Hellfire in a dream: meaning in Ibn Sirin, Ibn Shahin and the hadith

24 passages from 3 sources, quoted as written, every one linked to its page.

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

He said: Whoever sees that he is being burned, then he is in the Fire.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 121–122

And if he sees that he entered Hellfire and then came out of it on that same day, then that is something seen by people of sins and grave offences, and it is a warning to him and warns him so that he may repent and turn back.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 804–807

And if he sees as though an angel seized him by his forelock and cast him into the Fire, then his dream entails humiliation for him.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 121–122

And if he sees it but no harm befalls him from it, then that is from the sorrows of this world and its afflictions; he will be afflicted by that in proportion to what reached him of it, or what he saw of it.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 804–807

And if he sees Malik, the keeper of the Fire, cheerful and smiling, then he will be gladdened by a policeman, or an executioner, or one charged with the sultan's punishment.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 121–122

And if he sees that he has never ceased to be in it, not knowing when he entered it, then he will remain in constraint, his affairs scattered, forsaken and abased, until he comes out of it.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 804–807

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Dream Interpretation

"And I saw as though two persons came to me and wanted to take me to the Fire" — the hadith with this story in abridged form. And he said in it: "So Hafsah related one of my dreams to the Prophet (peace be upon him)." The apparent sense of the narration of Wuhayb and those who followed him is that the dream which was left unspecified in Hammad's narration is the dream of stealing the silk, and that occurs explicitly in Hammad's narration in Muslim. But it is contradicted by what has passed in the chapter on the merit of standing in prayer at night, and by what comes in the chapter on "Taking from the right" in the Book of Dream Interpretation, by way of Salim ibn Abdallah ibn Umar from his father, where he mentions the hadith about his seeing the Fire, and in it: "So I related it to Hafsah, and Hafsah related it," which is explicit that Hafsah related his dream of the Fire — just as Hammad's narration is explicit that Hafsah related his dream of the stealing; and in Salim's narration there is no mention of the dream of stealing. So it is possible that his statement "one of my dreams" is to be understood as meaning that she related the dream of stealing first, then related the dream of the Fire after that, and that the implied sense is "she related one of my dreams first," so that his saying "one of" carries no contrary implication. This point I have not seen any of the commentators address, nor has its difficulty ever been removed; so praise be to Allah for that. His statement: "And he said: Your brother is a righteous man" — or "Indeed Abdallah is a righteous man" — this is a doubt on the part of the narrator, and in the aforementioned narration of Hammad it occurs as "Indeed Abdallah is a righteous man" definitively, and likewise in the narration of Sakhr ibn Juwayriyah from Nafi'. Al-Kushmihani added in his narration from al-Firabri, in both places, "if only he prayed at night," and this addition is absent in the other narrations, though it is established in Salim's narration as has preceded in "Standing in prayer at night" and as comes later. Its being established is supported by his statement in Hammad's narration, in all the versions: "Nafi' said: He never ceased after that to pray much." And it has preceded in "Standing in prayer at night," and in the narration of Ubaydallah ibn Umar from Nafi' from Ibn Umar in Muslim: "And he said: What an excellent young man" — or he said "What an excellent man" — "is Ibn Umar, if only he prayed at night." Ibn Umar said: "And I used to be such that when I slept I would not rise until morning." Nafi' said: "So Ibn Umar used thereafter to pray at night." Muslim brought out its chain and its substance and referred for the text to Salim's narration, which is not good, because the two differ. Abu Awanah and al-Jawzaqi brought it out in its own wording thus. And it comes in the chapter on "Security and the departure of fear" also, by way of Sakhr ibn Juwayriyah from Nafi', and likewise after it in the chapter on "Taking from the right" in Salim's narration. Al-Zuhri said: "And Abdallah after that used to pray much at night." Perhaps al-Zuhri heard that from Nafi' or from Salim; and its explanation has passed there. And it occurs in the Musnad of Abu Bakr ibn Harun al-Ruyani, by way of Abdallah ibn Nafi' from his father, in a version of this story, as an addition: "And Abdallah used to sleep much." And in it also: "Indeed the angel who said to him 'Do not fear' said to him: Do not abandon the prayer; you are an excellent man were it not for the scantiness of prayer."

Fath al-Bari, commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Dream Interpretation, pp. 7390–7391

So the two of them took me off to the Fire, and behold, it was coiled round like the coiling of a well, and behold, in it were people some of whom I recognised; then the two of them took me off to the right.

Fath al-Bari, commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Dream Interpretation, pp. 7406–7407

Kinds and conditions of Hellfire

seeing Hellfire and people hung in it

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Dream Interpretation

He said: And in it is the occurrence of the threat [of punishment] for abandoning the sunnahs, and the permissibility of punishment befalling for that.

Fath al-Bari, commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Dream Interpretation, pp. 7405–7406

I say: That is conditioned upon persistence in abandoning them out of aversion to them; so the threat and the punishment fall only upon what is forbidden, namely the abandonment coupled with turning away.

Fath al-Bari, commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Dream Interpretation, pp. 7405–7406

Hellfire coiled like a well

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

A rare account: Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: I was a young unmarried lad in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and I used to sleep in the mosque. Whoever saw a dream would relate it to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). So I said: O Allah, if there is any good for me with You, then show me a dream that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) will interpret for me. Then I slept, and I saw two angels who came to me and took me away. Another angel met them and said to me: You shall not be frightened; you are a righteous man. Then the two took me to the Fire, and behold, it was coiled like the coiling of a well, and in it were people, some of whom I recognized. Then the two took me off to the right. When morning came, I mentioned that to Hafsah, and she related it to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and he said: Indeed Abdullah is a righteous man, if only he would pray much at night.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 259

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