Black Stone If he sees the pilgrims searching for the Black Stone but cannot find it in a dream, it means that he thinks of himself to be right and the rest of the people to be wrong. It also could mean that he possesses a knowledge which he hides from others. If he touches the Black Stone in his dream, it means that he follows the teachings of an Imam from among the Hijazite Arabs. If he sees the Black Stone being a castle for himself in a dream, it means that he follows religious innovations. If he swallows the Black Stone in his dream, it means that he is a affected person who will mislead people. (Also see Kabah; Corner Stone) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Dress • The dead giving the dreamer an old robe: The latter will become poor and miserable. • The dead giving the dreamer a new robe: The latter will become rich and powerful. • Holding one’s Arab robe and telling a dead person, “Take this and sew it,” or, “wash it,” without the cloth leaving the dreamer’s hand or becoming the property of the dead: Trouble, hardships, and depression. If the dead had taken and worn it, the dreamer would die. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Swallow The swallow or swift, which the Arabs literally call paradise bird, is a blessed man or a blessed woman belonging to someone. It could also refer to a young boy who reads the Holy Quran properly. Other interpretations include a devout individual who fears God and is nice to others, a man of letters, or a person who comes to others rescue. It is a good augury for future actions, especially for the planting of trees. • Seeing swallows in one’s house or owning plenty of them: Honest money. • Seeing swallows leaving one’s home: Relatives will depart. • Seizing a swallow: Illegal money. • Turning into a swallow: Robbers will break into the dreamer’s house. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Pear Pears or plums in the right season mean benefits or the return of an absent one. Out-of-season pears or plums, if yellow, mean a disease. In general, most dream interpreters hate pears, which they regard as a reference to disease. Some of them think that pears mean a fortune, in view of the Arab etymology of the word kum-athra, whose latter part means “becoming rich.” They also believe that yellow pears mean money accompanied by a disease. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Banana The banana tree symbolizes a rich, pious, and polite person. It is one of the noblest trees. Seeing bananas in a dream is a particularly good omen, because exception is made for that fruit by the ancient Arabs, regardless of its yellow color, which in other cases always symbolizes disease. It is a good dream even if the bananas are not ripe or taste sour. • Eating bananas: (1) For a worldly person: Benefits and desires will be fulfilled. (2) For a religious individual: Stronger faith. • A banana tree growing in a house: A male child will be born in that house. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Shoe • Shoes with a sole made of lead: A weak and puny woman. • Shoes with fire soles: An authoritarian woman. • Wooden soles: A hypocritical and treacherous woman. • Colored soles: A woman of mixed blood. • Horse leather soles: An Arab woman. • Cow leather soles: A foreign woman. • Lion skin soles: A tyrant of a woman from the ruling class. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Asylum The asylum, or mental institution, symbolizes frequent travel, asceticism, the heeding of God and reading of the Holy Quran, the stoppage of income, the end of wedlock, the abandoning of children, repentances, the return of religious faith, relief from worries, and sometimes diphtheria (the suffocation disease, to borrow the expression of Al-Nabulsi). It could also represent the bathroom, as madness was believed by the ancient Arabs to be associated with demons and because, like the bathroom, the mental institution is a place where people take off their clothes, show their private parts, and exhibit repulsive manners. For some interpreters, the madhouse refers to the school, because, there, the inpatients were educated by force, in ancient times, and taught to read and write and know the Quran. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Kohl This is a sort of eye powder or powder of antimony, a preparation of soot and other ingredients, to darken edges of eyelids. It is extensively used by veiled Arab Bedouin women, whose eyes are the only thing seen of their body, which renders them very attractive. It is also used for newly born Muslims and by certain Muslim men. Kohl and its usual container made of silver or the kohl bottle symbolize women. They also refer to the sharp eye. Seeing a devout Muslim with kohl on his eyelids is regarded as a good dream. But it is not so if the kohl is used by a corrupt man. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Mare • A horseman stepping down from a mare for some adventitious matter and keeping back without unsaddling her: His wife has her menses, and he will stay away from her temporarily. But if he had stepped down to ride another mare, he will have a second woman. If he had turned his face after stepping down, he would stay away from his wife for some time. If, after stepping down, he pissed blood, he is indulging in adultery (because, according to the ancient Arabs, the soil [earth] is a woman and pissing is sex, while blood symbolizes what is prohibited). • Drinking mare milk: Benefits will come from the ruler. The female draft horse should be treated in the interpretation of dreams as an ordinary mare. Anyway, she symbolizes a girl, a slave girl, or an honest free woman. