Mule The mule with its saddle, reins, and other equipment is a beautiful woman of letters but of low origin. It might also symbolize a barren or childless woman. Every time she has a child, he will die. • A gray mule: A beautiful woman. • A green mule: A virtuous lady who will live long. • Riding on a black mule: A rich and childless woman who wields tremendous power. (Paradoxically, the words black and master in Arabic are homonyms.) • Riding someone else’s mule: Will flirt or sleep with someone else’s woman. • Riding on a mule backward: A sinful woman. • A mule with its pack saddle and necessary gear: A reference to travel. • A talking mule or horse: Extraordinary welfare is ahead and people will talk about it. • Owning a pregnant mule: You wish to increase your wealth. • A mule having delivered: A wish will be fulfilled. • Riding on a submissive mule above the load it is already carrying on its back: Good augury and righteousness or reform. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Slave The Arabic word for slave girl is jariyah: The running one or the running thing or matter, from jary, running. It follows that her sight in the dream is a good augury inasmuch as she appears pretty, well dressed, and perfumed, heralding something good coming. But it could also mean a transient intrigue or plight. • Owning, buying, or being offered or sleeping with a slave girl or seeing one coming to the dreamer: (1) The return of or some news or a letter from an absent person. (2) Better winds (for a sailor). (3) Business success. (4) Smooth livelihood (for someone experiencing some hardships). • Buying a white slave girl: Trade benefits and welfare. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Missile launcher (Ballista; Battering ram; Mangonel) Seeing a mangonel or a missile launcher for hurling heavy stones in a dream means calumny, slander and a false accusation of fornication, untruth, or deceit. A missile launcher in a dream also means victory for the oppressed and destruction for the unjust ones. If the commander who is operating the missile launcher in the dream is a ruler, then it means that he will write a letter with strong words to the other party. The stone or the missile itself represents the messenger, or the carrier of such a letter. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
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
Message (See Letter) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Writing (See Book; Letter; Write) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Book Holding to a sealed book, decree, or a letter in a dream also signifies abiding by the rules of one's superior. Holding a sealed book in one's dream also signifies success, leadership and honor. If one is seeking marriage and sees a sealed book in his hand in a dream, it means that his betrothal to someone will end in marriage. Seeing or receiving a blank letter or a book from someone in a dream means absence of his news, or not knowing where he lives. If one sees a book descending to him from the heavens and if he thinks in the dream that he understood the contents, then whatever good or bad news it brings, it will be the same in wakefulness. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Book If one sees himself holding a closed book in a dream, it means the end of his life in this world. If one sees a flyer or a public announcement in display by the authorities in a dream, it means that he will gain leadership, happiness and income. If one sends a sealed letter to someone, which is returned to him unopened in the dream, it means losing a war to one's enemy. If he is a merchant, it means that he will suffer losses in his business. If he is seeking marriage, it means the denial of his request. If one sees himself carrying a book, a record, or a letter in his right hand in a dream, and if he had an argument, or a confusing deal, or doubt about something, it means that he will bring clarity to that problem. If he is incarcerated or if he is suffering from persecution, it means that he will bring proof of his innocence and escape from his difficulties. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Scrolls (See Book; Letter; Table of contents; Tablet; Write) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Cat The cat symbolizes a book in view of a verse in the Holy Quran in which the word qitt, meaning in Arabic “cat,” is used as a synonym for “written fate” or “sentence” (“Sad”, verse 16). It could also symbolize the neglect of the woman and children or their harsh treatment. But the cat is one of the most controversial figures in dreams. Some regard it as a servant and a guardian, others as a thief from within the house (an insider). It refers to all beings who stay around the person to guard him but who, at the same time, embezzle, steal, or harm him and are, in fact, of no use to him. For example, being bitten or scratched by a cat would mean that the dreamer will be betrayed by his servant or will fall ill. According to Ibn Siren, a cat’s scratch means an illness that will last a year. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Minaret (Spiritual guide; Letter carrier; Lighthouse; Minaret of a mosque) In a dream, the minaret of a mosque represents a righteous man who fosters unity and love between people, who calls them to live by their religious covenant and guides them on the path of Allah Almighty. If a minaret is demolished in a dream, it represents the death of such a spiritual guide, fading of his name, dispersal of his community, and perhaps it could lead to the reversal of their conditions. The minaret of the city's central mosque in a dream represents a letter carrier, or a guide calling people to Allah's path. Falling down from the top of a minaret into a well in a dream means marrying a strong minded woman who uses vicious expressions, when one already has a pious wife with whom he enjoys peace and tranquillity. It also means losing one's authority or control. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Tree • Seeing in a house an unknown tree of the type representing women: A fire will be lit in that house in view of a verse in the Holy Quran: “Who hath appointed for you fire from the green tree, and behold! ye kindle from it. (“Ya-Sin,” verse 80.) • Seeing an unknown tree in a house: A possible fight or quarrel, in view of a Quranic verse: “But nay, by thy Lord, they will not believe [in truth] until they make thee judge of what is in dispute (Arabic: shagara) between them …” (“Al-Nisae” [Women], verse 65.) • Picking fruit from a tree while seated: Money will come without effort. