Animals
Dreaming of a snake 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
In both books the snake stands first for an enemy, whose strength matches the animal’s size and venom; killing it means prevailing over that enemy.
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
(حية) في المنام عدو أو دولة أو كنز أو امرأة أو ولد والثعبان إذا لم يخف منه الرجل قوته ودولته والحية عدو ذو مال لأن تأويل السم مال
A snake in a dream is an enemy, or power, or a treasure, or a wife, or a child. The large serpent (thuʿbān), when the man does not fear it, is his strength and his power. The snake is an enemy who has wealth, for venom is interpreted as money.
فإن قتلها ظفر بعدو فإن سال الدم على يديه مات عدوه وورث ماله فإن لدغته فإنه ينال معرة
If he kills it, he overcomes an enemy; if the blood runs over his hands, his enemy dies and he inherits his wealth; if it bites him, he suffers harm.
Muntakhab al-Kalām fī Tafsīr al-Aḥlām (attributed to Ibn Sirin)
Attribution to Ibn Sirin rejected: why
أما الحيات فإنها أعداء وذلك أن إبليس اللعين توصل بها إلى آدم عليه السلام وعداوة كل حية على قدر نكايتها وعظمها وسمكها
Snakes are enemies, because it was through the snake that Iblis, the accursed, reached Adam (peace be upon him). The hostility of each snake matches the harm it does, its size and its thickness.
فإن رأى حية ميتة فهو عدو يكفيه الله شره بغير حول ولا قوة
If he sees a dead snake, it is an enemy whose harm Allah spares him, without any effort or power of his own.
ومن تخوف حية ولم يعاينها فهو أمن له من عدوه ومن عاينها وخافها فهو خوف
Whoever fears a snake without seeing it, this means safety from his enemy; whoever sees it and is afraid of it, it is fear.
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
- ScorpionFor al-Nabulusi the scorpion is a slanderer or an enemy among one’s relatives; killing it means overcoming that enemy.
- SpiderFor al-Nabulusi the spider stands for a weak schemer — or, in another view, an ascetic — and its web for fragility.
- LionThe lion stands above all for a formidable man of power; avoiding it or escaping it announces deliverance from what one fears.
All the symbols in the dictionary