Horse • A horse dying at a person’s hands or in his house: The death of such a person. • Riding on a white-footed horse with a white fringe and all white harness while dressed as a full-fledged horseman: Will gain power and prestige, merit praise, and live secure from all enemies. A bay, roan, or reddish brown horse would be best if the dreamer were a combatant. The salamander (a color of Arab horses) refers to dignity and disease. • Riding on a horse and making it run till it sweats: Will be overcome by passion and commit sins to earn your living. It is noteworthy that sweat emanating from running is an expenditure on some sinful matter, in view of the verse of the Holy Quran that reads: “Run (flee) not, but return to the good things of this life which were given you, and to your homes, in order that ye may be called to account. They said: Alas for us! Woe to us! We were indeed wrongdoers!” (“Al-Anbiyae” [The Prophets], verses 13–14.) Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Child birth Childbirth symbolizes delivery from hardships and disease; separation from one’s folk and neighbours; comfort; relief; the settlement of debts; and repentance. • Giving birth to a girl: Fantastic welfare or release from prison. • A king (ruler or chief) dreaming that his wife, who is not pregnant, has given birth to a male child: Will lay his hands on treasures. • A man dreaming that his wife has given him a boy: Terrible worries and people will speak ill of the dreamer or he might die. • A man dreaming that a small boy (not a baby) was born to him: Will have a better share in the world or a booty. • A man dreaming that an adult boy was born to him: He, or rather his wife, will have more prosperity, dignity, and strength. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Donkey • A donkey that goes along well or keeps the pace: The best of this world. • A saddled donkey: A child with a golden spoon (born and living in prosperity). • A donkey with a long tail: The dreamer’s empire or tradition will be preserved by his successors. • Death of a donkey: The owner will die, will be isolated, or will lose his money and his business or his shop will be destroyed or he will be ousted from it. Otherwise, the slave who serves him or his father or grandfather who supported him will pass away, his endeavours will fade, or his master, who was under his spell will die, sell him, or go away. For a woman, her husband will divorce her, die, move away, or travel and leave her behind. • A donkey whose owner is unknown and which, instead of obeying, keeps braying: An ignorant and loud person in view of a verse of the Holy Quran that reads as follows: “Be modest in thy bearing and subdue thy voice. Lo! the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass.” (“Surat Luqman,” verse 19.) According to the ancient Arabs, it could also be a reference to Jews: “The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Law of Moses, yet apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books. Wretched is the likeness of folk who deny revelations of Allah. And Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk.” (“Surat Al-Jumuah” [The Congregation], verse 5.) Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Sodomy • Being sodomized by an animal: The dreamer will be over chivalrous. • Having sex with or sodomizing an unknown mammal or bird: Victory over an enemy and the dreamer will unduly wrench financial benefits from the vanquished. • Having sex with or sodomizing an identified animal: The dreamer will be good to an undeserving party and should not expect a reward. • Having sex with or sodomizing one’s male slave, subordinate, subject, or nation: Escape from trouble and increase in property and wealth (or realm, if the dreamer is a king or a ruler). Or perhaps the dreamer will have more children. The reverse means that the dreamer is underestimated, disregarded, or taken lightly, especially if in the dream he was sodomized by his slave or servant. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Snot According to Ibn Siren, the mucus from the nose symbolizes the making of children, in view of the popular belief that the cat emanated from the lion’s snot. • Having mucus in the nose: Wife is pregnant. • Blowing one’s nose: (1) Will settle debts. (2) Will be relieved from a certain worry. (3) Will punish some people for a certain deed. • Putting snot on the ground: Will have a daughter. • Putting snots on one’s wife: She will conceive a male child but have a miscarriage. • The wife putting snots on the dreamer: (1) She will give birth to a boy. (2) She will terminate the breast-feeding of a small child. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Partridge If a married person sees himself catching a male partridge in a dream, it means that he will beget a blessed son. If a pregnant woman catches a partridge in a dream, it means that she will give birth to a daughter. Slaughtering a partridge in a dream means committing adultery. Driving or pushing a partridge in a dream means rebuking a woman. Owning a partridge in a dream means marrying an Asiatic or a Persian woman, or meeting with a wealthy woman, or marrying a woman who will betray him and bring no benefits to him. