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
Stair Stairs symbolize the rise in life and elevation in the Hereafter. They also allude to the notion of step by step, the travellers stopovers or transit points, the years of life, or days of work toward a certain goal. The staircase also refers to the majordomo or the housekeeper, the dreamer’s horse or whatever animal he rides, et cetera. For a ruler or a governor of some kind steps made of mortar mean promotion, welfare, and religion. For a merchant they mean business with piety and ethics. Steps made of bricks are resented, because bricks enter the fire. If made of stone, they mean promotion and welfare but arrived at with a stone heart. Made of wood, they mean welfare and promotion with hypocrisy and dissimulation. Steps made of gold mean that the dreamer will govern and enjoy abundance. If the steps are made of silver, the dreamer will have as many slave girls or servants. Brass or bronze steps mean that he will have the best of this world. Dream Interpreter: Various Islamic Scholars
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