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Salt in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
الملح في المنام
In Islam, salt seen in a dream has no single meaning. The Ibn Sirin collection notes that opinions differ: for some, white salt is renunciation of the goods of this world, a good thing and a blessing. Ibn Sirin himself considered it unfavourable. Other passages see in it money, religious knowledge or healing, depending on the dreamer’s situation.
وأما الملح فقد اختلف فيه فمنهم من قال إن الأبيض منه زهد في الدنيا وخير ونعمة وكرهه ابن سيرينIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “As for salt, opinions differ about it. Some say that white salt is renunciation of this world, a good thing and a blessing. Ibn Sirin considered it unfavourable.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 27, vol. 1, pp. 224 and 225
This sentence is found in the chapter on food. The collection does not settle the question: it reports the favourable opinion, then Ibn Sirin’s reservation, then two darker opinions. Further on, in chapter 58, it quotes al-Qayrawani, for whom salt is above all money, because it makes food good, just as money keeps people alive. So the meaning depends a great deal on who has the dream. The same chapter 58 also gives a less favourable meaning to “good” salt (al-milh at-tayyib): dirhams that come with worry and toil (vol. 2, p. 349). The Arabic text writes “وهم”; we read it as “هم”, worry, as in the phrase of vol. 1, p. 225 (“دراهم فيها هم وتعب”), but this reading remains uncertain. A typo in the Arabic text (“الخبزبه”, standing for “الخبز به”) affects the case of bread eaten with salt; it does not change the meaning.
The meaning according to what you saw
Salt appears in three chapters of the Ibn Sirin collection: the chapter on food (chapter 27, vol. 1), the chapter on craftsmen (chapter 32, vol. 1) and the chapter on various subjects (chapter 58, vol. 2). Here are the cases it describes, in the order of the text.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| Salt set out in plain view | Worry, preoccupation, trouble and illness, or dirhams that come with worry and toil. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 225 |
| You eat bread with salt | You are content with little in this world.vol. 1, p. 225 |
| You find salt | A hardship or a serious illness. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 225 |
| Salted mutton comes into the house | Good that comes to its inhabitants after a past misfortune, in proportion to the amount of meat.vol. 1, p. 225 |
| You see a salt seller | A man who owns money in dirhams.vol. 1, p. 320 |
| You see white salt | Dirhams and ready money.vol. 2, p. 348 |
| You see good-quality salt | Dirhams that come with worry and toil. The reading of the word “worry” is likely, but not certain (see above).vol. 2, p. 349 |
| White salt, black salt or scented salt | According to al-Qayrawani, white salt stands for white dirhams, black salt for black dirhams, and scented salt for gold and lawful money.vol. 2, p. 353 |
| Salt as knowledge | It can stand for fiqh, the Sunnah and religion, because it is through salt that life is kept in good order.vol. 2, p. 353 |
| Salt and illness | It can announce healing from illnesses. The collection relies on a tradition, which it does not name, according to which salt cures seventy-two ailments.vol. 2, p. 354 |
| You receive salt, inherit it or are given it | The meaning depends on your state: the sick person is healed, the student gains fiqh, and the one who seeks the goods of this world gains money.vol. 2, p. 354 |
| You pass by a salt pan and bring salt home | A remedy received from a doctor, an answer received from a jurist, money received from an old woman with no children, or salted goods bought from their seller.vol. 2, p. 354 |
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 salt in a dream good or bad in Islam?
The collection itself admits that opinions differ. Some see white salt as renunciation of this world, a good thing and a blessing, but Ibn Sirin considered it unfavourable, and another opinion speaks of hardship or illness for someone who finds salt. Al-Qayrawani, quoted further on, sees in it rather money, religious knowledge or healing.
What does white salt mean in a dream in Islam?
White salt stands for dirhams and ready money (vol. 2, p. 348). Al-Qayrawani adds: white salt, white dirhams; black salt, black dirhams (vol. 2, p. 353). For others, white salt is renunciation of the goods of this world (vol. 1, p. 224).
What does eating salt in a dream mean in Islam?
Someone who eats bread with salt is content with little in this world, according to the collection (vol. 1, p. 225). The collection gives no particular meaning to salt eaten on its own.
Does the collection speak of throwing salt or rock salt?
No. The Ibn Sirin collection speaks neither of throwing salt, nor of rock salt, nor of salt crystals. The closest cases are salt that is found, received or brought back from a salt pan, whose meaning depends on the dreamer’s state.
Does the meaning change for a married woman, a single woman or a pregnant woman?
The collection does not make these distinctions for salt. It only distinguishes according to the dreamer’s situation: the sick person, the student and the one who seeks the goods of this world (vol. 2, p. 354). What it says applies to men and women alike.
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 27, vol. 1, pp. 224 and 225; chapter 32, vol. 1, p. 320; chapter 58, vol. 2, pp. 348 to 354 (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.