Stair Steps

To see the steps of a staircase in a dream signifies the causes of elevation and the means of turning toward this world and the Hereafter. The steps of a staircase signify granting respite, deception, and approaching something by degrees; and sometimes the steps of a staircase signify the stops of a traveller or the places where he lodges from time to time. At times, a stair-step signifies the servant of the house, or the slave and scribe of the master of the house.

If one sees in a dream that he has ascended an unknown step, and if he has reached its end, he dies. Whoever sees that he has ascended to the highest point of a lofty arbor rises to the highest degree of Paradise. If he sees that he has been stopped somewhat below it, without ascending to its elevated place, he will be prevented, after death, from ascending to the high degrees of Paradise.

Whoever sees in a dream that he is descending the steps of a staircase, if he is a traveller, returns from his journey. If he is a chief, he is removed from his chieftainship and his office. If he is a horseman, he walks on foot; and if he has an afflicted and sick wife, he is separated from her through her death. If the dreamer is ill, and the place to which he descends is a known place, or if he is beside his family, or if it is a place containing much hay and barley and signifying the goods of this world, that person recovers from his illness.

To see a staircase in a dream: If he descends from the staircase into an unknown place, or descends upon a people who had died previously and whom he knew, or into a pit or a well containing lions and beasts of prey that would tear him apart, or beside a bird that would peck him, or onto a moored ship, or upon a hunchbacked camel, then the steps of the staircase seen are the days of his life. To see oneself descending the staircase, and the amount by which he descends the steps, signifies his appointed term and death. If the dreamer is awake and not ill, that person becomes rebellious or an unbeliever. If the place to which he descends is a mosque, a water fountain, a verdant place, or a place of pleasant fragrance and good things such as bathing, that person embraces Islam and returns from his condition through repentance and seeking forgiveness.

What does seeing a staircase in a dream mean: If the place to which he descends is the opposite of the places described, namely a place containing terrifying and great fire, harmful beasts, snakes, and great things that destroy, it signifies that person’s approaching perdition degree by degree. If the steps are made of mud brick, the dream is good. If they are made of things such as roof tiles and bricks, the dream is evil. Some have also said that the steps of a staircase are righteous deeds: the first is prayer, the second fasting, the third almsgiving, the fourth charity, the fifth pilgrimage, the sixth striving in the way of God, and the seventh the Qur’an.

If the steps of a staircase seen in a dream are made of clay and mud brick, it signifies rising in righteous deeds. If they are made of roof tiles, there is no good in this. The steps of a staircase made of clay and mud signify, for a governor, elevation and honour together with religion. For a merchant, they signify commerce together with religion. If the steps of the staircase are made of stone, they signify elevation together with hardness of heart. If they are made of wood, they signify elevation together with hypocrisy and ostentation. If they are made of gold, the dreamer attains authority, wealth, and abundance. If they are made of silver, he attains slave-girls according to the number of each step. If they are made of copper or bronze, he attains the goods of this world. Whoever sees that he has ascended the steps of a staircase possesses understanding and intelligence in proportion to that by which he will rise. Some have said that a stair-step is an ascetic worshipper. Therefore, whoever sees that he has approached a worshipping and ascetic person attains elevation and worship, they said. For a governor, each step signifies a governorship.

To arrive suddenly upon the steps in a dream signifies the danger that will befall the dreamer and the ease, in the measure seen in the dream, that he will encounter. Constructed steps signify the ease of affairs; and wooden steps signify steadfastness in some undertaking and concealing something that one desires to keep hidden.

To ascend upward upon the steps in a dream signifies elevation attained little by little and a degree in Paradise. Whoever sees that he has ascended the steps while counting them lives for as many years as the number of those steps. Five steps signify the five daily prayers. Any defect or deficiency occurring in the steps signifies a deficiency occurring in the prayer.

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, success and reputation, the emotional tone in the dream, and how the symbol concludes in the dream should be evaluated together.