could mean religious innovation. A long and an ugly looking moustache in a dream means difficulties, sorrows, distress, becoming an alcoholic, refusing to surrender to others what belongs to them, or refusing to pay charity, or pretending to ignore the necessity to pay the obligatory alms tax. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
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
Henna (Dye; A reddish-orange cosmetic dye produced from the stalks and leaves of henna plant) Henna for a man represents his working tools. It also means adornment, money, prosperity, or children. If a man sees his hands dyed with henna in a dream, it means that he keeps praising his Lord. If only the right hand is dyed with henna but looks ugly in the dream, it means that he may commit a murder. Dying one's hands with henna in a dream also means carelessness about exposing one's good and bad qualities in public, or it could mean that he delivers his merchandise or work in any condition without acknowledging blame, fault, or recognizing his improper behavior with his customers. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Camel Camels symbolize devils in view of a religious belief that they are carrying demons on their humps. They also symbolize death because of their ugly voice and bad temper and because they carry beloved ones far away. Likewise, the camel represents the ignorant and hypocritical individual in view of the Quranic verse: “Or deemest thou that most of them hear or understand? They are but as the cattle—nay, but they are farther astray!” (“Al-Furqan” [The Criterion], verse 44.) It also alludes to the patient, enduring person or the ship (because camels are the ships that ply the lands). Moreover, the sight of a camel is a harbinger of sorrow, as the Holy Prophet is reported to have once said, “Riding camels is sorrow and notoriety.” Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Chewing (Greed) To chew food other than for grinding or eating one's meal in a dream means an illness or loss of appetite. Chewing gum in a dream means earning money coupled with ugly words that will grow to become a big fight and that will lead to a court appearance. The source of it all begins with greed. Anything that is chewed in a dream means an exchange of words. The only exception to it is chewing a stick of sugar cane in a dream. In that case, it means lauding someone or hearing pleasing words one desires to hear over and over. (Also see Chewing food; Chewing gum; Greed) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Milk Seeing milk or the breast that it comes from for both men and women means money. Milking means abundance or, in some cases, wickedness, deceit, or fraud. Such dreams are more likely to come true when the actors are identified. An excellent dream is that involving cow milk, for it represents what the year will bring and it symbolizes honest gains and relief. The milk of milkless beings means aspirations will be fulfilled when least expected or from unexpected sources. The milk of any wild animal symbolizes strong religious faith. That of carrion eaters and biting insects or reptiles means reconciliation with the enemy. • Milk springing from the soil: The emergence of tyranny. • A woman who does not have milk in her breast dreaming that she is breast-feeding a child, a man, or a woman whom she knows: All doors (or means of living) will be slammed in her face and theirs. • Sucking the breast of a woman and getting milk out of it: Money and profits. • Sucking one’s own breast: Treason. • Drinking mare milk: (1) Will be loved by the ruler and receive gifts from him. (2) Will have a good name. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Glass In a dream, any glass by-products represent people of knowledge, scholars, Gnostics, sages or people of wisdom. Buying a glittering glass ornament, or a house made of mother of pearl in a dream means choosing the pleasures of this world over the everlasting joy of the hereafter, or it could mean disdaining to obey Allah's commands, or it could mean becoming an apostate. A drinking glass cup in a dream represents a woman. Receiving a glass of water in a dream means that one's wife is pregnant. An unknown kind of glass cup or a roughly cut drinking glass of water in a dream means that there is a fetus in the mother's womb. If the glass of water breaks and the water remains in the dream, it means that the mother may die after giving birth and the infant will survive. If the water spills and the glass remains intact in the dream, it means that the fetus may die and the mother will survive. The breaking of a glass in a dream also denotes the death of the one who is serving it. If a sick person is given a glass of wine, or water, or a bitter apple drink, or a laxative in a dream such a drink represents his last cup. (Also see Glass blower; Glass bottle) 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
Sexual intercourse Molesting a child in a dream means suffering from a great affliction. Fornication with a young servant in a dream means suffering from continuous stress and a lasting depression. Sleeping with a beautiful woman one recognizes in his dream means profits. Sleeping with an ugly looking old woman in a dream means the opposite. Having sexual intercourse with an unknown woman in a dream represents the type of interactions and dealings one fosters with people in general. Accordingly, and depending on the condition of the woman one is sleeping with in a dream, one's actions will substantiate. Sleeping with someone's wife in a dream means engaging in a profitable business with the husband. 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
Cloud of smoke (Adversities; Fight; Pollution) In a dream, seeing a cloud of heavy smoke over a town represents a calamity from Allah Almighty or a harsh punishment of a ruler. However, if one sees smoke coming out of his house in a dream, it means that he will be defamed, or that he will be struck by a severe illness, an injury or a fever that will result from his work or place of business. He will then recuperate from his illness, regain the upper hand and turn things around. If the smoke is caused by a fire or rises to spread from under a cooking pot in a dream, it means joy after distress and prosperity after poverty. If the smoke has no burning odor in the dream, it means an atrocity or an ugly experience which will be followed by exposure and defamation. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Sword • Being girded with two or three swords that break loose or fall: Will divorce one’s wife irrevocably by swearing three times. • Drawing a sword: The dreamer is asking people to testify in his favour, but they refuse. • Drawing one’s sword to find it oxidized: Wife will give birth to an ugly or obscene boy. • A man drawing his sword on the dreamer: That man has prepared a diatribe. (1) If he hits the dreamer and no blood comes out: What the assailant says will be true. (2) If he hits the dreamer without injuring him: The dreamer will triumph over the attacker. (4) If he strikes without cutting anything, but blood oozes out: The attacker will calumniate the dreamer and come out with sheer fabrications about him. • The sword breaking in its lid: A stillborn child. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Home The distinction is very vague in Arabic between the words dar and bayt, both meaning “house” or “home.” But after consulting a knowledgeable colleague (a Moroccan ambassador and man of letters), the author assumes that dar is more likely to mean a house as a structure or an apartment block and bayt a room, an apartment, or simply home. However, in the ancient Arab texts the writer often jumps from one meaning to another, and I have taken real pain trying to disentangle them, as usual. Home symbolizes the man’s wife sheltered under his roof and to whom he goes, whence the expression “He went home.” Therefore, home and wife are synonyms. The door is her vagina or her face, the closet or the safe a maiden, like the dreamer’s daughter, whom he does not penetrate, as they are covered or hidden places in which he does not sleep. The servants quarters symbolize the servant (s). The place where cereals are stored is the mother, who used to keep the dreamer alive and let him grow by feeding him milk. The toilet represents those servants who are in charge of cleaning and washing or the dreamer’s wife, whom he embraces and penetrates when isolated, i.e., away from his children and the rest of the household. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
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