Stair Every step or degree represents an ascetic person whose proximity benefits the dreamer in terms of piety and religious knowledge. Each step being climbed is better understanding, which will raise the dreamer’s religious standard. For a ruler every degree or step means a year of rule. Some interpreters say that upward steps represent good deeds, the first being prayers, the second fasting, the third religious dues, the fourth alms giving, the fifth pilgrimage, the sixth Jihad, or holy struggle, and the seventh the Holy Quran. The wooden ladder symbolizes a prominent or great man but who happens to be a hypocrite. Climbing a ladder means an evidence will be produced, a portent, in view of the Quranic verse: “And if their aversion is grievous unto thee, then, if thou canst, seek a way down into the earth or a ladder unto the sky that thou mayst bring unto them a portent (to convince them all)!—If Allah willed, He could have brought them all together to the guidance—So be not thou among the foolish ones.” (“Al-Anam” [The Cattle], verse 35.) Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
House As for the door’s lock and handle they symbolize the wife or the servant. The supports of the door are the male children, the slaves or servants, or the brothers and assistants. For Ibn Siren, the keyhole is the dreamer’s ear, meaning probably the house servant who reports everything to the master. The unknown house is the Hereafter, especially if it has a revealing name like Darussalam (The House of Peace). • A sick person seeing himself in an unknown house: Will die peacefully. • A healthy person seeing himself in an unknown house: (1) Will go to Mecca (Makkah). (2) Will engage in Jihad or Holy Struggle. (3) Will become ascetic. (4) Will acquire learning. (5) Will endure hardships with stoicism. (6) Will give alms. • Building a new house: (1) If ill, the dreamer will recover and become healthy. (2) If there is a sick person in the house, that person will recover, unless the dreamer is in the habit of burying the dead in his house, in which case the new house would mean the tomb of that patient. The same bad interpretation would apply if the house was built in an impossible place, if it was painted in white, or if funereal flowers were seen in the dream. (3) If a bachelor, the dreamer will get married. (4) The dreamer will find a husband for his daughter and let her stay with him, if the girl is old. (5) The dreamer will have a concubine. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Market The unspecified market refers to the mosque and vice versa, because man trades and earns in both.39 It also refers to the battlefield, where some people win and others lose. In the Holy Quran, God has used the word commerce as a synonym for Jihad (holy struggle): “O ye who believe! Shall I show you a commerce that will save you from a painful doom?” (“Al-Saff’ [The Ranks], verse 10.) Likewise, the souk or marketplace could allude to the person’s luck commensurate with the size of the market; the learning institution; the asylum; and the pilgrimage season. The meat market, in particular, symbolizes the war zone. The jewel and the cloth markets represent commemoration ceremonies and learning establishments. The money changers market is a reference to the ruler’s court, where people weigh what they say and matters are evaluated carefully. Sometimes souks represent lies, injustice, worries, and misery. They allude as well to the sea, where the big fish eat the small fish, and to compulsory spending, as often brought about by spouses, or marriage itself, and the birth of new children. Indeed, each specific market has a different interpretation. But it is noteworthy that the Muslims Holy Prophet was said to consider the souk as the abode of devils. He advised Muslims always not to be the first to step into or the last to leave the marketplace. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
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