City

To see a strange city in a dream means that you will move or change your way of life. A clean and well-maintained city shows that a person’s future is bright.

To see in a dream that one is in a city one does not know, and to understand that one finds everything strange because one is a stranger there, is a sign that one will encounter very bad surprises. To see the city one has entered as ruined and deserted indicates that nothing remains there in the name of knowledge. To see the city one visits as having many gates, beautiful, verdant, well-watered, and very inexpensive indicates that the people of that place are happy.

According to Kirmani: Whoever sees himself in Mecca the Illustrious will attain relief and joy. He will serve the religion. Whoever sees that he is in Medina the Radiant will befriend a merchant and gain goodness and benefit from him in religion and in worldly matters. Whoever sees that he is in the town of Ta’if will undertake many journeys. Whoever sees that he is in Basra will become poor. Whoever sees that he is in the city of Baghdad will attain goodness and benefit, and become wealthy and a merchant. The name and renown of every city must be taken into consideration in the interpretation of dreams.

Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Ashmuni says: “On the basis of what the great interpreters Ibn Sirin, Kirmani, and others have said, I tested the interpretation of dreams concerning cities and towns and came to believe in it. As a result of my experiences and investigations, I understood that if there is something or a meaning in the name of a city or town signifying goodness, it points to goodness; and if there is a meaning in its name signifying evil, it points to evil. Mecca the Illustrious signifies praise, religion, repentance, and commerce; Medina the Radiant signifies speaking with friends, attaining one’s desire, and hope and intercession from the Noble Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him); Jerusalem signifies purification from sin and repentance; Egypt signifies honor, blessing, and a pleasant livelihood; Istanbul signifies weakness in religion and unlawful sustenance; and Bursa signifies safety.” (According to Ibn Sirin: To see a great city or town, in whatever manner it may be, is good. To see oneself in a city one does not know means, according to one account, that one will attain what one seeks from a pious person. According to another account, an unknown city signifies the Hereafter. If one knows the city in which one is and has gone there while awake, then one will go there a second time. According to some, to see a city or town in a dream signifies deliverance from fear. Whoever sees in his dream that he is leaving a city will suffer a calamity. Whoever sees that he has gone from a city to a village will be delivered from fear. To see a city laid waste indicates that a great statesman there will commit oppression.

To go in a dream to a city surrounded by walls is better than going to a city without walls. According to one account, a walled city signifies expelling the enemy from one’s lands and a powerful ruler; a city without walls signifies the opposite of this dream. (According to another account: Whoever sees in a dream that he has entered a city will be safe from the thing he fears. Ibn Sirin said: Entering a city in a dream is good and auspicious. Leaving it is not auspicious. Some interpreters have also said that, in accordance with the noble hadith, “I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate,” a city is interpreted as a learned person.

If someone sees in a dream that he enters a city and finds it ruined, this indicates the absence of the scholars of that city. If someone sees in a dream that he is rebuilding a city, this indicates that knowledge and offspring will increase in that city, and that his children will continue in his profession and upon his path.

If any city without a governor is seen in a dream, this indicates that prices will be high in that city. An unknown city signifies the Hereafter; a known and familiar city signifies, for the dreamer or for the inhabitants of that city, their religion. Therefore, if a person sees in a dream that a city has been completely destroyed or that some of its places have been ruined, and the city is one he knows and recognizes, this indicates that the people of that city will be left without religion; sometimes it signifies that their worldly possessions will be lost because of a calamity affecting their religion. In interpretation, the best cities are those that are greatest and most flourishing. If one sees oneself in the middle of a city, that person’s livelihood will become constricted.

If a person sees himself in one of the cities of Europe in a dream, this indicates that his inward sight will be blind and his heart at ease. Whoever sees himself in a desert place will suffer harm to his property. If a person sees himself entering an ancient city that had previously been ruined and whose walls had collapsed, and sees many people rebuilding that city more soundly than it had been before, this indicates that a scholar or a person of piety and worship will arise or be born there. A city signifies safety from fear and meeting and conversing with friends.