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Palm Tree The date palm symbolizes the knowledgeable man and his children, tribe, or folk. It specifically refers to a noble, honest, and esteemed Arab who likes to benefit people, perhaps a scholar. It also means long life. However, the trunk of a palm is a bad augury. It symbolizes torture in view of a Quranic verse: “ (Pharaoh) said: Ye put faith in him before I give you leave. Lo! he is your chief who taught you magic. Now surely I shall cut off your hands and your feet alternately, and I shall crucify you on the trunks of palm tree, and ye shall know for certain which of us hath sterner and more lasting punishment.” (“Ta-Ha,” verse 71.) Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Stone Stones of a structure or on the ground symbolize the dead, the ignorant, the idle, and the atheists. Arab wise men used to describe the people of the pre-Islamic era as stones. • Turning into stone: Will disobey God and lose faith, have a stone heart, or become crippled. • Seizing, buying, or standing on stones: Will triumph over a man or marry a woman showing similarities to such a stone. • Stones falling from the sky: Calamities brought about by a tyrant. Removing stones or mountains: Is attempting something difficult. • Hitting a stone with a stick to see water coming out of it: Will get rich. If already wealthy, will become richer. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Saleh Saleh is an Arab prophet from the tribe of Thamud whose folk are named after their grandfather Thamud, brother of Jeddis. Their father was Aather ibn (son of) Aram ibn Sam ibn Nuh (Hoah). They came from Areba and lived in Al-Hijr, between Al-Hijaz and Tabuk. The Muslims Holy Prophet passed by them when he was on his way to Tabuk. Their traces can be found in Saudi Arabia in a place called Madain (the cities of) Saleh. The story of the Prophet Saleh is related in the chapter called “Al-Aaraf’ (The Heights) in the Holy Quran. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Sheep • Passing by sheep: A reference to people like herds of sheep without any ambitions or dreams. • Being met by sheep: Will be met by men who will challenge the dreamer to fight them, and he will emerge victorious. • Following a ewe that presses ahead, making it impossible for the dreamer to reach her: Everything will be stalled, that year, and desires will not be fulfilled. • She goats refer to: Noble men. A slave girl or a corrupt woman, because her private parts are uncovered and she has no tail. A fat she-goat would refer to a booty, a lean one to a poor woman. • A she-goat hardly one year old: An Arab woman. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Tree 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. The tree also represents the female kind, for it is irrigated; it bears (fruits) and delivers. It also refers to various places and persons associated with food, money, and wealth, like shops, warehouses, banquets, slaves, servants, and cattle. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Jinn - Or Djinn According to my grandfather, the late Mr. Mahmoud Fahim of Egypt, a master magician and an authority on the subject, as quoted by Dr. Paul Brunton: “… jinn's are native inhabitants of the spirit world who have never possessed a human body. Some of them are just like animals, others are as shrewd as men. There are also evil jinn's … who are used by low sorcerers, especially by the African witch doctors … they are dangerous servants and will sometimes turn treacherously on the man who is using them and kill him.”36 The jinn's have their own realm, whose doctors, for instance, are called Maymoun and Abanos. They are said sometimes to perform surgery. Ata is a good friend who answers queries and might appear, when invoked, in European or Arab dress or clad as a sheikh. (It is not advisable to engage in such practices.) Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Silver The bracelet and the anklet symbolize the husband or marriage, in particular. For men they represent sorrow. Lady’s jewels could also refer to their children, since mothers are proud of them. Gold is a reference to boys and silver to girls. Likewise, whatever is masculine refers to boys and anything feminine to girls. Certain interpreters hate to hear about silver in view of the etymology of the word—in Arabic feddah from fadd or yafeddo, meaning “to disperse” or “to deflower.” In general, silver is hoarded money. An alloy of silver and gold is a beautiful white girl or slave girl (or servant in the modern sense), because silver is part of the essence of women (according to the ancient Arabs). Whoever dreams of having acquired such an alloy will seduce a pretty woman. If the piece is big, he will find a treasure. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
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
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
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
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