Types of Dreams

Dreams may be classified on the basis of five criteria: A. Whether they are sound or meaningless 1. Sound dreams are those in which things are seen as they are seen when one is awake. 2. Meaningless dreams are those which stem from one of five things: Self - talk : which results in seeing themes that are meaningless, i.e., what a person thinks about to himself, because when a person is thinking to himself about something, that thing appears in his imagination, especially when the thing is dear to the Nafs. So when he goes to sleep, his imagination envisages it, then his memory sto res it and that image reaches the Nafs when the veil of sleeping is lifted. Habits , which result in a person seeing himself doing what he usually does. So a Muezzin sees himself giving the Adhaan, a reader sees himself reading, and a person who usually rides horses sees himself riding a horse and so on. This is not of any significance. But if he sees himself doing an action that is lower or better than his usual action, such as if he usually rides an old nag and he sees himself riding a fine steed, or vice versa, and the like, then this is significant and may be interpreted. Fear, which results in a man seeing something that indicates that a thing feared by people may happen. This is of no significance. Imagination and envisaging things . If there is something in the dream that he imagined or envisaged, it is of no significance, such as if a man says, I saw myself riding the mule of 'Abd Al- Haqq ibn Sulaymaan, and it was as if I were between darkness and light. I said: Did you imagine yourself riding? He said: Yes. I said: You want what he has, and this dream is of no significance. When one of the humours predominates , such as if the blood predominates, a person will see (in his dream) things that bring joy and entertainment; if yellow bile predominates, he will see yellow things, fire and smoke; if phlegm predominates, he will see rain and snow; if black bile predominates, he will see black things. This is of no significance. Shihaab ibn Ni'mah said: If he sees along with something corrupt a thing that is not corrupt, then disregard the corrupt thing and interpret the rest. 3. Whether they are good or evil: a) That which is indicative of good both explicitly and implicitly, such as drinking milk or wearing fine clothes in the case of one for whom it is appropriate to wear them. This is good as it appears to be, and it may be understood as referring implicitly to provision and benefits. b) The opposite of that, such as burning with fire, drinking poison or being bitten by a snake. This indicates harm from an enemy both explicitly and implicitly. c) That which appears outwardly to be bad, but in fact implies something good, such as death and being carried on the bier and crucifixion, unless the position is reversed or the 'Awrah is uncovered. This implies a rise in status, although it is outwardly bad. d) That which is apparently good but implies something bad. Shihaab ibn Ni'mah said: Such as smelling a flower, if the person says 'ah' after smelling it, which is a word that is usually said at times of hardship. Other scholars disagreed with that, which will be discussed below. Arees said: I dreamt that I was smelling rosewater, and I said this is a calamity that will result from a white animal. He had a white mare which died, and he was distressed as a result. The correct view in my opinion is that smelling fragrances is indicative of joy and happiness which will be followed by some distress or hardship, because Shihaab ibn Ni'mah said: Thus we may reconcile both views. 4. Whether they show a thing as being near or far. a) Indications of closeness, which is a sign of calamity or distress. By His grace, Allah does not combine two kinds of distress for His slave: the distress of expecting calamity and distress when it occurs. If a man sees (in his dream) something that may cause distress, then ask him: if it has already happened then it may be interpreted as such, otherwise it means that it is close at hand. Similarly, what indicates something good, if it is seen during the day, then it most likely indicates that it is going to materialize soon, and that also applies if something appears in the dream that indicates that it is going to be soon, such as the dream of the servant (who was in prison with Yoosuf (May Allah be please with him): because he saw himself in a garden, at the bottom of a strong grapevine that had three branches on which there were three bunches of grapes, and he saw himself collecting them and squeezing them into the cup of the King and giving it to him to drink. Yoosuf (May Allah be please with him) said: As for being at the bottom of the grapevine, that is a good sign and indicates that you will come out of prison after three and will go back as you were. So he regarded the three branches as a sign of closeness or that this event was going to happen soon. b) Indication that something is far off and it is impossible for it to happen soon, such as the dream of Abu Bakr which told of power and authority, because the means of power and authority were not available at that time. c) Indication that something is coming soon or that is far off, and that is something other than this. It may be said that if one goes to sleep at the beginning of the night and sees a dream, it is going to happen later, and if it is seen nearer to morning, then it is going to happen soon, and if it is seen in the middle of the night then it is in between being close at hand and far off. What I have experienced is different from that; a dream may be seen at the beginning of the night and materiali zes the next morning, or it may be seen at the end of the night and take a long time to materialize . 