Stone in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin

الحجر في المنام

In Islam, a stone seen in a dream mostly points to hardness: a harsh man, a hardened heart, a trial. The Ibn Sirin collection reads rocks as harsh and ignorant people, and sometimes as the dead. Small pebbles carry more meanings: they stand for men and women, silver coins, knowledge learned by heart or the pilgrimage.

الصخور المتينة المقطوعة الملقاة على الأرض ربما دلت على الموتى لانقطاعها من الجبال الحية المسبحة وتدل على أهل القساوة والغفلة والجهالةIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “Solid rocks, broken off and lying on the ground, sometimes stand for the dead, because they are cut off from the living mountains that glorify Allah. They also stand for people who are harsh, heedless and ignorant.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 39, vol. 2, p. 75

The collection adds that the wise compare the ignorant man to a stone, and that the stone takes its meaning from its hardness and from its name, which in Arabic suggests prohibition and hindrance. That is why most stone dreams speak of a hard heart or of a trial, except for pebbles picked up in a place of knowledge or thrown at an animal during the pilgrimage season.

The stone in a dream of the Prophet ﷺ

In a long dream narrated by Samura ibn Jundab, the Prophet ﷺ saw a man whose head was being crushed with a stone. The two angels who were with him gave him its meaning:

وإنا أتينا على رجل مضطجع، وإذا آخر قائم عليه بصخرة، وإذا هو يهوي بالصخرة لرأسه، فيثلغ رأسه فيتهدهد الحجر ها هنا … أما الرجل الأول الذي أتيت عليه يثلغ رأسه بالحجر، فإنه الرجل يأخذ القرآن فيرفضه وينام عن الصلاة المكتوبة“…we came across a man lying down, and behold, another man was standing over his head, holding a big rock. Behold, he was throwing the rock at the man’s head, injuring it. The rock rolled away… As for the first man you came upon whose head was being injured with the rock, he is the symbol of the one who studies the Qur’an and then neither recites it nor acts on its orders, and sleeps, neglecting the enjoined prayers.”
Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 7047, narrated by Samura ibn Jundab

The Ibn Sirin collection takes up this meaning: whoever sees his head being crushed on a rock sleeps without performing the night prayer, ‘isha (vol. 2, p. 330).

The meaning according to what you saw

Here are the cases described in the Ibn Sirin collection. Most come from the chapter on the earth and the mountains, the others from nearby chapters.

In your dream	Meaning in the collection
You are turned into stone	The dreamer’s heart hardens, he disobeys his Lord and his religion is corrupted. If he is ill, his death is near. If not, he may be struck by paralysis.vol. 2, p. 76
You own or buy a stone	You get the better of a man who resembles it, or you marry a woman, depending on your situation in waking life.vol. 2, p. 76
A stone falls from the sky on people or on mosques	A harsh man, a governor or a tax collector, whom the ruler sends against the people of the place. If a war is expected, it is a battle whose misfortune falls back on them.vol. 2, p. 76
Large stones fall from the sky on people	A punishment that comes down on the place: an epidemic, locusts, hail, wind, a fine or plunder.vol. 2, pp. 76 and 77
You eat a stone	You lose hope in something you were hoping for. With bread, you bear hardship to earn your living.vol. 2, p. 67
You pick up pebbles	Picked up in a mosque or at a scholar’s: knowledge and Qur’an, in the measure of what you took. Picked up at the market or in the fields: gains of this world.vol. 2, pp. 77 and 78
You throw pebbles at an animal (lion, monkey, locusts, crow…)	During the pilgrimage season, news of the hajj and of the stoning of the pillars. Outside that season, a prayer against an enemy or a wrongdoer, an insult or a testimony against him. On the other hand, throwing them at doves or at Muslims stands for a man who insults and backbites, and who speaks ill of pious people and chaste women.vol. 2, pp. 78 and 79
You throw a stone from a high place	You gain power, but you are unjust in it.vol. 1, p. 282
You stone someone	You insult him.vol. 2, p. 330
Your chest turns into stone	You will have a hard heart.vol. 1, p. 164
You strike one stone against another and fire flies out	Two harsh men fight violently.vol. 2, p. 196
You carry stones	You take on an important matter.vol. 2, p. 346

Ibn Sirin’s story about the pebble

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 had fallen into his ear. Frightened, he shook his head and the pebble came out. He told his dream to Ibn Sirin, who replied: “This man has sat with people of innovation. He heard a harsh word, and his ear rejected it.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 31, vol. 1, p. 283

Here the pebble keeps its meaning of hardness. The dreamer’s gesture, which makes it come out, shows that he did not keep within him what he heard.

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

Is seeing a stone in a dream good or bad in Islam?

Most often, the stone announces hardness: a harsh man, a hardened heart or a trial. Yet the collection gives good meanings to pebbles picked up in a mosque, which are knowledge, and to pebbles thrown at an animal (lion, monkey, locusts, crow) during the pilgrimage season, which announce the hajj.

What do stones falling from the sky mean in a dream?

A stone that falls on people stands for a harsh man whom the ruler sends against them. Large stones thrown from the sky on people are a punishment for the place: an epidemic, locusts, hail, wind or plunder (vol. 2, pp. 76 and 77).

What does throwing stones in a dream mean in Islam?

Stoning someone means insulting him, and throwing a stone from a high place announces power used unjustly. Throwing pebbles at an animal, such as a lion, a monkey, locusts or a crow, announces the hajj during the pilgrimage season, and outside that season a prayer against an enemy or an insult. Throwing them at doves or at Muslims stands for a man who insults and backbites pious people and chaste women (vol. 2, pp. 78 and 79).

What does eating stones in a dream mean in Islam?

According to the collection, eating a stone means losing hope in something you were hoping for. If you eat it with bread, you bear hardship to earn your living (vol. 2, p. 67).

Does the collection speak of precious stones or of the colour of the stone?

Precious stones have their own chapter in the collection, the one on metals and jewels, and are not covered here. As for colour, the collection only says that pebbles can stand for white silver coins. The Black Stone of the Kaaba has a separate meaning: according to an opinion reported in the collection, touching it means following an imam from the Hijaz (vol. 1, p. 100).

Does the meaning change for a married woman, a single woman or a pregnant woman?

The Ibn Sirin collection makes no such distinction for the stone. It only singles out the sick person, for whom being turned into stone announces death, and, for pebbles thrown at an animal, the pilgrimage season, which changes the meaning.

Sources

Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 39, vol. 2, pp. 67 and 75 to 79 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
Same collection, chapter 14, vol. 1, p. 100; chapter 22, vol. 1, p. 164; chapter 31, vol. 1, pp. 282 and 283; chapter 42, vol. 2, p. 196; chapter 57, vol. 2, p. 330; chapter 58, vol. 2, p. 346.
Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Interpretation of Dreams, no. 7047 (English translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan).
Sahih Muslim, no. 2263, for the three kinds of dreams.
English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.