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Mouth in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
الفم في المنام
In Islam, a mouth seen in a dream stands for the beginning and the end of the dreamer’s affairs, according to the Ibn Sirin collection. What comes out of the mouth is provision, good or bad depending on what comes out. A mouth shut with a padlock announces disbelief. Pearls put in the mouth show a good religion, and much water flowing from it, an ample life.
والفم فاتحة أمر صاحبه وخاتمهIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “The mouth is the opening of its owner’s affair, and its conclusion.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 22, vol. 1, p. 147
The collection repeats the same idea in the chapter on miscellaneous subjects: “the mouth is the key to his affair and its conclusion” (vol. 2, p. 368). The teeth and the tongue, which are in the mouth, each have their own page.
The meaning according to what you saw
The main passage is in chapter 22, on the parts of the body. The other cases are spread across the collection: what comes out of the body, food, pearls, fire, lamps.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| Something comes out of your mouth | Provision, good or bad depending on what comes out.vol. 1, p. 147 |
| Your mouth is shut or padlocked | Disbelief (kufr).vol. 1, p. 147 |
| Your lips | The friend you take pride in, your helper and your support. The lower lip counts for more than the upper one. According to another opinion, the lips are kinship. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 147 |
| Your whole mouth falls out | You have cut ties with your relatives. This is the answer the collection reports from a master named Muhammad, who was asked about this dream.vol. 1, p. 15 |
| Saliva runs from your mouth | Money that comes to you and then goes.vol. 1, p. 185 |
| Much water flows from your mouth | You obtain an ample life. For a merchant, it is a sign of his honesty.vol. 1, p. 185 |
| Something unpleasant or something good enters your mouth | Unpleasant: a hard and painful life. Sweet, soft and easy to swallow: a pleasant life and easy work.vol. 1, p. 230 |
| Someone smells your breath | If he finds a smell of drink (sharâb) or a stench, he is trying to draw ugly words from you, and he hears such words in proportion to the smell. If the bad smell comes from a tooth, it is a bad reputation coming from the relative that this tooth stands for.vol. 2, p. 360 |
| You put pearls in your mouth, or they come out of it | Putting them in your mouth: a good religion. Scattering them from your mouth while people pick them up and you take none yourself: a preacher whose exhortation is useful.vol. 2, p. 153 |
| A fish comes out of your mouth | An absurd word that you say about a woman.vol. 1, p. 413 |
| Fire comes out of your mouth | You are a slanderer.vol. 2, p. 191 |
| You blow out a lamp with your mouth | You try to bring down the affair of a man who is in the right, but it does not fail, according to the verse: “They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light” (Surah 61, verse 8).vol. 2, p. 194 |
Ibn Sirin’s story about the mouth
رأيت كأن فمي ملئ لؤلؤ وأنا ضام عليه لا أخرجه فقال أنت رجل تحسن القرآن ولا تقرؤهSeveral people came to tell Ibn Sirin about dreams of pearls. One of them said: “I saw my mouth filled with pearls, and I kept it shut without letting them out.” Ibn Sirin replied: “You are a man who knows the Qur’an well and does not recite it.” The man said: “You have spoken the truth.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 40, vol. 2, p. 155
In the same series, another man saw pearls scattering from his mouth: people picked them up, and he took none. Ibn Sirin told him: “You are a judge who says what he does not do.” Here the pearls are the words of the Qur’an and of knowledge, and the mouth is the place they come out from, or do not.
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 a mouth in a dream mean in Islam?
According to the Ibn Sirin collection, the mouth is the opening and the conclusion of the dreamer’s affairs. What comes out of it is provision, good or bad. The lips stand for the friend one relies on, or for kinship according to another opinion.
What does a closed or sewn mouth mean in a dream in Islam?
The collection speaks of a mouth that is shut or padlocked: it is disbelief (vol. 1, p. 147). It does not speak of a mouth sewn with thread. The meaning given is serious, and the collection does not soften it.
What does blood from the mouth mean in a dream in Islam?
The collection does not speak of blood in the mouth as such. It deals with blood that is spat out or vomited, explained on the page about blood. It also says: if saliva runs without touching his body and people take it in their hands, it is knowledge he establishes among people; if blood is mixed with it, a lie is mixed with his knowledge (vol. 1, p. 185).
What does bad breath mean in a dream?
If someone smells your breath and finds a stench, he is trying to draw ugly words from you and hears such words in proportion to the smell. If the smell comes from a tooth, it is a bad reputation coming from the relative that this tooth stands for (vol. 2, p. 360).
What does something coming out of your mouth mean in a dream?
In general, provision, good or bad. The collection gives details: saliva, money that leaves; abundant water, an ample life; a fish, an absurd word about a woman; fire, slander. Hair coming out of the mouth is explained on the page about hair.
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 22, vol. 1, p. 147 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Same collection: introduction, vol. 1, p. 15; chapter 23, vol. 1, p. 185; chapter 27, vol. 1, p. 230; chapter 35, vol. 1, p. 413; chapter 40, vol. 2, pp. 153 to 155; chapter 42, vol. 2, pp. 191 and 194; chapter 58, vol. 2, pp. 360 and 368.
- Sahih Muslim, no. 2263, for the three kinds of dreams.
- English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.