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Tree The tree symbolizes religion and sects in view of the allegory in the Holy Quran of the good tree (date palm) and the good words: “Seest thou not how Allah coineth a similitude: A goodly saying, as a goodly tree, its roots set firm, branches reaching into Heaven.” (“Ibrahim” [Abraham], verse 24.) Likewise, the Muslims Holy Prophet likened the good tree to the Muslim. The one he saw himself holding in a spiritual odyssey,52 he said, was the duty of praying, which he had brought to his followers. 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. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Sparrow The sparrow has contradictory interpretations. It symbolizes: (1) A huge, great, and dangerous man in terms of money who is slow does not recognize people’s rights, and is harmful to most people. He is a wicked man, even a swindler, but knows how to be in perfect command. He is a skilful politician and an excellent decision maker. (2) A man of entertainment who has plenty of stories and good jokes and whom people take to be a fool. (3) A beautiful woman who has mercy on people. (4) A male child. (5) Praise. Dreaming of owning plenty of sparrows means one will be properly funded and command dangerous people. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Molar Tooth Teeth of the upper jaw represent a male person and those of the lower jaw represent a female person. Whatever may affect them in a dream, will show in wakefulness. For example, if one's molar tooth falls in a dream, it means that the particular person it represents may die shortly, or it could mean being absolved of one's debts, or perhaps repayment of one's debts. If one suffers from a tooth ache in a dream, it represents ill words which are spoken against him by such family member, or that he feels hurt from the treatment he receives from such a family member. (Also see Teeth; Tooth) Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Spear The spear symbolizes influence, an acquisition, a wrong move or a fault, a woman, a son, a brother, a friend ready to defend the dreamer, a truthful testimony, or a journey. A spear without iron represents a daughter who will have as many blessings as there are dents in it. • A king or chief seeing his spear growing excessively: Will be unjust to his subjects. • Fighting the enemies with a spear: Will make illicit gains. • Being mounted on a horse or a camel and holding a spear: Dignity, influence, authority, and prosperity. • Holding a spear and walking in the marketplace or simply holding it: Will have a male child. A dentate spear means that such a boy will prevail over his folk and shield them by sacrificing himself if necessary. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Suck • Sucking the breast of any woman other than one’s mother: Humiliation and sorrow or disease. Breast-feeding by the mother means promotion and welfare. For a woman, the same dream would mean that hardships are ahead, except it what was sucked was milk, in which case it would mean that she would inherit something from her family. • Touring women and sucking their breasts, from which no milk comes out: The dreamer is a sodomite with a preference for male teenagers. • Being sucked by someone: That person will take money from the dreamer. • Someone sucking the dreamer’s breast: The former will take money from the latter’s wife. Otherwise, anything bad will happen to both the dreamer and the person dreamed of. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Slaughter Slaughter means: (1) Repudiation of one’s parents. (2) Injustice. • Seeing a slain person without knowing who killed him: The dreamer has come out with a heresy or made a false testimony. • Slaughtering one’s father, mother, or son: The dreamer will either repudiate or attack one of them. • Slaughtering a woman: The dreamer will have sex with her. • Slaughtering a female animal: The dreamer will make love to a woman and deflower a virgin. • Slaughtering a male animal by attacking it from behind: The dreamer will sodomize such an animal. • Slaughtering one’s father, mother, or son: The dreamer will either repudiate or attack one of them. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Flower • Picking roses: Joy. • Picking white flowers from one’s garden: Will kiss a virtuous woman with mutual passion. • Dreaming of red flowers: The dreamer’s woman is of the gay type who likes artists, singing, dancing, et cetera, as opposed to a pious woman. • Dreaming of yellow flowers: The dreamer’s wife has frail health. • Picking flower buds: The dreamer’s wife will have a miscarriage, and the fetus will be a male child. • Picking a well-known flower with big leaves: The dreamer is sweet on a beautiful woman whom everybody is running after and calumniating at the same time. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Citron • Cutting a citron in two parts: Will marry a foreign, but honest and rich woman who will give birth to a boy and a girl of frail health. • A woman dreaming that she has citrons on her knees: Will give birth to a blessed girl. • A woman dreaming that she has a crown from a citron tree on her head: Will marry a religious man who has a good reputation. • A man dreaming that his wife has given him citrons: She will give birth to a male child. • Throwing citrons at somebody: The dreamer wishes to marry a relative of that person. 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
