Bed in a dream: meaning in Ibn Sirin, al-Nabulsi and Ibn Shahin

124 passages from 5 sources, quoted as written, every one linked to its page.

Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam

In a dream it is a woman, and whoever sells his bed divorces his wife.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 266

And if she is ill, then she will die.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 266

(And whoever sees) on his bed a dog or a pig, then a dissolute man is betraying him with his wife.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 266

The bed is a slave-girl, and it is comfort. So the softness of the bed is the wife's obedience to her husband and her compliance with him; its spaciousness is her good character; its newness is her youth and her freshness in her old age.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 266

And if the bed is of wool, hair, or cotton, then she is a well-to-do woman.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 266

And if it is of brocade, then she is a Magian woman.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 266

Ibn Shahin al-Zahiri, al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat

As for the bed, it is of two kinds: a bed for the small nursing infant, and a bed for the seating of great men.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 164

befitting a king, he will attain it; otherwise an elevated seat. And if he is a bachelor he will marry, and if he is married then it is the attainment of a wish, and if his wife is pregnant she will bring forth a boy.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 165

Al-Kirmani said: Whoever sees a small bed, if he has a wife then she will become pregnant, and if she is pregnant she will bring forth a male, because it (the word for bed) is masculine.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 164

And whoever sees that he sat upon a bed that has no bedding upon it, then he will travel; and if he is sick he will die; and if he has a wife then he will be with her in joy, though perhaps a separation may occur between them.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 165

And whoever sees that he is in a small bed and is being rocked in it, then he will become childish and will do what small children do.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 164

And whoever sees that his bed broke, then his honour and authority will depart; otherwise he will part from his wife by death or in life.)

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 165

attributed to Ibn Sirin, Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam

a body, then he repented") and if he desires marriage, then that is marriage to a woman.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 679–682

And if he is upon a bed with bedding on it, then that is an increase in elevation and renown over a people who are hypocrites in religion.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 679–682

And if there is no bedding on it, then he will travel.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 679–682

And some of them said: the bed and everything one sleeps upon indicates the woman and one's entire livelihood.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 679–682

Likewise the chairs and the legs of the bed indicate the slaves; its exterior indicates the woman specifically, its interior indicates the dreamer himself, and its lower part indicates the female children.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 679–682

Al-Qayrawani said: the bed indicates everything by which a man is gladdened, through which he is honoured, and by which he is comforted. The Arabs say "his throne was demolished" when his might is destroyed, and the throne is the bed.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 679–682

Artemidorus of Daldis, Oneirocritica (1644 English translation)

the bedstead, and cushions and all their appurtenances, signifye the wife of him that dreams it, and all the estate of life.

Oneirocritica (1644 English translation), The first Booke of Artimedorus His Exposition of Dreames.

Kinds and conditions of Bed

bed (bedding)

Ibn Shahin al-Zahiri, al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat

Al-Kirmani said: Whoever sees that he is upon an unknown bed in an unknown place, then it indicates his obtaining a governorship befitting him, or that he will own land in proportion to the fineness of that bed.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 166

Al-Salimi said: The dream of bedding is interpreted as referring to women and concubines. So whoever sees in it something that adorns or something that disfigures, then it is interpreted concerning them.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 167

bed / couch (throne-bed)

Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam

In a dream, if it is without a mattress, then it is travel, because of what is in its name of the wording of "journeying" (al-sayr); and it is said that it is a wife.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 180

(Whoever sees) the throne-bed, and it is a house of the houses of kings and upon it is a mattress, and then he climbs it, he attains a kingdom.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 180

bed / mattress

attributed to Ibn Sirin, Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam

As for the bed, it indicates the wife, and its stuffing is her flesh or her fat.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 674–678

The bed may also indicate the earth upon which a person tosses about in heedlessness until he is transferred from it to the Hereafter.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 674–678

bed canopy

Ibn Shahin al-Zahiri, al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat

As for the bed canopy and the awning, they are women, so whatever he sees in that of adornment or blemish is interpreted as applying to them.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 168

Whoever sees a new bed canopy, it is a virgin woman whom he will marry; and if it is old, it is a previously married woman.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 168

bed-maker/furnisher

Ibn Shahin al-Zahiri, al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat

Ibn Sirin said: the bed-maker is interpreted as marriage-brokering. So whoever sees that he has become a bed-maker, then he will ask for a woman's hand in marriage on behalf of a man.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, pp. 249–250

Abu Sa'id al-Wa'iz said: the bed-maker is a slave-trader, that is, a broker of slaves. And it is said: he is the one who has charge of people's wealth.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, pp. 249–250

beast found under the bed

Artemidorus of Daldis, Oneirocritica (1644 English translation)

In like sort every beast that one shall finde under the bed: which things signifie to die shortly.

Oneirocritica (1644 English translation), The Second Booke of Artimedorus His Exposition of Dreames.

bed-wetting

Freud and Jung, a separate view

The indistinct final scene, in which the dreamer sees himself on the staircase landing lying in bed and feeling wet, seems to go back into childhood even beyond the infantile onanism, and manifestly has its prototype in similarly pleasurable scenes of bed-wetting.

Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams / On Dreams / Dream Psychology, Dream Psychology, ch. V Sex in Dreams

bed-curtain / mosquito net

attributed to Ibn Sirin, Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam

As for the bed-curtain (mosquito net), it indicates the wife, between whose thighs he enters for his need; and it may indicate distress, because it causes whoever is beneath it to feel stifled.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 683–687

bridal curtain (canopy over the bed)

Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam

It is the covering over the bed. In a dream it signifies a free, virtuous woman, or a man of pleasing speech.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 78

91 more passages on this symbol are in the database and used by the interpreter.