Food and drink
Dreaming of bread in Islam
In short
White bread is, for al-Nabulusi, pleasant provision; bread also stands for knowledge and Islam, the pillar of religion. Receiving bread from a deceased person announces provision from where one did not expect.
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
(خبز) هو في المنام على وجوه شتى فالخبز الأبيض يدل على الرزق الهنيء من المال
Bread in a dream has various meanings: white bread indicates pleasant provision of wealth.
والخبز دال على العلم والإسلام لأنه عمود الدين وقوام الروح وحياة النفس
Bread stands for knowledge and Islam, for it is the pillar of religion, the sustenance of the spirit and the life of the soul.
(ومن رأى) ميتا دفع إليه خبزا فإنه مال أو رزق يأتي إليه من يد غيره من مكان لم يرجه
Whoever sees a deceased person hand him bread: it is wealth or provision coming to him from another’s hand, from a place he did not hope for.
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
- MilkThe Prophet ﷺ interpreted the milk he drank in a dream as knowledge (al-Bukhari, Muslim). For al-Nabulusi milk is the innate nature of Islam and lawful wealth gained without toil.
- HoneyIn a dream told to the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr interpreted honey dripping from a cloud as the Quran and its sweetness (al-Bukhari, Muslim). For al-Nabulusi honey is lawful wealth, and for people of religion the sweetness of faith and recitation of the Quran.
- MeatFor al-Nabulusi cooked meat is wealth, raw meat pains and illnesses; eating a human being’s flesh means backbiting him, as the Quran likens backbiting to eating one’s dead brother’s flesh (49:12).
All the symbols in the dictionary