Aqiq The same stone was used in ornamenting the Taj Mahal in India. The higher qualities of Aqiq (mostly found in anes and Khawlan, in North Yemen) are believed by Orientals to have certain properties, like the ability to slow down the movement of fluids in the body. If somebody is hurt, for instance, while carrying Aqiq or wearing it as a ring whose stone touches the skin, the blood is unlikely to ooze out of the wound. Some men also use it to avoid rapid ejaculation. I was told by one of the few remaining Aqiq craftsmen in North Yemen, a few years ago, that a rich Arab client believed by the craftsman to be a Saudi ambassador had proposed to pay some two hundred thousand dollars for one of those special rings, but his offer had been declined. In Sanaa, the capital of North Yemen, there is a stone that, I was told, was then in the custody of someone called Ahmad Al-Turki, who cannot sell it for its being a waqf (a property confined to public benefit, according to an Islamic code). That stone, called Al Fass Al Hanash (The Snake Stone), has the property of saving people from snakebites. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Mihrab (arb. Alcove; Niche; Prayer niche) In a dream, a prayer niche or a mihrab represents a leader, a guide, or the Imam of a mosque. Praying at the mihrab in a dream means glad tidings. If a woman sees herself praying at the mihrab of a mosque in a dream, it means that she will beget a son or a daughter. In a dream, the alcoves or shelters that poor people use for their retreats in a mosque represent sincerity, love, devotion, remembrance of Allah Almighty, standing in night prayers, and aloofness. Building a mihrab inside one's house in a dream means bearing male children. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
Torah • Trying to read the Torah, but being unable to: Will become a fatalist or a predestination. • A Muslim king (or ruler) dreaming that he possesses a Torah: Will conquer his enemy’s territory or sign a peace treaty with him in the former’s favour. • A scholar dreaming that he possesses a Torah: Will acquire more knowledge and excel or will innovate, become heretical, and go astray with the whimsical ones. • Seeing a Torah: (1) A reference to those who abide by that Holy Book. (2) Reunion with the absent. (3) Recovery of what is lost. (4) Wife will give birth to a male child. (5) Might mix with people who will spoil the dreamer’s religious beliefs. (6) Will see the Muslims Holy Prophet Muhammad Sallallaahu-Alayhi-wasallam. (7) Wisdom, knowledge, and good conduct. (8) The breaching of an agreement. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Lesbianism • Seeing one’s wife with a beard: She will never become pregnant. If she already has a boy, the latter will prevail over his family. • A woman dreaming that she is disguised, looks like, or behaves like a man: Good or bad fortune and fear, depending on the condition of her clothes. • A woman dreaming that she has a penis (or a beard): (1) If married, she will divorce. (2) More power for whoever is supporting her. (3) She is dominating her husband and retaliates to any reproach on his part, especially if in the dream she is dressed like a man. (4) If pregnant, she will give birth to a male child. (5) If she is not pregnant but already has a boy, the latter will become the master of his folk. (6) If she is neither pregnant nor the mother of a boy, she will never have children in view of her masculinity. (7) It could also indicate that she is a lesbian who uses her clitoris as men do their phallus in making love to the opposite sex. (8) If she is not a lesbian, is not married, and has never conceived, she will get married. • A pregnant woman introducing her penis in her anus: Will have an abortion. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
Sexual intercourse (Adultery; Coitus; Fornication; Hugging; Instinct; Lesbian; Molesting; Sexual drive; Sleeping together, Sodomy; Tribadism) If a man sees himself having sexual intercourse with another man in a dream, it means that both of them have lost their moral dedication, that have become aimless, turned stingy toward their own dependents and generous toward others. It also means loss of one's capital, or divorcing one's wife. If a poor person sees such a dream, it means that he will fall sick, or attract an incurable disease. To have sexual intercourse with a male in a dream also means falling into sin, committing the unlawful, or engaging in sexual intercourse with a female member of one's own family, a blood relation, or a consanguineous person whom one is forbidden to marry. Dream Interpreter: Ibn Sirin
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