Nature and elements
Dreaming of fire in Islam
Did this dream upset you?Seek Allah’s protection, blow lightly three times to your left, turn onto your other side, pray if you can, and tell no one: “it will not harm you”.Details and sources
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)
In short
Fire has opposite meanings: power, trial or sin, but also guidance and knowledge, since one is guided by its light. Fire in the heart is, for al-Nabulusi, intense love.
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
(نار) هي في المنام بشارة وإنذار وحرب وعذاب وسلطان وحبس وخسارة وذنوب وبركة
Fire in a dream is good news and warning, war and punishment, power and prison, loss, sins and blessing.
(ومن رأى) نارا في قلبه ذلك حب غالب وقهر من هجر محبوبه أو غيره
Whoever sees fire in his heart: it is an overwhelming love, and the pain of being forsaken by a beloved or another.
Muntakhab al-Kalām fī Tafsīr al-Aḥlām (attributed to Ibn Sirin)
Attribution to Ibn Sirin rejected: why
النار دالة على السلطان لجوهرها وسلطانها على ما دونها مع ضرها ونفعها
Fire stands for power, by its nature and its hold over what surrounds it, with both the harm and the good it does.
وربما دلت على الهداية والإسلام والعلم والقرآن لأن بها يهتدى في الظلمات
It may also stand for guidance, Islam, knowledge and the Quran, for by it one finds one’s way in the darkness.
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)
Related symbols
- HouseThe house stands for the dreamer’s life and those who live in it: a new, well-equipped house announces ease and relief; what happens to the house happens to its occupants. The “bayt”, the room one retires to, stands for the wife.
- SunThe sun is, for both books, the greatest ruler — or the father, or a beautiful woman. Sitting in the sun means receiving favour and strength; the sun and moon rising over oneself, pleased parents.
- JinnBoth books see jinn as cunning people skilled at deception; teaching jinn the Quran, or their listening to it from you, announces a position of authority. Jinn near the house may point to an unfulfilled vow.
All the symbols in the dictionary