Tabir al-Ruya
- Author died
- 779 AH
- Editions
- Ṣūrat Makhṭūṭah - Maktabat al-Jāmiʻah al-Urdunnīyah
Ta‘bir al-Ru’ya (The Interpretation of Dreams) is an alphabetical Arabic reference work on oneiric interpretation compiled by the Hanbali scholar Abu Tahir Ibrahim ibn Yahya ibn Ghannam al-Baghdadi (d. c. 779 AH / 1377 CE) .
Purpose and Composition
Ibn Ghannam states in the prologue that he authored the book after observing that existing treatises on dream interpretation were either excessively verbose, fatiguing the reader, or overly condensed, yielding little practical benefit . To provide an accessible reference, he organised the work alphabetically by dictionary letters (huruf al-mu‘jam), aiming to help readers distinguish between false dreams and genuine glad tidings, and easily locate interpretations corresponding to the words and symbols appearing in visions .
Structure and Contents
The work opens with an introductory section divided into fourteen theoretical discourses (maqalat), followed by the main alphabetical dictionary :
- The nature of dreams (mahiyyat al-ru’ya) .
- The etiquette required of the dream interpreter (adab al-mu‘abbir) .
- The etiquette of the dreamer (adab al-na’im) .
- How dreaming takes place (kayfiyyat al-ru’ya) .
- The angel entrusted with dreams (malak al-ru’ya) .
- The categories of dreams (aqsam al-ru’ya) .
- Grief-inducing dreams from Satan that are not considered true dreams .
- Dreams arising from inner preoccupation and subconscious thought (himmat al-nafs) .
- Times when dreams are authentic .
- The strength and weakness of dreams .
- Confused dreams and nightmares (al-adghath) .
- The significance of the Arabic months and days .
- Biographies of one hundred prominent dream interpreters arranged across fifteen generations .
- The etiquette of narrating a dream (adab al-qass li-ru’ya) .
Following the preliminary discourses, the main body is arranged alphabetically, beginning with entries under the letter Alif and concluding with the letter Ya’ . Under each letter, dream elements—such as animals, plants, objects, actions, and the recitation of specific Quranic chapters—are analyzed according to their symbolic connotations, accompanied by contextual indicators (shawahid) for positive or cautionary interpretations .
Reception and Influence
The pioneering alphabetical dictionary format introduced by Ibn Ghannam served as a foundational model for subsequent authors in the field . In the introduction to his own encyclopedic work, Ta‘tir al-anam fi ta‘bir al-manam, the Ottoman scholar ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi credited Ibn Ghannam as the originator of this complete alphabetical methodology in dream interpretation, although he considered Ibn Ghannam's compilation somewhat concise and sought to expand upon it .
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