Is the book of Ibn Sirin relied upon in dream interpretation?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : O Shaykh, I have a book attributed to Ibn Sirin.
The Shaykh : Ibn Sirin’s book on dreams?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : It is enough for you to know that it is a book of dreams, and it is not relied upon. I went through this experience in the early days of my pursuit of knowledge. I bought the book of Ibn Sirin, which is printed in the margin of the book *Ta'tir al-Anam bi Tafsir al-Manam* by Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi. It is a massive three-volume work by al-Nabulsi, with dream interpretations in the margins. I bought it, misled by the fame of Ibn Sirin, which is a true fame; he was indeed inspired in interpreting dreams. But this book is not authentically attributed to him. I was misled by this attribution and bought the book. So, whenever I would see a dream, or one of our brothers would see a dream, and I would want to interpret it for myself or for someone else, I would return to the book and review the arrangement of the words, which are arranged according to the lexicographical order. I would not find anything useful because of the multitude of opinions stated regarding rain, for example. If it is in summer, it has one meaning, and in winter, it has another. And so on, whether it is heavy, light, at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end, and similar details that exhaust a person from saying, "My dream’s interpretation is such and such." Be patient. I had a teacher from whom I studied some Hanafi jurisprudence. The lesson was in a small circle in the mosque where we used to pray. I would observe that the lesson was after the Fajr prayer until the Duha time. I would notice that sometimes an old woman would come, shyly, from behind...The Shaykh : ...while he was teaching. She would whisper to him words we could not hear, so he would listen to her. Then we would hear his answer to her. He would say, "It appears that this deceased person needs charity, so give charity on behalf of his soul." This was his phrase, like a stamped seal. Every time a woman would come to him asking about a dream, the answer would revolve around charity. The result was that this book is one of the books on which cobwebs have gathered, and I did not benefit from it at all. This is the answer to what you asked about the topic. Do you have another question?
The questioner: The same question?
The Shaykh : Please go ahead?
The Shaykh : Ibn Sirin’s book on dreams?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : It is enough for you to know that it is a book of dreams, and it is not relied upon. I went through this experience in the early days of my pursuit of knowledge. I bought the book of Ibn Sirin, which is printed in the margin of the book *Ta'tir al-Anam bi Tafsir al-Manam* by Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi. It is a massive three-volume work by al-Nabulsi, with dream interpretations in the margins. I bought it, misled by the fame of Ibn Sirin, which is a true fame; he was indeed inspired in interpreting dreams. But this book is not authentically attributed to him. I was misled by this attribution and bought the book. So, whenever I would see a dream, or one of our brothers would see a dream, and I would want to interpret it for myself or for someone else, I would return to the book and review the arrangement of the words, which are arranged according to the lexicographical order. I would not find anything useful because of the multitude of opinions stated regarding rain, for example. If it is in summer, it has one meaning, and in winter, it has another. And so on, whether it is heavy, light, at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end, and similar details that exhaust a person from saying, "My dream’s interpretation is such and such." Be patient. I had a teacher from whom I studied some Hanafi jurisprudence. The lesson was in a small circle in the mosque where we used to pray. I would observe that the lesson was after the Fajr prayer until the Duha time. I would notice that sometimes an old woman would come, shyly, from behind...The Shaykh : ...while he was teaching. She would whisper to him words we could not hear, so he would listen to her. Then we would hear his answer to her. He would say, "It appears that this deceased person needs charity, so give charity on behalf of his soul." This was his phrase, like a stamped seal. Every time a woman would come to him asking about a dream, the answer would revolve around charity. The result was that this book is one of the books on which cobwebs have gathered, and I did not benefit from it at all. This is the answer to what you asked about the topic. Do you have another question?
The questioner: The same question?
The Shaykh : Please go ahead?
Source
www.al-albany.com
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