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Elephant in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
الفيل في المنام
In Islam, an elephant seen in a dream most often stands for a powerful ruler. The Ibn Sirin collection notes that interpreters disagree: for some it is a great king, for others something famous and imposing but of no benefit. Riding an elephant is a delicate dream, whose meaning depends on the dreamer. Being threatened or chased by an elephant announces an illness or harm from a king.
الفيل مختلف فيه فمنهم من قال إنه ملك ضخمIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “Opinions differ about the elephant. Some said that it is a powerful king.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 34, vol. 1, p. 365
This sentence opens the passage on the elephant, in the chapter on wild animals. The collection then cites other opinions: the elephant would be something famous and imposing but of no benefit, since its flesh is not eaten and it is not milked. It also recalls the people of the elephant who came against the Kaaba (Surah 105): the elephant can thus announce ruin and reversal. Finally, it can stand for a heavily built woman or a large ship.
The meaning according to what you saw
The passage on the elephant takes up pages 365 to 367 of volume 1. Here are the cases it describes, in the order of the text.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| You see an elephant without riding it | According to some interpreters, a decline in yourself and a loss of money. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 365 |
| You ride an elephant | According to the same opinion, you reach a powerful and miserly king and get the upper hand, if you are fit for power. If not, you meet a war in which you get no help, and you could be killed in it. Further on, the collection sees in it marriage for the unmarried, and a ship or a litter for the traveller. Otherwise, it is power obtained, except for someone at war: he will be defeated and killed. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, pp. 365 and 367 |
| You ride a saddled and docile elephant | According to the same opinion, marriage to the daughter of an important man. For a merchant, a trade that grows. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 365 |
| You ride an elephant in broad daylight | According to the same opinion, you divorce your wife, and harm reaches you because of her. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, pp. 365 and 366 |
| You lead an elephant | According to the same opinion, you outwit a great king and obtain lawful wealth from him. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 366 |
| Elephant dung | According to the same opinion, the king’s wealth. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 366 |
| An elephant killed in your town | The death of the king of that town or of one of its notables.vol. 1, p. 366 |
| An elephant threatens you or comes after you | An illness. If it throws you under it and falls on you, it is the dreamer’s death. If it does not throw you under it, you go through hardships and come out of them.vol. 1, p. 366 |
| You speak to an elephant | According to another opinion, you receive something good from the king. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 366 |
| An elephant chases you at a run | Harm from a king.vol. 1, pp. 366 and 367 |
| An elephant strikes you with its trunk | You obtain wealth.vol. 1, p. 367 |
| Two elephants fight | Two kings who confront each other.vol. 1, p. 367 |
Ibn Sirin’s story about the elephant
أن رجلا أتى ابن سيرين فقال رأيت كأني على فيل فقال ابن سيرين الفيل ليس من مراكب المسلمين أخاف أنك على غير الإسلامA man came to Ibn Sirin and said: “I saw that I was on an elephant.” Ibn Sirin replied: “The elephant is not a mount of the Muslims. I fear that you are not upon Islam.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 34, vol. 1, p. 365
Right after this, the collection reports other opinions on riding an elephant, which depend on the dreamer’s situation: power, trade, marriage or travel.
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 an elephant in a dream a good sign in Islam?
Not as a general rule. The elephant mostly stands for a ruler, and the collection often sees in it an illness, harm or a trial. A few cases are favourable: being struck by its trunk brings wealth, and according to another opinion, speaking to it brings something good from the king (vol. 1, pp. 366 and 367).
What does riding an elephant mean in a dream in Islam?
Ibn Sirin answered a man who had seen himself on an elephant that he feared for his religion. Other opinions in the collection see in it power for someone fit for it, otherwise a lost war in which he may be killed, a trade that grows, marriage for the unmarried, or a journey. According to the same opinion, by day it is a divorce.
What does an elephant attacking or chasing you mean in a dream in Islam?
An elephant that threatens you or comes after you announces an illness. If it chases you at a run, it is harm from a king. If it throws you under it and falls on you, the collection sees in it the dreamer’s death (vol. 1, pp. 366 and 367).
What does a baby elephant, a white elephant or a dead elephant mean in a dream in Islam?
The collection speaks neither of the elephant’s young, nor of its colour, nor of an elephant in water. For a dead elephant, it only cites an elephant killed in a town, which announces the death of its king or of a notable.
Does the meaning change for a married woman, a single woman or a pregnant woman?
This is one of the rare passages where the collection speaks of women: for a woman, the elephant is not a sign of good, however she sees it (vol. 1, p. 366). It does not distinguish the married woman, the single woman or the pregnant woman. For an unmarried man, riding an elephant announces marriage.
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 34, vol. 1, pp. 365 to 367 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Sahih Muslim, no. 2263, for the three kinds of dreams.
- English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.