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

13 passages from 4 sources, quoted as written, every one linked to its page.

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

Whoever smells a pleasant scent in a dream, a slight illness will befall him.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 197

And a foul smell is bad speech or distress for whoever smells a foul smell.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 197

Kinds and conditions of Smelling

sweet-smelling herbs

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

Most of the interpreters said that all sweet-smelling herbs, when seen cut, indicate worry and grief; and when seen firmly rooted in their place, they indicate ease, or a spouse, or a child.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 655–660

It has reached us from Ali ibn Ubayd that he said: I was with Sufyan al-Thawri, and a man said to him, "Last night I saw as though a sweet basil plant was raised up to the heaven from the direction of the west until it disappeared into the sky." Sufyan said to him, "If your dream is true, then al-Awza'i has died." And they found that he had died that very night.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 655–660

smelling someone's breath

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

If he sees a man smelling his breath and he finds from him the smell of drink or a foul odour, then the one smelling is seeking to taste from him foul speech, and he will hear from him speech of that sort in proportion to the foulness of the odour.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 774–777

And if he finds from him no disagreeable odour, then he is seeking to taste his speech, and he will find it in accordance with the measure of the mouth's odour.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 774–777

foul-smelling ugly men and women

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

And in the hadith of Abu Umamah: "Then we set off, and behold, we came upon men and women who were the ugliest thing in appearance and the foulest in smell, as though their stench were that of latrines. I said: 'Who are these?' He said: 'These are the adulteresses and the adulterers.'"

Fath al-Bari, commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Dream Interpretation, pp. 7432–7433

sweet-smelling herbs and fragrant plants

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

Ibn Sirin said: the vision of sweet-smelling herbs and fragrant plants in general, if they are plucked, then one needs to consider them: if they are few, then it is swift; and if they last, then it is a slow-moving grief.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 140

Sniffing (smelling)

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

Sniffing (smelling) in a dream is belittlement and a descent in rank for one who seeks to rise and to be prominent among people.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 197

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