Dream dictionary

The dictionary holds more than 180 entries: symbols such as water, a snake, teeth or gold, and scenes such as falling, being chased, flying or a wedding. Search for what you saw, or browse by theme, from water and the sea to death and the beyond. Each entry reads the dream by its details, because the details change the meaning: clear water or muddy, a snake that bites or one you kill, a tooth lost with blood or without.

The 30 most searched dreams have deep pages, where the spiritual meaning, the biblical meaning and Ibn Sirin's Islamic interpretation stand beside what Freud and Jung saw in the same image. The dream is read there for a woman, a pregnant woman, a man and a single person, since the dreamer's state decides the meaning. Every reading follows the interpreters' own order: the kind of dream, then the dreamer, then each image in turn, with the Qur'an, the hadith and the Bible where they speak to it.

Do dreams really mean something?

Yes. The Prophet named three kinds of dream: the true dream from God, which carries glad tidings, guidance or a warning; the disturbing dream from Satan, meant to grieve the dreamer; and the self's own talk, the day's concerns returning at night. The true dream is read for its message, and clear, calm dreams seen near dawn weigh most.

Why do I keep having the same dream?

A true dream that repeats is a message not yet heeded, and the repetition is emphasis, so watch what stays the same and what shifts between the visits. A disturbing dream that returns is answered with refuge in God, and when the same figure or a heaviness comes night after night and follows you into the day, ruqya lifts it.

What should I do after a bad dream?

Seek refuge in God from its harm and from Satan, spit lightly to your left three times, turn onto your other side and tell no one, as the Prophet taught. Many families also recite the Verse of the Throne and the last two chapters of the Qur'an before sleep.

What does it mean when you dream about someone who has died?

The dead speak truly in dreams, so what they say is received as said. A dead person who appears well, smiling or in a green place is at ease, and the dream is glad tidings for the family; one who looks troubled or asks for something needs a prayer, a charity given in their name or a debt settled.

What does it mean when your teeth fall out in a dream?

Teeth are your kin: the upper teeth the men of the family and the father's side, the lower teeth the women and the mother's side, so a falling tooth is a change touching the one it stands for. Teeth that fall into your hand without pain are a debt paid or a burden set down, and the dream is never told to anyone as a death.

Who was Ibn Sirin?

Muhammad Ibn Sirin of Basra, who died in 728 CE, is the great master of Islamic dream interpretation, and a large body of interpretation is attributed to him. He asked about the dreamer before he spoke, and read the same dream of the call to prayer as the pilgrimage for a righteous man and as an accusation of theft for another.