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Honey in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
العسل في المنام
In Islam, seeing honey in a dream is a good sign. For the believer, honey stands for the sweetness of faith, reciting the Qur’an and good deeds. For someone who seeks this world, it is lawful gain: an inheritance, spoils or the profit of a partnership. In a dream told to the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr interpreted honey as the Qur’an.
الشهد رزق كثير يناله صاحبه من غير تعب لأن النار لم تمسه والعسل رزق قليل من وجه فيه تعبIbn Sirin said: “Honey in the comb is abundant provision, obtained without effort, because fire has not touched it. Honey is modest provision, which comes from a source where there is effort.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 27, vol. 1, p. 234
In this way Ibn Sirin separates honey still in its comb (shahd) from extracted honey. A few lines earlier, the collection also explains why honey points to the Qur’an: Allah described His word as a healing. The meaning of a honey dream therefore depends on the dreamer’s piety and on the form in which he sees the honey.
Honey and the Qur’an in the hadith
A man told the Prophet ﷺ that he had seen in a dream a cloud from which butter and honey were dropping. People were gathering it in their hands, some a lot and others a little. Abu Bakr asked to interpret it, and said:
أما الظلة فالإسلام، وأما الذي ينطف من العسل والسمن فالقرآن حلاوته تنطف، فالمستكثر من القرآن والمستقل“The cloud with shade symbolizes Islam, and the butter and honey dropping from it, symbolizes the Qur’an, its sweetness dropping and some people learning much of the Qur’an and some a little.”
Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 7046, narrated by Ibn Abbas
Abu Bakr’s interpretation also covered other parts of the dream. At the end, the Prophet ﷺ told him: “You are right in some of it and wrong in some”, without saying on which point. The Ibn Sirin collection reports this dream and keeps, for honey, the meaning of the Qur’an and its sweetness (vol. 1, p. 234).
The meaning according to what you saw
The Ibn Sirin collection deals with honey in chapter 27, among foods and sweets. Here are the cases it describes.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| You eat honey, and you are a practising believer | The sweetness of faith, reciting the Qur’an and good deeds.vol. 1, p. 233 |
| You obtain honey | Money: a lawful inheritance, spoils or the profit of a partnership. For people turned towards this world, spoils obtained without effort.vol. 1, p. 233 |
| A honeycomb is placed in front of you | You hold a noble knowledge.vol. 1, p. 233 |
| You feed people with honeycomb | You recite the Qur’an in front of people, with a beautiful voice.vol. 1, p. 233 |
| It rains honey | Religion is in a good state and blessing reaches everyone.vol. 1, p. 234 |
| Honey comes down from the sky, some lick it, others drink it | The Qur’an: those who lick it once or twice learn one or two surahs, those who drink it learn all of it. The collection reports this interpretation by Abu Bakr and the approval of the Prophet ﷺ.vol. 1, p. 234 |
| Honey flows from your fingers and you lick them | The collection reports that Abdullah ibn Umar had this dream and that the Prophet ﷺ told him: “You will read the two Books.”vol. 1, p. 234 |
| You dip bread in honey and eat it | The collection mentions a man who had this dream: he came to love knowledge and wisdom, benefited from them, and his wealth grew. The honey stood for knowledge, the bread for ease of life.vol. 1, pp. 234 and 235 |
| You see bees or take a swarm | Seeing bees: authority and profit. Taking a swarm, or what bees produce: spoils and wealth obtained without cost or effort.vol. 1, p. 410 |
| You harvest the honey without leaving any for the bees | For a king: he oppresses his subjects and takes their wealth. If he takes his share and leaves them theirs, he is just.vol. 1, p. 410 |
Honey in a story about Ibn Sirin
وأما العسل فشيء تزينون به كلامكمA man told Ibn Sirin a long dream: with his companions, he was eating a camel’s head with honey. Ibn Sirin explained that the camel’s head stood for the Commander of the Faithful, about whom they were backbiting. Then he added: “As for the honey, it is something with which you adorn your words.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 23, vol. 1, p. 180
Here, honey goes with backbiting: it stands for the fine words used to wrap it. The collection places this dream in the time of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.
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 honey in a dream good in Islam?
Yes, in almost every case. For the believer, it is the sweetness of faith and the Qur’an. For someone who seeks this world, lawful gain. The exact meaning depends on what you do with the honey in the dream.
What does eating honey in a dream mean in Islam?
For the believer, eating honey announces the sweetness of faith, reciting the Qur’an and good deeds. For someone who seeks this world, spoils obtained without effort (vol. 1, p. 233). Ibn Sirin said that extracted honey is more modest provision than honey in the comb.
What does flowing honey mean in a dream?
The collection reports that Abdullah ibn Umar saw honey flowing from two of his fingers and that he was licking them: the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have told him that he would read the two Books. In the hadith of al-Bukhari (no. 7046), honey dropping from a cloud was interpreted as the Qur’an.
What does giving or receiving honey in a dream mean?
Feeding people with honeycomb announces that you recite the Qur’an in front of them, with a beautiful voice. Receiving or obtaining honey is a good thing: a lawful inheritance, spoils or the profit of a partnership (vol. 1, p. 233).
What do honey and bees mean in a dream in Islam?
Seeing bees announces authority and profit. Taking a swarm announces wealth obtained without effort. The collection also links bees to scholars, because honey is a healing and the bees received inspiration from Allah (vol. 1, p. 410).
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 27, vol. 1, pp. 233 to 235; chapter 23, vol. 1, p. 180; chapter 35, vol. 1, p. 410 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Interpretation of Dreams, no. 7046 (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.