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Ear in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
الأذن في المنام
In Islam, the ear seen in a dream stands first for the dreamer’s wife or daughter, according to the Ibn Sirin collection: what happens to the ear happens to them. According to another opinion, the ear is religion, and having many ears then means turning away from the truth. For a rich man, another opinion sees much news. Cleaning one’s ears announces good news.
والأذن امرأة الرجل أو ابنته فما حدث فيها فهو فيهاIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “The ear is the man’s wife or his daughter. What happens to the ear happens to them.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 58, vol. 2, p. 367
The collection states this principle twice: in the chapter on the limbs of the body (vol. 1, p. 152) and in the chapter on various subjects, where the sentence above comes from. The number of ears therefore refers to the women of the household. Another opinion reads the ear as religion: having many ears then means refusing the truth, according to the verse: “Or do they have ears by which they hear?” (Qur’an, surah 7, verse 195).
The meaning according to what you saw
The main passage is in chapter 22, on the limbs of the body. Other cases are spread across the collection. Here are the main ones.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| You have three ears | You have a wife and two daughters.vol. 1, p. 152 |
| You have only one ear | Your relatives will not live; none of them will remain with you.vol. 1, p. 152 |
| You have only half an ear | The death of your wife, then a second marriage.vol. 1, p. 152 |
| A ring hangs from your ear | You give your daughter in marriage, and she bears her husband a son.vol. 1, p. 152 |
| You stuff your ears with something | According to the opinion that sees the ear as religion, it is disbelief. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 152 |
| You have many ears | According to the opinion that sees the ear as religion, you turn away from the truth without accepting it. According to yet another opinion, for a rich man, fine and well-matched ears are good news, and ugly ears bad news. For someone who wants to be obeyed by his family, it is a good sign. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, pp. 152 and 153 |
| You have eyes in your ear | You will lose your sight: what you used to take in with your eyes, you will hear with your ears.vol. 1, pp. 152 and 153 |
| You clean dirt or pus from your ears | Good news reaches you.vol. 1, p. 184 |
| An unknown old man cuts off both your ears | You receive two blood-money payments (diya).vol. 1, p. 201 |
| Your ears are cut off while your wife is pregnant | She dies. If you have no wife, a woman of your family dies. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 201 |
| Ants come out of your ear | If you are glad of it, you will die a martyr. If it grieves you, there is reason to fear for you.vol. 2, p. 9 |
| You wear earrings set with pearls | You receive a share of the beauty of this world, as well as the Qur’an, religion, a fine voice and success in your affairs.vol. 2, p. 143 |
Ibn Sirin’s story about the ear
ورأى رجل كأن حصاة وقعت في أذنه فنفضها فزعا فخرجت فقص رؤياه على ابن سيرين فقال هذا رجل جالس أهل البدع فسمع كلمة قاسية مجتها أذنهA man saw in a dream that a pebble fell into his ear. Frightened, he shook it and the pebble came out. He told his dream to Ibn Sirin, who said: “This is a man who sat with the people of innovation. He heard a harsh word, and his ear rejected it.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 31, vol. 1, p. 283
Here the ear is the organ of what one listens to. The pebble is the harsh word, and shaking it out shows that the dreamer did not keep it inside him.
Before you interpret your dream
Not every dream carries a meaning. The Prophet ﷺ described three kinds: a good dream, which is glad tidings from Allah; a distressing dream, which comes from Satan; and what a person tells himself during the day (Sahih Muslim, no. 2263). Only the first is read with a collection like Ibn Sirin’s. See the three kinds of dreams, and if your dream frightened you, what to do after a bad dream.
Frequently asked questions
What does seeing an ear in a dream mean in Islam?
According to the Ibn Sirin collection, the ear stands for the man’s wife or his daughter, and what happens to it happens to them. Another opinion sees it as religion. The meaning therefore depends on what happens to the ear in the dream.
What do dirty ears or ear wax mean in a dream in Islam?
The collection speaks of cleaning dirt or pus from one’s ears: good news arrives (vol. 1, p. 184). It gives no meaning to a dirty ear that is not cleaned.
What does a bleeding or leaking ear mean in a dream in Islam?
The collection has no passage on an ear that leaks or bleeds by itself. The closest case is pus removed while cleaning the ear, a sign of good news.
What does an insect in the ear mean in a dream?
The collection only speaks of ants coming out of the ear: death as a martyr if one is glad of it, fear for the dreamer if it grieves him (vol. 2, p. 9). It says nothing about a spider, a bee or a fly in the ear.
What do earrings or ear piercing mean in a dream in Islam?
The collection does not speak of piercing. For earrings, it says that a man who sees earrings set with pearls in his ears receives a share of the beauty of this world, the Qur’an, religion, a fine voice and success in his affairs (vol. 2, p. 143). A ring hanging from the ear means marrying off one’s daughter, who bears a son.
Does the meaning change for a married, single or pregnant woman?
The passage is written from the man’s point of view, and the collection gives no meaning specific to a married or single woman. For a man, an earring first points to a pleasure of listening that suits only women, such as singing or the Qur’an recited in a singing tone. Only failing that is it read as the pregnancy of a woman of his household: gold, a boy; silver, a girl. A pregnant woman who sees herself with earrings set with pearls will have a boy (vol. 2, p. 143).
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 22, vol. 1, pp. 152 and 153 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Same collection: chapter 23, vol. 1, p. 184; chapter 25, vol. 1, p. 201; chapter 31, vol. 1, p. 283; chapter 37, vol. 2, p. 9; chapter 40, vol. 2, p. 143; chapter 58, vol. 2, p. 367.
- Qur’an, surah 7, verse 195 (Sahih International translation).
- Sahih Muslim, no. 2263, for the three kinds of dreams.
- English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.