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White Colour in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
البياض في المنام
In Islam, seeing white in a dream is generally a good sign. The Ibn Sirin collection says that white points to “splendour, beauty, repentance and righteousness”. White clothes are a beauty in this world and in religion. There are exceptions: white on the black of the eye announces worry and sadness, and white hairs on the tongue an evil that will come later.
والبياض دال على البهاء والجمال والتوبة والصلاحIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “White points to splendour, beauty, repentance and righteousness.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 58, vol. 2, p. 352
This sentence comes from the last chapter of the collection, in a passage that gives the meaning of each colour of clothing. Yellow has a painful meaning there, black and red have mixed meanings, and even green can point to a trial that brings a reward. White is the only colour there that receives nothing but favourable meanings. Elsewhere in the collection, white stays almost always linked to religion and beauty, except in a few specific cases that concern the body.
The meaning according to what you saw
The collection has no chapter on white. It speaks of it in connection with clothing, the face, weapons, animals and fruit. Here are the cases it describes.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| You wear white clothes | A beauty in this world and in religion. For someone who usually wears them, good in religion and in this world. For the craftsman who does not wear white at work, a stoppage of work.vol. 1, pp. 247 and 255 |
| Your face is whiter than usual | Your religion becomes beautiful and you remain upright in faith.vol. 1, p. 136 |
| Your cheek is white | You gain honour and nobility.vol. 1, pp. 136 and 137 |
| White in the eye | White on the black of the eye: worry and sadness. A man told Ja’far as-Sadiq that he had seen white in his eye, and he replied: a loss in your wealth, and something you were hoping for slips away from you. According to another opinion, a film over the eye, white or another colour, announces great sorrow that the dreamer bears with patience, as in the story of Ya’qub (peace be upon him).vol. 1, p. 203 |
| White hairs grow on your tongue | An evil that will come later. Black hairs on the tongue announce an immediate evil.vol. 1, p. 148 |
| A white shield | A man of religion and splendour.vol. 1, p. 284 |
| You are shackled and dressed in white | What holds you back is a matter of knowledge and fiqh, with splendour and beauty.vol. 1, p. 295 |
| Dead women you knew rise up in your neighbourhood, dressed in white | Matters of religion come back to life for the dreamer and for the descendants of these women.vol. 1, p. 113 |
| A white bull | You obtain good.vol. 1, p. 345 |
| White banners | Rain. According to another opinion, passing rain.vol. 1, p. 275 |
| A white curtain you do not know | A happy outcome. The collection specifies that this meaning applies to an unknown curtain or one placed in an unknown place.vol. 2, p. 266 |
| You eat white mulberries | A wide gain. White mulberries are dirhams, black ones dinars.vol. 2, p. 217 |
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 white in a dream good in Islam?
Yes, in most cases. The Ibn Sirin collection links white to splendour, beauty, repentance and righteousness (vol. 2, p. 352). The exceptions concern the body: white on the black of the eye announces worry and sadness, and white hairs on the tongue an evil to come.
What does wearing white clothes in a dream mean in Islam?
White clothes are a beauty in this world and in religion. For someone who usually wears them, they are good in both. The collection makes an exception for the craftsman who does not work in white: for him, it is a stoppage of work. The meaning of other clothing colours is on the page about clothes.
What does seeing your face very white in a dream mean?
Seeing your face whiter than it really is points to a religion that grows more beautiful and a faith that stays upright. A white cheek announces honour and nobility (vol. 1, pp. 136 and 137).
What do white and black seen together mean?
The collection reports that a man told Ibn Sirin he had seen a man hanging from the sky by a chain, half of his body black and the other half white. Ibn Sirin replied that the dreamer himself was this man: the white half was his worship by day, the black half his worship by night. The full account is on the page about black.
Does the meaning of white change for a married woman, a single woman or a pregnant woman?
The collection makes no such distinction for white. Its meanings apply to men and women alike. The only distinction it makes concerns work, with the craftsman who does not wear white on the job.
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 58, vol. 2, p. 352 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Same collection, chapters 16, 22, 25, 29, 31 and 33 (vol. 1, pp. 113, 136, 137, 148, 203, 247, 255, 275, 284, 295 and 345), chapters 43 and 47 (vol. 2, pp. 217 and 266).
- Sahih Muslim, no. 2263, for the three kinds of dreams.
- English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.