I had a dream. I saw a magnificent white Arabian horse galloping across a meadow, with a tiny rider on its back. As I got a better look, I saw it was a grey tabby cat that looks a lot like one of my cats.
The Muslim sheikh, listening to this dream to interpret it, smiled before commenting. “Certain animals, like cats and horses, are a good omen and are related to service and loyalty,” he said.
Other beasts in dreams are deemed less friendly: a snake indicates an enemy, while a spider or a spider’s web is someone weaving mischief.
Islamic dream interpreters rely on the Quran and Hadith, or narrations, of the Prophet Mohammed to interpret what is dreamt.
The Prophet said that dreams are of three types: some are terrifying things from the Shaytan [devil], some are things that a person is concerned with when he is awake and some are a part of the 46 portions of prophecy.
Some Islamic interpretations include: a key or collection of keys, which relates to money; sugar is related to fear and problems; and salt could refer to wealth or illness.
The sheikh told me that the Muslim world seems to be “obsessed” with two things: dream interpretations and black magic.
Several religious sheikhs have told me that they regularly get someone asking them for help as they have bad dreams and feel they are cursed and under a spell. Often concerns are related to loss or not finding love.
“It can be true, yes, but too many think this when life doesn’t go as they planned. If they hoped to marry and it didn’t happen, it must be because someone put a curse on them out of jealousy,” another sheikh told me when I was doing a story on black magic.
Both these stories have been popular with readers, who write in to get in touch with sheikhs quoted in both the black magic piece and the dream interpretation one.
It is important to know who to ask about your dreams.
According to a fatwa in 2008 from the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments in Abu Dhabi, Islam permits interpretation of dreams so long as it is done by a trusted scholar. The fatwa said it must be accepted that these interpretations are “not definitive” and not to be relied on entirely.
It is not just within the Muslim world, the entire world is fascinated with this mystical realm of dreams. From prophets to philosophers to artists to psychiatrists to researchers, they have all pondered their meaning.
“The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to the unconscious,” said Sigmund Freud, who dedicated a great deal of his psychological work to interpreting dreams.
Some researchers indicate that writing down a dream right after waking up can help you find patterns and can be therapeutic.
Just Google “dream interpretation” and you’ll get books, articles and websites dedicated to this, and even an alphabetical breakdown of what you see in your dreams.
There are many interpretations for everything from “falling teeth” to seeing yourself dead to that odd falling dream and waking up with a jerk.
We all look for meaning and for signs in our life to guide us. Some people turn to astrology, others to tarot cards, and some go to so-called psychics. Some go under hypnosis to find out about their past to better understand their present and their future.
But perhaps some of the answer is already there, in your dreams.
This is beautifully captured in one of my favourite songs – A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes – as sang by Disney’s Cinderella.
So, all you have to do is follow up on your most wonderful dreams and hope for the best.
rghazal@thenational.ae
Twitter:@Arabianmau
Alita: Battle Angel
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson
Four stars
The%20specs
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged W12
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 626bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh1,050,000
On sale: now
Company%C2%A0profile
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Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
FULL%20RESULTS
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Honeymoonish
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
NEW ARRIVALS
Benjamin Mendy (Monaco) - £51.75m (Dh247.94m)
Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur) - £45.9m
Bernardo Silva (Monaco) - £45m
Ederson Moraes (Benfica) - £36m
Danilo (Real Madrid) - £27m
Douglas Luiz (Vasco de Gama) - £10.8m
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The%20specs
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Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
FIXTURES
Fixtures for Round 15 (all times UAE)
Friday
Inter Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Saturday
Atalanta v Verona (6pm)
Udinese v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Juventus (11.45pm)
Sunday
Lecce v Genoa (3.30pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (6pm)
SPAL v Brescia (6pm)
Torino v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sampdoria v Parma (9pm)
Bologna v AC Milan (11.45pm)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sav%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Purvi%20Munot%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24750%2C000%20as%20of%20March%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE%20SPECS
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