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Sleeping in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
النوم في المنام
In Islam, dreaming that you are asleep points first to heedlessness: the Ibn Sirin collection says that sleep is negligence. Drowsiness, on the other hand, is safety, based on a verse of the Qur’an. The meaning changes with your position, lying on your back, on your front or on your side, and with the place where you sleep.
النعاس أمن لقوله تعالى {إذ يغشيكم النعاس أمنة منه} والنوم غفلةIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “Drowsiness is safety, because of the words of Allah: [Remember] when He overwhelmed you with drowsiness [giving] security from Him. And sleep is negligence.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 50, vol. 2, p. 298
These two sentences open the chapter the collection gives to sleep, lying down and waking up. The verse quoted is the eleventh of Surah al-Anfal: before the battle of Badr, drowsiness calmed the believers. Sleep, for its part, is negligence.
The meaning according to what you saw
The chapter on sleep is short. The collection also speaks of sleep in other chapters: the dead, clothing, palaces, snow. Here are the cases it describes.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| You feel drowsy | Safety.vol. 2, p. 298 |
| You sleep | Heedlessness, negligence.vol. 2, p. 298 |
| You lie on your back | Your affairs grow stronger, your fortune comes towards you and this world comes under your hand, because the earth is a solid support.vol. 2, p. 298 |
| You lie on your back with your mouth open and loaves of bread come out of it | Your management weakens, your fortune ends and someone else takes over your affairs.vol. 2, p. 298 |
| You lie flat on your front, face to the ground | Your money goes and your strength weakens. You do not see how things are turning, because someone who sleeps like this cannot see what happens behind him.vol. 2, p. 298 |
| You wake up | The movement of the body and the return to activity.vol. 2, p. 299 |
| You sleep on your front, according to al-Qayrawani | A victory that brings land, money, a family and children.vol. 2, p. 299 |
| You sleep on your back, according to al-Qayrawani | Scattering, humiliation and death. Sometimes the end of one’s labours and rest after sorrows, if the sleeper praises Allah.vol. 2, p. 299 |
| You sleep on your side, according to al-Qayrawani | News, an illness or death.vol. 2, p. 299 |
| You lie under trees | Many descendants.vol. 2, p. 299 |
| You sleep on wool | Money that comes to you through a woman.vol. 1, p. 254 |
| You sleep on snow | A hindrance.vol. 2, p. 58 |
| You sleep on a palace | If the palace is yours, great elevation, prestige and power. If it belongs to someone else, a profit and a benefit that come to you from its owner.vol. 2, p. 88 |
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 sleeping in a dream mean in Islam?
The Ibn Sirin collection says that sleep is negligence, and that drowsiness is safety, based on verse 11 of Surah al-Anfal. Waking up stands for the movement of the body and the return to activity (vol. 2, pp. 298 and 299).
Sleeping on your back, front or side in a dream: what is the difference?
The collection gives two opinions that do not agree. According to the first, lying on your back strengthens the dreamer’s affairs, unless loaves of bread come out of his open mouth, and lying flat on your front makes him lose his money. According to al-Qayrawani, sleeping on your front is a victory, on your back a scattering, and on your side news, an illness or death.
What does sleeping outside, on the ground or in a mosque mean in a dream in Islam?
The Ibn Sirin collection does not speak of these cases. It only mentions a few places: sleeping under trees announces many descendants, on snow a hindrance, and on a palace elevation or a profit.
What does seeing a dead person sleeping in a dream mean in Islam?
According to the collection, a dead person you see sleeping is at rest in the Hereafter. Someone who sees himself sleeping in the same bed as a dead person will have a long life (vol. 1, p. 113).
Does the meaning change for a married woman, a single woman or a pregnant woman?
The collection makes no such distinction for sleep. Only sleeping on wool is linked to a woman: it announces money that comes from her.
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 50, vol. 2, pp. 298 and 299 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Same collection, chapter 16 (vol. 1, p. 113), chapter 29 (vol. 1, p. 254), chapter 38 (vol. 2, p. 58) and chapter 39 (vol. 2, p. 88).
- Qur’an, Surah 8 (al-Anfal), verse 11 (Sahih International translation).
- English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.