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Quranic recital Reading the holy Quran or part of it in a dream means rising in station, gaining power, repenting from sins, prosperity, paying one's debts, witnessing the truth, or delivering a trust to its rightful owner. Reciting the holy Quran with a beautiful voice in a dream means honor, dignity and good fame. Reading the holy Quran and adding one's own words to it in a dream means wavering from the truth, or betraying one's promise or covenant. If in the latter case one does not understand the meaning of what he is saying in the dream, it means that he will give a false testimony in a court of justice, or that he will be involved in something evil the consequences of which cannot be foreseen. If one sees people listening to his recital of the Quran in a dream, it means that he will command a job, and that people will follow his instructions. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Torah • A bachelor seeing the Torah: • (1) Will marry a girl or woman from another ethnic group. • (2) Will travel extensively, because the Torah comprises several asfar (scriptures or holy writings, plural of safar, which in Arabic is a homonym for travel). • (3) Might marry an emancipated woman or one without a legal guardian. • A man whose wife is pregnant holding the Torah in his hand: Will be blessed with a female child, because Torah in Arabic is a feminine word. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Sky • Falling from the sky: The dreamer will become an atheist. The sky opening to give way to an old man: A reference to the perseverance of the local people who will reap the fruit of their activities. • The sky opening and a young man coming out of it: An enemy who will harm the people of the area or sow the seeds of dissension. • Sheep coming from the sky: A booty (for etymological reasons, the two words in Arabic being ghanam and ghanima, respectively). • A lion emerging from the sky: The people will be plagued with a wicked tyrant. • Stealing the sky and hiding it in ajar: The dreamer will steal a mus haf, or Holy Quran book, and give it to his wife. • Circling in the sky, then coming down: The dreamer will learn astronomy and occult sciences and make a name for himself. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Pearl • Finding a pearl: (1) If it is pierced: Will have a girl. (2) If it is not pierced: Will have a boy. • Selling big pearls: Good learning or simple welfare, depending on the nature of the individual. • Having sold or swallowed pearls: Will forget the Quran. • Swallowing a pearl: Will conceal a testimony. • Swallowing pearls, then returning them: Every time the dreamer memorizes something from the Quran, he forgets it. • Keeping a mouthful of pearls: You know the Quran but refuse to cite it. • Selling pearls: Will acquire learning and convey it to people. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Holy Book If one sees himself spreading the pages of the Holy Book on a flat surface in a dream, it means that he is seeking wisdom which he will get, or that he may receive an inheritance. If one sees himself putting the Holy Book over his shoulders in a dream, it means that he will receive an appointment, or be entrusted with a duty to guard, or that he will memorize the Holy Quran. If one finds himself trying to eat the pages of the Holy Book in a dream, it means that he is a regular reader of the Quran. If one sees himself trying to eat the pages of the holy Book but is unable to do so in a dream, it means that he tries to memorize the Holy Quran from time to time but keeps forgetting what he learns. (Also see Quran) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Jew • Seeing Jews means: (1) Mercy from God, because the Arabic word for Jew is (singular, Ya-hudi, and plural, Yahud) is a homonym of “to repent,” “to turn unto Allah.” It also resembles hoda, which means “showing the right way.” Reference is made here to a verse in the Holy Quran: “And ordain for us in this world that which is good, and in the Hereafter (that which is good), Lo! We have turned unto Thee. He said: I smite with My punishment whom I will, and My mercy embraceth all things…” (“Al-Aaraf” [The Heights], verse 156.) (2) A complicated matter will become clear. (3) Evidence will appear. (4) The dreamer will abide more closely by the Prophet’s Tradition and Islamic Laws. • Seeing a group of Jews means the dreamer will repent. • Seeing one Jew means the dreamer will return to the right path. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Throne Of Almighty God The Divine Throne might symbolize the good or bad deeds of the dreamer. By a game of anagram, it might also refer to trembling and related disease, to poetry, and to hair, because, in Arabic throne is arsh, poetry sheer, and hair shaar. It is always the sounds a, r, and sh that form the four words. They are all consonants in Arabic; the vowels are not written, but only guessed according to the meaning of the sentence. According to Imam Jaafar Al-Sadeq, the Divine Throne symbolizes five things: (1) Leadership. (2) Dignity and prestige. (3) Promotion. (4) Prosperity. (5) Influence and power. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Cat The case would be worse if the cat dreamt of was of the wild type. By contrast, a quiet she-cat means a comfortable year, a savage one a year full of harm. The she-cat is sometimes a reference to tender motherhood. Other contradictory symbols include: (1) Dispute or controversy. (2) Adultery. (3) The product of adultery or an abandoned child whose father cannot be identified. (4) The absence of gratitude. (5) The failure to fulfil a promise or honour one’s obligations. (6) Being quick of hearing. (7) Whispers. (8) The hypocritical flatterer and gadabout. The she-cat usually symbolizes an evil and deceitful woman. A woman told Ibn Siren she dreamed that a cat had introduced its head into her husband’s stomach, taken something out of it, and eaten it. The great seer said that a black thief would enter her husband’s shop that evening and steal 316 dirham's from his safe. And so it was. There was a black bath attendant in the neighbourhood. The people of the area got hold of him, and he confessed to his crime and restored the money. When asked how he managed to know all that, Ibn Siren said that the cat was a thief, the husband’s stomach his safe and what was taken out of it the money. As for defining the exact amount, Ibn Siren said that each letter of the alphabet had its specific number. Therefore cat—in Arabic sanur—stood for 316 dirham's. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
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