To see the place of Badr in a dream indicates victory over the enemy. To see that one has gone to Istanbul indicates deliverance from sorrow and grief after hardship. To see cities whose inhabitants Allah, the Exalted, caused to be swallowed by the earth indicates fear, crying out, and short measure and weight. Sometimes seeing a city indicates repentance and forgiveness.

To see a country in a dream signifies honor, exaltation, and wealth. Whoever sees in a dream that he owns a city or exercises authority and influence there will attain a property, a governorship, or a rank suited to him. If he is unmarried, he will marry. If he is ill, he will recover; if he is sinful, he will repent. If he is in error, he will attain guidance.

Whoever sees in a dream that he has gone to a city he visited previously will not die before going there once more. Sometimes this dream indicates that the dreamer will be safe from what he fears. If one sees that the fortress of a city has been breached and that a lion, wild beasts, a flood, or thieves have entered through it, this indicates a weakness that will befall the Muslim people or those who seek knowledge.

Ibn Sirin: To enter a city in a dream indicates the calming of fears. Imam Ibn Sirin preferred entering a city in a dream to leaving one. A city in a dream also represents a learned person, a man of wisdom, and one of the people of knowledge. If someone enters a city in a dream and finds it ruined, this indicates that the scholars of that city no longer live there. It is said that seeing a city in a dream signifies the death of the ruler of that city or of an oppressive governor there. To see a city being built in a dream indicates an increase in the number of scholars there and children who will continue upon the path of their fathers. To see a city without a governor in a dream indicates a rise in prices.

An unknown city represents the Hereafter, while a known city represents this world. To see oneself in an unknown city in a dream is also a sign of truthfulness and goodness. The most auspicious of cities seen in dreams are the great ones. A person’s own native town represents his father, while his homeland represents his mother. To see oneself in a northern city indicates an increase in the flow of money, while seeing oneself in a southern city indicates an increase in trickery and deceit. To see oneself on a low plateau indicates difficulty and distress, while seeing oneself on a high plateau indicates trustworthiness and truthfulness. To see oneself in Egypt indicates a long life and a comfortable existence. To see oneself in a field indicates pursuing novelty.

To see oneself in an orchard indicates the arrival of a fertile year. To see oneself in Jerusalem or at the foot of Mount Sinai also indicates abundance. To see oneself in Bethlehem indicates an increase in religious devotion. To see oneself in Damascus may indicate blessing, abundance, and wealth, or corruption. A cold city in a dream indicates calamities. To see oneself in a coastal city indicates gaining the acceptance of the people. To stand upon sulphurous or salty earth indicates illness. To see oneself in a great and populous city indicates abundance and wealth. To enter a city in a dream also indicates making peace among people.

Driving a car through an unknown part of the city indicates losses. Entering an old city that has been rebuilt and restored indicates that a great and pious person will be born there and grow up to lead its people upon the path of righteousness. A city also signifies an oath, meeting with loved ones, tranquillity, serenity, and safety. Encountering people who fear Allah indicates attaining one’s objectives and receiving glad tidings. Seeing the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah indicates calamities, earthquakes, fear, and corruption. A city may also signify repentance. It represents the governor of a province or renowned scholars.

To govern a city in a dream indicates rising to a suitable position, marrying, recovering from illness, repenting from sin, or attaining guidance at the hand of a learned shaykh. To see a dead person walking alive in a city in a dream may indicate that he is enjoying blessings in Paradise. To see a dead person in a village may indicate that he is suffering there together with its inhabitants in Hell. A city also represents the amusement it offers its inhabitants. The name of the city seen in a dream should reflect some of the meanings of the dream. The city’s industry also has a share in the interpretation of the dream. Cities known in the world represent their rulers.

To enter a city one already knows indicates that one will not die before entering it again, or that one will receive news from there. The walls of a city represent a powerful ruler. The destroyed wall of a city in a dream signifies the death or dismissal of its ruler. To see a city developed with its urban structure, factories, and farms reflects the spiritual awareness and religious devotion of its inhabitants.

With the right perspective, it can signify restoring balance, recovery, and developing a new understanding.

Uncertainty, indecision, or a tendency to take on excessive burden may be observed.

In the interpretation, the themes of work and responsibility, home and environment, emotional life, spiritual signs, the emotional tone in the dream, and how the symbol concluded in the dream should be evaluated together.