Actions and situations
Dreaming of a kiss in Islam
In short
For al-Nabulusi, a kiss signifies fulfilling a need and overcoming an enemy; kissing a known deceased person brings benefit from the knowledge, wealth, or deeds they left behind.
A summary of the passages quoted below. These are authors’ interpretations, not a prediction: a dream is understood through the dreamer and all its details.
What the interpretation books say
al-Nabulusi — Taʿṭīr al-Anām fī Taʿbīr al-Manām
هي في المنام قضاء الحاجة والظفر بالعدو.
A kiss in a dream signifies fulfilling a need and overcoming an enemy.
أنه يقبل ميتا معروفا فإنه ينتفع من الميت بعلم قد خلفه أو مال أو فعل فعله في حياته فأفاده.
[Whoever sees himself] kissing a known deceased person benefits from him through knowledge he left behind, wealth, or a deed he performed during his life that proved beneficial.
Keep in mind
- An interpretation is a human effort: Abu Bakr himself was partly wrong before the Prophet ﷺ. (al-Bukhari 7046 and Muslim 2269)
- Appearances deceive: an unpleasant-looking dream may be interpreted as good, and vice versa. (al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)
- A dream is not a fatwa: make no serious decision on its strength alone. (al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 1/115)
If this dream upset you: what the Sunnah asks
The Prophet ﷺ taught that an unpleasant dream comes from Satan, and that it does not harm the one who does the following. (al-Bukhari 7045 · al-Bukhari 3292)
Seek Allah’s protection, three times
Against the evil of this dream and against Satan. The wording given by al-Nawawi: “aʿūdhu billāhi mina sh-shayṭāni wa min sharrihā” — I seek refuge with Allah from Satan and from the evil of this dream. (al-Bukhari 7044 · Muslim 2262 · al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)
Blow lightly three times to your left
The narrations say “blow” (nafth), “spit lightly” (tafl) or “spit” (basq): a light breath, to drive Satan away. (Muslim 2261 · al-Bukhari 7044 · Muslim 2262)
Turn over onto your other side
Change the side you were sleeping on. (Muslim 2262)
Get up and pray
If you can; al-Nawawi recommends two units of prayer (rakʿa). (Muslim 2263 · al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)
Tell no one about it
Neither recount it nor seek to have it interpreted. A Bedouin dreamt that his head was cut off; the Prophet ﷺ told him: “Do not tell of how Satan toys with you in your sleep.” (al-Bukhari 7045 · Muslim 2263 · Muslim 2268 · al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)
“It will not harm him”: that is the promise of the hadith. Al-Nawawi adds that doing only some of these acts is enough, by Allah’s leave. (al-Bukhari 7045 · al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)
Related symbols
- Marriage, weddingIn al-Nabulusi, marriage in a dream has contrasting meanings: Allah’s care, a repaid debt and relief for the worried, but also a burdensome commitment or a worry.
- WomanFor al-Nabulusi a beautiful woman stands for a year of good and rest; her entering the house, joy; a young woman turning towards the dreamer, affairs that pick up again. An unknown woman is better than a known one.
- A man, someone you knowA known man seen in a dream is, for both books, that man himself — or someone like him or bearing his name — from whom one expects something. The Muntakhab sees an unknown young man as an enemy; an unknown old man is good fortune.
All the symbols in the dictionary