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

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

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

As for spinning, it is interpreted in several ways. Whoever sees that he is spinning wool, or animal fur, or hair — of the sort that men spin — then he will travel and obtain good.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 246

And whoever sees that he is spinning flax or cotton, or the like of what women spin, then he will meet with humiliation and disgrace, and he will do lawful work with which he is not content.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 246

And if a woman sees that she is spinning and spinning quickly, then if she has someone absent he will arrive soon; and if she is about to travel, then she will travel, or someone connected to her will travel, or some matter will be gained through her hands.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 246

And whoever sees that he is undoing spun yarn, then he will break faith and covenants, because of the words of the Exalted: "And do not be like her who undid her spun yarn after it had become strong, into shreds" — the verse. And sometimes that is interpreted, for a woman, as giving birth to a girl, or as receiving news.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 246

And whoever sees that he is spinning and what he was spinning breaks off, then if he has someone absent, that person will remain and not travel; and if he intended to travel, then he will not travel.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 246

And Abu Sa'id al-Wa'iz said: Whoever sees that he is spinning wool, then his wealth will perish.

al-Isharat fi Ilm al-Ibarat, p. 246

Kinds and conditions of Spinning

spinning yarn

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

If a woman sees in a dream that she is spinning and spinning quickly, then someone absent will come to her.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 257

But if she is slow and languid in the spinning, then she will travel, or her husband will travel.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 257

twisting rope and spinning

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

And whoever sees that he is twisting a rope or a thread, or winding that upon himself, or upon a reed or a piece of wood or anything else, then it is a journey in any case.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 692–695

And if he sees that he is spinning wool or hair, or any spinning of the kind that men spin, then he will attain good in his journey.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 692–695

woman spinning

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

As for a woman's spinning, it has reached us from Ibn Sirin that a woman came to him and said: I saw a woman spinning tar, and I marvelled at her. He said: What is it that amazes you about this? Undoing it is easier than making it fast. And he said: This is a woman who had a right due to her, and she relinquished it to the one who owed it, then she went back on it. She said: You have spoken truly — my husband owed me a dowry, and I remitted it to him during his lifetime, then when he died I took it from his inheritance.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 753–755

If a woman sees that she is spinning and spinning quickly, then someone absent belonging to her will arrive.

Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tafsir al-Ahlam, pp. 753–755

twisting (spinning a rope or thread)

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

Whoever sees in a dream that he is twisting a rope or a thread, or winding it around himself or around a reed or something else, then he will travel in any case.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 261

If what he twists is thin, then his sustenance is meagre.

Ta'tir al-Anam fi Ta'bir al-Manam, p. 261

spinning top

Artemidorus of Daldis, Oneirocritica (1644 English translation)

TO play with a top is pain and travaile, whereof notwithstanding shall come good.

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

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