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Well in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
البئر في المنام
In Islam, a well seen in a dream most often stands for a person: the master of the house or his wife. Its water represents their wealth, and a well of sweet water stands for the dreamer’s life in this world. Drawing up a full bucket is a good sign. Falling into an unknown well, seeing the water overflow or a well without water are bad signs.
أما بئر الدار فربما دلت على ربها لأنه قيمها وربما دلت على زوجتهIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “The well of the house may stand for its master, because he is the one who looks after it, and it may stand for his wife.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 39, vol. 2, p. 100
This sentence opens the collection’s passage on wells, in the chapter on the earth and buildings. Everything else follows from it: the water of the well is the wealth of the person it represents, and its depth shows whether that person is generous or miserly. An unknown well, for its part, may stand for travel, the market or the scholar from whom knowledge is drawn.
The well in a dream of the Prophet ﷺ
Abdullah ibn Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
بينا أنا على بئر أنزع منها إذ جاء أبو بكر وعمر، فأخذ أبو بكر الدلو، فنزع ذنوبا أو ذنوبين، وفي نزعه ضعف، فغفر الله له، ثم أخذها ابن الخطاب من يد أبي بكر فاستحالت في يده غربا، فلم أر عبقريا من الناس يفري فريه، حتى ضرب الناس بعطن“(I saw in a dream that) while I was standing at a well and drawing water therefrom, suddenly Abu Bakr and ‘Umar came to me. Abu Bakr took the bucket and drew one or two buckets (full of water), but there was weakness in his pulling, but Allah forgave him. Then Ibn Al-Khattab took the bucket from Abu Bakr’s hand and the bucket turned into a very large one in his hand. I have never seen any strong man among the people doing such a hard job as ‘Umar did, till (the people drank to their satisfaction) and water their camels to their fill and they sat near the water.”
Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 7019, narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar
In this version, the Prophet ﷺ does not himself give the interpretation of this dream. The collection quotes a close version under the heading of the bucket, in chapter 41 (vol. 2, p. 179).
The meaning according to what you saw
The Ibn Sirin collection deals with wells in chapter 39, with additions in chapter 41, on the sea, wells and waters. Here are the cases it describes, in the order of the text.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| The well of your house and its water | If the well stands for the master of the house, its water is his wealth and what he spends on his family: the more water, the more good, as long as it does not overflow. If it overflows, it is his secrets and his words that spread. Little water means small earnings. The deeper the well, the more miserly the master of the house. The closer the water is to the hand, the more generous he is.vol. 2, pp. 100 and 101 |
| An unknown well | It may stand for travel, because the buckets go down into it and come back up like travellers. It may also stand for the market, the sea, the mosque, or the scholar from whom knowledge is drawn. Finally, it may stand for prison and the grave, because of what happened to Yusuf (Joseph, peace be upon him) at the bottom of the well.vol. 2, p. 101 |
| You fall into an unknown well | A sick person dies. Someone on a ship is shipwrecked. A traveller is attacked on the road, the victim of a plot and of treachery against his person. Someone involved in a lawsuit is imprisoned. Falling in general is covered on the page about falling.vol. 2, p. 102 |
| You draw water with a bucket from an unknown well | If a pregnancy is expected in your household, it is the announcement of a boy, according to the verse: “he let down his bucket. He said, ‘Good news! Here is a boy’” (Surah 12, verse 19). Expected goods arrive, the sick person recovers, the prisoner is released, the traveller returns. Otherwise, the unmarried person marries, and others obtain from a ruler or a judge what they ask of him. All this applies if the bucket comes back up intact and full.vol. 2, p. 102 |
| You dig a well | If it has water, you marry a well-off woman and use cunning with her, because digging is cunning. If there is no water, the woman has no wealth. If you drink its water, you obtain wealth through cunning.vol. 2, p. 103 |
| An old well where people come to draw water | There is a woman there, or a woman’s husband, from whom people benefit for their living, with a good reputation, because of the rope that goes down to the water, according to the verse: “And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together” (Surah 3, verse 103).vol. 2, p. 103 |
| Water overflows from such an old well | Worry, sadness and weeping in that place. If the well fills up without overflowing, the text says there is no harm in the dreamer receiving its good and its bad. If your well overflows until the water enters the houses, you obtain wealth that will be a misfortune for you.vol. 2, p. 103 |
| You fall into a well with murky or clear water | Murky water: you serve an unjust man of power and suffer his cunning and his injustice. Clear water: you serve a pious man, and you content yourself with what is enough.vol. 2, pp. 103 and 104 |
| A well of sweet water, or a well without water | A well of sweet water, in an unknown place, is the dreamer’s life in this world: he receives his provision in it, at peace, with a long life in proportion to the water. If there is no water, his life has come to its end. The collapse of the well is the death of the wife.vol. 2, p. 104 |
| A well in your house or on your land | According to some, a more comfortable life, ease after hardship, and a benefit. According to another opinion, finding a filled-in well means finding wealth that has been gathered. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 2, p. 104 |
| You give water to camels, people or animals at an old well | You do the best and noblest of good deeds, in proportion to your strength and effort, like the shepherd who pours the water of the well for his flock. Yet the same passage says that whoever draws water from an old well to water animals acts for show, for religion or for this world, in proportion to his strength.vol. 2, p. 178 |
| A seeker of knowledge draws water with a bucket | According to another opinion, the well is his teacher, from whom he draws his knowledge, and the water he collects is his share of that knowledge. The main passage on wells already says that an unknown well may stand for the scholar from whom knowledge is drawn (vol. 2, p. 101). (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 2, pp. 179 and 180 |
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 well in a dream good in Islam?
It depends on the water and on what the dreamer does. A well of sweet water, a bucket that comes back up full or, according to some, a well in your own house are good signs. Falling into an unknown well, seeing the water overflow, or a well without water are bad signs (vol. 2, pp. 102 to 104).
What does a well full of water mean in a dream in Islam?
A well of sweet water stands for the dreamer’s life in this world, his provision and a long life in proportion to the water (vol. 2, p. 104). For the well of the house, the more water, the more good, as long as it does not overflow; if it overflows, it is his secrets and his words that spread (p. 101). If water overflows from an old well where people come to draw water, it is worry, sadness and weeping in that place (p. 103).
What does falling into a well mean in a dream in Islam?
Into an unknown well: the sick person dies, the traveller is attacked and betrayed, the person in a lawsuit is imprisoned (vol. 2, p. 102). If the water is murky, the dreamer serves an unjust man of power. If it is clear, he serves a pious man.
What does digging a well mean in a dream in Islam?
Whoever digs a well that has water marries a well-off woman and uses cunning with her. If there is no water, the woman has no wealth (vol. 2, p. 103).
What does a dry or empty well mean in a dream in Islam?
The collection says that if the well of an unknown place has no water, the dreamer’s life has come to its end (vol. 2, p. 104). For a well that is dug without finding water, it is a woman who has no wealth.
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 39, vol. 2, pp. 100 to 104, and chapter 41, vol. 2, pp. 178 to 180 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Interpretation of Dreams, no. 7019 (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.