Ta'bir al-ru'ya

The Islamic science of dream interpretation.

Ta'bir al-ru'ya is the Islamic science of dream interpretation. The word ta'bir comes from a root meaning to cross over: the interpreter crosses from the image in the dream to the meaning behind it. A dream is therefore not read literally, but as a language of symbols.

The tradition goes back to the Quran itself. The story of the prophet Yusuf, Joseph, revolves around dreams: his own dream of eleven stars, the sun and the moon, and the dreams of the king and the prisoners that he interprets. Dream interpretation also plays a role in the hadith; the Prophet regularly asked his companions in the morning whether anyone had dreamt something.

Classical interpreters distinguish three kinds of dreams: the ru'ya, a true dream from God; the hulm, a bad dream from Shaytan; and hadith an-nafs, thoughts of the soul about what occupies it during the day. Only the first kind calls for interpretation. You do not tell a bad dream around, and you seek refuge in God.

Important names are Ibn Sirin, to whom the best-known dream book is attributed, and later Al-Nabulsi with his extensive dictionary of dream images. Their works show that interpretation always depends on the dreamer: their faith, their situation, even the season. The same dream can mean something different for two people.

The tradition also places demands on the interpreter, the mu'abbir. They must have knowledge of the Quran, the sunna, language and people, and interpret a dream kindly. A well-known tradition says that a dream follows the first interpretation given to it, which is why you tell a dream only to someone who loves you or who is wise.

On Dreamkin we base the Islamic readings on these classical sources, as possibilities and not as predictions.