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Pigeon in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
الحمامة في المنام
In Islam, a pigeon seen in a dream stands first for a pious and beloved woman, according to the Ibn Sirin collection. It also announces news, a messenger or a letter, because the pigeon carries messages. For someone in hardship or waiting for an absent person, a pigeon coming towards him is good news. For a sick person, a pigeon landing on his head announces his death.
الحمامة هي المرأة الصالحة المحبوبة التي لا تبغي ببعلها بديلاIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “The dove is the pious and beloved woman, who wants no husband other than her own.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 35, vol. 1, p. 406
In Arabic, the word hamâma means both the pigeon and the dove, and the collection does not tell them apart. It recalls that Nuh (Noah), peace be upon him, first sent out the crow to learn how far the waters had gone down. The crow stopped at a carcass. Nuh then sent the pigeon, which came back with a green leaf, and he made a supplication for it. This is why the pigeon announces news, a messenger or a letter.
The meaning according to what you saw
The passage on the pigeon is in the chapter on birds, on pages 406 and 407 of volume 1. Two other chapters add cooing and flying. Here are the cases, in the order of the text.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| A pigeon lands on you or flies towards you | Good news, for someone who is in hardship or waiting for an absent person.vol. 1, p. 406 |
| You are ill and a pigeon lands on your head | It is the hour of death, especially if it is a turtle dove moaning near your head. The text plays on the words hamâm, the pigeon, and himâm, death.vol. 1, p. 406 |
| A green pigeon | The pigeon can also be a daughter. The best of pigeons is the green one.vol. 1, pp. 406 and 407 |
| You own a very large number of pigeons | Spoils and wealth.vol. 1, p. 407 |
| Pigeon eggs, chicks or a dovecote | The eggs are daughters. The chicks are sons or daughters. The dovecote is the place where women gather.vol. 1, p. 407 |
| White, green, black or pied pigeons | White ones: religion. Green ones: scrupulous piety. Black ones: people of high rank, women and men. Pied ones: people whose conduct is mixed and confused.vol. 1, p. 407 |
| A pigeon flees from you and does not come back | You separate from your wife, or she dies.vol. 1, p. 407 |
| You clip a pigeon’s wing | You swear to your wife that she will not go out. Or else she becomes pregnant and you will have a child by her.vol. 1, p. 407 |
| You eat pigeon meat | You consume a woman’s money.vol. 1, p. 407 |
| A homing pigeon, trained and known | News coming from far away. If your wife is pregnant, she will have a boy.vol. 1, p. 407 |
| The cooing of a pigeon | A man’s reproach to a woman. In the chapter on sounds, cooing is also a noble Muslim woman who recites the Qur’an.vol. 1, pp. 196 and 407 |
| You fly the way a pigeon flies | You gain honour and strength.vol. 2, p. 324 |
Ibn Sirin’s story about the white pigeon
أن رجلا أتى ابن سيرين فقال رأيت كأني أصبت حمامة بيضاء معجبة لي جدا وكأن إحدى عينيه من أحسن عيني حمامة والعين الأخرى فيها حول قد غشيتها صفرة فضحك ابن سيرين وقال إنك تتزوج امرأة جميلة تعجبك جدا ولا يهولك الذي رأيت فإن العيب ليس في بصرها وإنما هو شئ في نظرها وتكون سيئة في خلقها وتؤذيك به فتزوج صاحب الرؤيا امرأة فرأى منها خلقا شديداA man came to Ibn Sirin and said: “I saw that I had found a white dove that pleased me greatly. One of its eyes was among the most beautiful eyes a dove can have. The other one squinted and a yellow film covered it.” Ibn Sirin laughed and said: “You will marry a beautiful woman who will please you greatly. Do not be alarmed by what you saw: the fault is not in her sight, it is in her way of looking at things. She will have a bad character and will make you suffer for it.” The man married a woman and found her character very harsh.
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 35, vol. 1, p. 407
The Arabic text reads “his eyes” (عينيه) where one would expect “its eyes”, a slip in the text. The story shows Ibn Sirin’s method: the pigeon is the woman, its whiteness her beauty, and the fault in the eye a fault of character.
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 pigeon in a dream mean in Islam?
According to the Ibn Sirin collection, the pigeon is first a pious and beloved woman. It also announces news, a messenger or a letter, in memory of the pigeon of Nuh, peace be upon him. For someone in hardship or waiting for an absent person, it is good news (vol. 1, p. 406).
What does a white pigeon mean in a dream in Islam?
White pigeons stand for religion (vol. 1, p. 407). Ibn Sirin also interpreted a white dove found in a dream as the announcement of a marriage to a beautiful woman, but the squinting eye announced a bad character. Black pigeons stand for people of high rank.
What does a pigeon in the house mean in a dream?
The collection does not speak of a pigeon in the house as such. The closest case is a pigeon flying towards you or landing on you: good news for someone in hardship. The dovecote stands for the place where women gather.
What does a dead pigeon or pigeon droppings mean in a dream in Islam?
The collection speaks of neither a dead pigeon nor pigeon droppings. It speaks of a pigeon that flees and does not come back, a sign of separation from one’s wife or of her death, and of a pigeon landing on the head of a sick person, a sign of death.
Does the meaning change for a married, single or pregnant woman?
The passage on the pigeon is written from the man’s point of view: the pigeon often stands for his wife or his daughters. The collection gives no meaning specific to a married or single woman. It mentions pregnancy twice: clipping a pigeon’s wing can mean that the wife becomes pregnant, and for a man whose wife is pregnant, the homing pigeon announces a boy (vol. 1, p. 407).
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 35, vol. 1, pp. 406 and 407 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Same collection, chapter 24, vol. 1, p. 196, for cooing, and chapter 55, vol. 2, p. 324, for flying.
- Sahih Muslim, no. 2263, for the three kinds of dreams.
- English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.