The spiritual dimensions of the dream in Islam: between divine revelation and science of interpretation

Dream or dream?

Can the dream take two different forms, which of the two do we want to talk about?

The dream, in the classic sense of the term, is something that happens in the state of sleep and which allows us to live a situation without us having really decided.

Then there is the fact of dreaming of your life, dreaming of a better world etc. And this, in reality, is more linked to the imaginary, the faculty of imagination from the present builds an idea that human beings would like to realize.

As for the dream that is made in sleep, it can, according to the Sufis be several categories:

• The simple dream which allows to evacuate the too important psychic loads, stored by the soul during the day;
• The bad dream that can be akin to nightmares or any other negative vision;
• The truthful dream, which is described by the prophet Muhammad, on him grace and peace, like a forty sixth part of the prophecy.

It is customary among the spiritual masters, like what the Prophet himself did, to ask his disciples in the morning if they had had some sweet dreams. Indeed, it is customary to tell a beautiful dream and above all not to move a bad dream as if to ward off his possible achievement.

The truthful dream therefore acts as news of heaven.

The best example remains that of Joseph, son of Jacob (salvation on them), whose existence was predetermined by the visions that have materialized. He saw the famous vision of stars, sun and moon:

“” When Joseph tells his father, “Dear father! I saw (in dream) eleven stars as well as the sun and the moon, I saw them prostrate at my feet. (Koran12: 4).

His father advised him not to tell his brothers his vision for fear of their reprisals. This was what happened by the trap set by them against him, in order to keep him away from Jacob. He was indeed separated from his family for a long time. Fate made him live in Egypt where his talents were discovered. When the king of Egypt had the vision of seven fatty cows eaten by seven meager and seven green ears and other dried up, it was Joseph who interpreted the meaning of the dream:

“” Joseph, you who only tell the truth! Give us your opinion on the meaning of seven fatty cows that seven meager and seven green ears and other dried up; Maybe I will return to people and maybe when they will know (the truth about your account). He says, “You will sow seven years in a row. What you will harvest leave it in its ears except a little for your food. Then, after that, will come seven (years) hard who will eat what you have prepared for them except a little of what you will put in a safe place. Then, after that, will come a year when people will receive beneficial rains and where they will press »Koran (12: 46 to 49).

The king of Egypt attributed to Joseph the power to implement the action plan linked to his vision. The events were carried out. A great famine declared itself throughout the Middle East. His brothers, like other disinherited populations, came in search of food to refuel grains in Egypt. They did not recognize Joseph because he had changed compared to his childhood. He then designed stratagems to bring his family together. After a long separation, they found themselves again together in front of him, as in his childhood dream.

This is how the dream of the King of Egypt and that of Joseph was doubly realized: on the one hand, the Middle East was saved from famine, and on the other hand, the sun is his father, the moon his mother And the eleven stars represent his brothers.

From there, a true science of the interpretation of dreams has been implemented in the Muslim world.

As for the imaginative faculty, I refer you to the excellent work of Henri Corbin: the creative imagination in the Sufism of Ibn Arabî

Dreaming the world is a possibility for the human being who opens up unlimited possibilities, it is still necessary to learn to master this imagination so as not to be the toy!

This is what the Sufi masters teach us.