Ibn Nima
- Died
- 697 AH
- Born in
- Nablus
Ibn Nima (628–697 AH / 1231–1298 CE) was a Hanbali jurist, hadith transmitter, and dream interpreter from Nablus, best known for his treatise on oneiromancy, al-Badr al-Munir fi 'Ilm al-Ta'bir (The Illuminating Full Moon on the Science of Dream Interpretation) .
Name and Early Life
His full name was Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd al-Mun'im ibn Ni'ma ibn Sultan ibn Surur al-Maqdisi al-Nabulsi al-Hanbali, commonly known as Ibn Ni'ma and titled "al-Shihab al-'Abir" (the dream interpreter) . He was born on the night of Tuesday, 13 Sha'ban 628 AH (1231 CE) in Nablus . He belonged to a scholarly Hanbali family from the Jerusalem region; his father, Jamal al-Din Abu al-Faraj Abd al-Rahman (d. 656 AH), and his brother, Fakhr al-Din Ali (d. 702 AH), were also scholars and jurists .
Education and Career
Ibn Nima pursued religious education across several cities, studying in Nablus, Egypt, and Damascus . He studied Hanbali jurisprudence, mastered the doctrines of the school, heard extensive hadith transmissions, and subsequently dedicated himself to the science of dream interpretation .
Among his teachers were his uncle al-Taqi Yusuf in 636 AH, Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-Jawzi, Yusuf al-Sawi, Abd al-Wahhab ibn Rawaj, and Ali ibn Hibat Allah Ibn al-Jummayzi in Cairo, as well as Abd al-Rahman ibn Makki (Sibt al-Silafi) in Alexandria . He also received general licenses (ijaza) to transmit from Mahmud ibn Mandah and Shihab al-Din al-Suhrawardi .
Ibn Nima transmitted hadith extensively in Cairo and later settled in Damascus, where he taught at the al-Jawziyya madrasa . A number of prominent scholars studied under him or transmitted from him, including Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, al-Birzali, and his own son, the jurist Sayf al-Din Abu Bakr (d. 699 AH) . Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya heard hadith parts from him and later cited some of his interpretive principles in his writings .
Scholarly Standing and Dream Interpretation
Ibn Nima achieved renown for his skill in dream interpretation (ta'bir al-ru'ya), surpassing his contemporaries in this field . Chroniclers described him as an extraordinary figure in the discipline, noting that his practical interpretations were marked by remarkable insights . Al-Safadi recorded from al-Dhahabi that Ibn Taymiyya remarked that Ibn Nima had a spirit companion from among the jinn who would inform him of unseen matters, adding that he was also an observant man committed to regular litanies (awrad), prayers, and spiritual devotion .
His principal surviving work is al-Badr al-Munir fi 'Ilm al-Ta'bir, an intermediate manual establishing the rules and symbolic principles of dream interpretation, which was later commented upon by other scholars .
Death
Ibn Nima died in Damascus in Dhu al-Qa'da 697 AH (September 1298 CE); one report specifies the date of his death as 19 Dhu al-Qa'da . He was buried at the Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus, and his funeral was widely attended .
Answer updated
List of Works
Qawa'id Tafsir al-Ahlam (also titled al-Badr al-Munir fi 'Ilm al-Tabir) is a classical handbook on the principles and symbolism of oneiromancy (dream interpretation). It was compiled as a primer on the science of dreams to provide an accessible starting point for beginners while remaining instructive for advanced practitioners.