Sunan ad-Darimi

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: "Once I was sleeping and I saw in a dream that people were being presented before me, and they were wearing shirts. Some had shirts reaching up to their chests, and some had shirts reaching below that. Then Umar bin Al-Khattab was brought before me, and the shirt on his body was so long that he was dragging it." The noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked: O Messenger of Allah! What is the interpretation of this? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It refers to religion."

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I used to sleep in the Prophet’s Mosque during the blessed time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) because I had no place to spend the night, and in the morning people would come to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and relate their dreams to him. I thought to myself, why is it that I do not see any dreams? Then I saw a dream that people were being gathered and their feet were being seized and they were being thrown into a well. When I was brought near that well to be seized, an angel said: Take him to the right side (i.e., take him away from the pit of Hell). When I woke up, I considered this dream important and I was very worried about it, so I mentioned it to (my sister, Mother of the Believers) Sayyidah Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her), and she said: You have seen a very good dream. I said: Please ask the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for its interpretation. So she asked him, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Abdullah is a very good boy, if only he would pray at night.”

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) after the aforementioned hadith that: When I would sleep, I would not wake up before the true dawn. Nafi' said (after this): Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to pray throughout the night.

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I heard the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "While I was sleeping, a bowl of milk was brought to me. I drank from it abundantly until I saw freshness and satiation coming out from my fingernails. Then I gave the remaining milk to (Sayyiduna) Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)." The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked: What interpretation did you give to it? He replied: "Knowledge is its interpretation."

Muhammad bin Qais said: Some companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) narrated to me that the interpretation of milk is nature, a boat is salvation, and a camel is sorrow and grief, green vegetation is Paradise, and a woman is a sign of goodness.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say to his companions: “If any of you has seen a dream, let him tell it so that I may interpret it for him.” Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: So a companion came and said: O Messenger of Allah! I saw a cloud (a patch of clouds) between the earth and the sky from which honey and ghee were dripping, and I saw a rope hanging from the sky to the earth. I saw some people taking (the honey and ghee) in their hands, some taking more and some getting less. I saw that you held onto that rope and ascended, and Allah, the Exalted, made you ascend. Then after you, another person held onto that rope and ascended, and Allah, the Exalted, made him ascend as well. Then after him, another person held onto that rope, but the rope broke, then it was joined again, and he too ascended.

Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! Allow me to interpret this dream. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Go ahead, interpret it.” And Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) had the most knowledge of dream interpretation after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He said: The shade or cloud refers to Islam, and the dripping honey and ghee is the Holy Qur’an, in which there is the sweetness of honey and the softness of milk, and those who are taking it in their hands, some getting more and some less, are the bearers of the Qur’an. In one version, there is this addition: As for the rope hanging from the sky to the earth, it is the truth and leadership upon which you (peace and blessings be upon him) are established. You are holding onto it, and with it, you will meet Allah, the Blessed and Exalted. Then after you, whoever holds onto this rope will also meet Allah with it. Then after him, another man will hold onto it and meet Allah. Then after him, whoever holds onto it, the rope will break for him, then it will be joined again, and he will meet Allah with it.

O Messenger of Allah! May my parents be sacrificed for you, tell me, have I interpreted correctly or incorrectly? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “You have interpreted some parts correctly and some parts incorrectly.” He said: Then tell me, where have I spoken correctly and where have I erred? But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) refused to tell him.

Sayyiduna Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I saw in a dream that a sun or a moon was being lifted from the earth and taken to the sky. He related this dream to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), so he (peace be upon him) interpreted it that it referred to the death of his nephew, meaning the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) himself.

Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I saw in my dream that I shook a sword and it broke from the middle; this was an indication of the calamity that the Muslims had to face in the Battle of Uhud. Then I shook the sword a second time and it became even better than before; this was an indication that Allah Almighty granted victory again and the Muslims were united. In the same dream, I saw cows, and by Allah! Every act of Allah Almighty is better. Those cows were an indication of the group of Muslims who were martyred in the Battle of Uhud, and the goodness was that which Allah Almighty granted us as a reward for truthfulness after the Battle of Badr."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "I saw in a dream that I was in a well-protected coat of mail, and I saw cows being slaughtered. I interpreted this to mean that the coat of mail is Madinah, and the cows are a group of Muslims who will be martyred, and every matter of Allah is good. (And my opinion was) that if we remained in Madinah, when the polytheists attacked us, we would drive them away." The Ansar said: "By Allah, in the days of ignorance they could not enter our city, so will they be able to enter our neighborhoods after we have embraced Islam?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Then as you wish." So the people of the Ansar consulted and said that the opinion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) should be acted upon, and then they came to him and said: "O Messenger of Allah! Do as you see fit." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Now you say this?" (At that time, he had already put on his armor, so) he said: "It does not befit any Prophet that when he has put on his armor, he should take it off without fighting."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: "I consider it bad to see a chain or collar around the neck (in a dream), and I like to see a shackle (chain) on the feet, because it means that a person remains firm and steadfast on his religion."

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "I saw in a dream a black, disheveled-haired woman who left Madinah and settled in Mahya‘ah. I interpreted it as the epidemic of Madinah being transferred to the settlement called Mahya‘ah."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said one day: "I saw in a dream that a man came to me with a bunch of dates. I ate from it, but there was a pit in it which, when I chewed, caused me pain. Then that person gave me another bunch, so I said: The bunch you gave me before had a pit in it which I ate and it caused me harm." Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) submitted: O Messenger of Allah! May Allah grant you comfort. By this is meant the army which you sent (to suppress the enemy); they will obtain spoils of war twice (and they will be successful), and each time they will encounter a man who will seek protection from you. The narrator said: I asked Mujalid: How will he seek protection? He replied: He will say 'La ilaha illallah' (so that he is not killed)."

Umm al-Mu’minin, the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: There was a woman in Madinah whose husband was a merchant and used to travel, and whenever her husband went on a journey, she would see a dream, and it was very rare that he would go on a journey and his wife would not become pregnant. That woman would come to the service of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and say: My husband has gone out for trade while I am pregnant, and I have seen a dream like a dreamer that a pillar of my house has broken and I have given birth to a one-eyed child. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) interpreted it saying, “It is very good, your husband, insha’Allah, will return to you safe and sound, and you will give birth to a child who will be very righteous.” She saw this dream several times, and each time she would come to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and he would give her the same interpretation, and (by Allah’s command) her husband would return and she would give birth to a boy. One day, the woman came as she used to come before to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), but at that time the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was not present, and she had seen a similar dream. I said to her: O bondwoman of Allah! What do you want to ask the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)? She said: I used to see a dream and come to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to ask its interpretation. He would say it is good, and as he interpreted, so it would happen. I said: Then tell me the dream as well. She said: I will only tell it when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) comes, just as I used to do before. Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I did not leave her alone until she agreed to tell me her dream (and she told me her dream). I said: If your dream is true, your husband will die and you will give birth to a child who is wicked and immoral. The woman sat down and started crying and saying: Why did I tell you my dream? Meanwhile, while she was crying, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) arrived and said: “O Aisha! What happened to this woman, why is she crying?” I told the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) the whole story and also the interpretation I had given. Upon this, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Listen, O Aisha! When you interpret a Muslim’s dream, say something good, because the way the interpreter interprets the dream, it happens accordingly.” Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: By Allah, her husband died, and I think she must have given birth to a wicked and immoral child.