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Field in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
الزرع في المنام
In Islam, a field you own in a dream stands first of all for your deeds. The collection attributed to Ibn Sirin says that a known crop is “his work in his religion or in his worldly life”. Sowing in its season is a good deed, a green ear announces a fertile year and a dry ear a year of scarcity. A harvest out of season announces deaths or a war.
ومن رأى أن له زرعا معروفا فإن ذلك عمله في دينه أو دنياهIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “Whoever sees that he has a known crop, that is his work in his religion or in his worldly life.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 44, vol. 2, pp. 229 and 230
The collection explains: if this work concerns religion, its reward is in proportion to the crop, its extent and its use. If it concerns this world, it is wealth gathered that comes back to the dreamer, in payment for a work. The cereals then each have their own meaning: wheat, barley, rice.
The meaning according to what you saw
These cases come from the chapter on grains, crops and plants. Here is what the collection describes, in the order of the text.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| You sow seeds | Sowing in the earth stands for a child. If the seed takes, honour. If it does not take, a worry.vol. 2, p. 227 |
| You sow wheat | A deed that pleases Allah. Working hard to grow it stands for fighting in the way of Allah.vol. 2, p. 228 |
| You sow wheat and something else grows | If barley grows, your outward side is better than your inner side. If you sow barley and wheat grows, it is the reverse. If the wheat grows as blood, you consume usury.vol. 2, p. 228 |
| Green ears or dry ears | A green ear announces a fertile year. A dry ear, still on its stalk, a year of scarcity, as in the story of Yusuf (Joseph), peace be upon him.vol. 2, p. 228 |
| Ears gathered in your hand, on the threshing floor or in a container | Wealth you obtain from the work of others, or knowledge you learn.vol. 2, p. 228 |
| The harvest takes place out of its season | A death in the neighbourhood, or a war. If the ears are yellow, the death of old people. If they are green, the death of young people or their being killed.vol. 2, p. 228 |
| You sow in its season | A good deed. For a governor, power. For a merchant, a profit. For a man of the market, a living. For an ascetic, scrupulous piety. If what you sowed grows, the deed is accepted. If you harvest, you have received your reward.vol. 2, p. 229 |
| Crops as the deeds of men | Crops are the deeds of the children of Adam, if the place looks like a place where crops are grown. Otherwise, they are men gathered for a war: if they are harvested, they are killed. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 2, p. 229 |
| You eat green, fresh wheat | You are a good, pious and devout man.vol. 2, p. 229 |
| Barley: sowing, walking in the field, harvesting | Sowing barley is a deed that earns the pleasure of Allah. Walking in a field of barley or among crops is being granted fighting in the way of Allah. Harvesting barley in its season is wealth that comes to you, on which Allah has a due: “give its due [zakah] on the day of its harvest”. Barley, in any case, is wealth, benefit and provision.vol. 2, p. 230 |
| Rice | Wealth that comes with fatigue, commotion and worry.vol. 2, p. 231 |
| You are in a meadow, you gather or eat grass | The poor man becomes rich, the rich man richer still. But the ascetic turns back towards this world and lets it tempt him. Moving from one meadow to another is travelling in search of the goods of this world.vol. 2, p. 237-238 |
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 field in a dream a good sign in Islam?
Most of the time, yes: a known field is the dreamer’s deeds, and sowing in its season is a good deed. The collection also gives negative meanings: a dry ear announces scarcity, and a harvest out of season deaths or a war (vol. 2, p. 228).
What does seeing a wheat field in a dream mean in Islam?
Sowing wheat is a deed that pleases Allah, and working hard to grow it stands for fighting in the way of Allah. Eating green, fresh wheat shows a pious man. But if the wheat that was sown grows as blood, the dreamer consumes usury.
What is the difference between a green field and a dry field in a dream?
The collection contrasts the green ear, which announces a fertile year, with the dry ear left on its stalk, which announces a year of scarcity, from the story of Yusuf (vol. 2, p. 228). For a harvest out of season, yellow ears stand for old people and green ones for the young.
What does the collection say about a rice field or a corn field?
Rice is wealth that comes with fatigue, commotion and worry (vol. 2, p. 231). The collection does not speak of maize. It mentions dhura (a word that today means maize, but at that time most likely another cereal), together with millet: plentiful wealth, of little use and without lustre.
What if fire falls on a field?
This case is covered with fire. See the page on fire in a dream, which quotes the passage of the collection on fire falling on fields and crops.
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 44, vol. 2, pp. 227 to 231, 237 and 238 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.