5. With regard to how easy or difficult it is to earn a livelihood. a) That in which provision is easy at the beginning and at the end, such as drinking m ilk or honey, or eating butter and loaves of bread and so on. b) That which is difficult at the beginning and at the end, and easy in the middle, such as the citron which has a skin that has a sharp taste, then in the middle is the pulp, which is sweet, th en the last part is worthless. The same applies to the pomegranate: the skin is tough, in the middle is the pulp which is sweet, and the end is hard. Shaykh Shihaab - ud - Deen noted this meaning when he interpreted the dream for a man who dreamt that he had a bone in which there was marrow and on which there was meat, and he was eating that meat and marrow. He told him: At the beginning of your life you will be rich, then you will become poor, then you will become rich again, because the meat is wealth and th e marrow is wealth, and the bone, on which there is nothing, is in the middle and comes in between them. And it turned out as he said. c) That which is difficult in the beginning and easy at the end, like almonds; at the beginning there is the shell which represents hardship, or it may refer to some income, the means of acquiring which starts with a dispute, because the shell makes a sound when you break it, and the centre of the almond is at the end. d) That which is the opposite of that, such as dates a nd raisins, because the beginning thereof is the pulp and the end is the pit or hard seed. Shaykh Shihaab - ud - Deen said: Rather apricots and peaches are indicative of hardship, because they contain a pit and the eater is worried about it lest it damage his teeth. 6. With regard to cases where various dreams mean one thing or one dream has various meanings. It should be noted that dreams may vary but have one meaning, or there may be the same dream but it has different meanings. An example of the first is wh ere the judge sees in a dream that his mule dies, or he loses his pen, or his ink pot is broken or lost, or he loses his ring or chair, or he sees himself separating from his wife, or his shoes get damaged or he sells them or they wear out totally or parti ally. All of that indicates that he will be dismissed. Similarly, if one person sees the sun eclipsed, and another sees the ocean dry up, and another sees a great mountain collapse, and another sees a great river disappearing into the earth: all of that is indicative of one thing, which is the death of a great man, whether he is one of the righteous, a scholar, or a ruler. With regard to one thing meaning many things, there are five causes of that: a) Differences in language, as in the case of the Safarjal or quince. In the Persian language the word Safarjal means glory, so if a Persian or someone who knows their language sees it in his dream, in his case it refers to glory and pride. For the Arabs and those who know their language, Safarjal means a bone, and is indicative of travelling for Jihad or Hajj. If you misspell or mispronounce it, so that the Jeem becomes ha', then you are saying Safar Hall, which means it is time to travel. So if you say I saw a Safarjal, this is indicative of travel (Safar) and departure (Jala'). This is supported by the words of the poet: b) Do not give a Safarjal to the one you love, for the beginning of it is Safar (travel) and the end of it is departure (Jala). c) In my view, for the one who is distressed it signals relief because it may be mispronounced to say Baththun Yufraj (distress will be relieved). d) Differences of religion, such as eating dead meat or drinking alcohol. For the one who believes them to be Haraam, (seeing them in a dream) means that he will get Haraam wea lth, otherwise it will be permissible wealth. e) Differences in customs, such as taking off one's clothes. If that is done in the bath, it represents something good and relief from distress, because it is the normal thing to do; but (if a person sees hims elf in his dream) taking off his clothes in front of a gathering of people, this is indicative of a bad reputation, especially if he is exposing the 'Awrah. The same applies to shaving the beard; it represents something good for those who prefer that, such as the Christians and the Qarandaliyyah , and for those who adorn themselves to attract women and the one who prefers an easy life. Similarly wearing silk and gold for the one for whom it is suitable is indicative of something good and coming closer to th e prominent people. If a deceased person is seen with silk and gold, then that indicates that he is in a good state. f) Differences in season, such as seeing oneself in a dream getting close to the fire for warmth, seeking the warmth of the sun, wearing fu r or using hot water in the winter; this is good and is indicative of recovery for one who is sick because of the cold. But in the summer it is indicative of distress and misfortune and of lengthy sickness for one who is sick because of heat. Similarly a t ree is a good sign at times of ease, and the shade of a tree is also a good sign at times when it is hot, but it is indicative of distress and little benefit at times of hardship. g) Differences between people. Carrying a weapon (in the dream) for an off - d uty soldier means that he will be called to service, for the fighter it is indicative of victory, for the worshipper it is a signal that he will give up his worship, for the student it is a sign that he will give up his study, and for others it is a warnin g of a bad deal with their opponents. Wearing a fine white garment (in a dream) is good for Fuqaha and the righteous, as it is indicative of a rise in status, a good attitude and a good life. But for butchers and herders it is a bad thing, as it indicates that they will lose their livelihood because they wear that when they are not working; but wearing dirty clothing is a good sign for them, because it is indicative of how they earn their livelihood, whereas for the Fuqaha and the righteous it is a bad thi ng. Riding a mule (in a dream) for the Faqeeh indicates that he will be appointed to some position; for the one who wants to get married it indicates that he will find a wife; for the cook and those in similar professions, it is indicative of a bad reputat ion. For a king, a pomegranate indicates a city; for the Faqeeh it indicates appointment to some position; for the provision seeker it indicates provision; for the one who is single it indicates a spouse; for the traveller it indicates capital, and it indi cates the same for the one who wants to buy a house. Rain (in a dream) represents provision and plenty of it, but it indicates a lack of provision for the fuller; the opposite is the case with regard to the sun. Eating sweets (in a dream) represents provis ion for the healthy and recovery for the sick whose sickness is due to cold, whereas for those whose sickness is due to heat it indicates that their sickness will last for a long time; sour things represent the opposite of that.