Sirin's Initiation
Dreamed c.700 CE by Muhammad Ibn Sīrīn
INTRODUCTION
Muhammad Ibn Sīrīn is the first great dream interpreter in the Islamic tradition (excluding the Prophet himself). Unlike his Greco-Roman counterpart Artemidorus (who he resembles in studying not just the dream content, but the dreamer and their social context), Sirin's books are still respected and consulted today.
SIRIN'S INITIATION
Ibn Sīrīn himself, according to classical sources, was informed of his calling through a dream encounter with the prophet Yūsūf.:
I dreamt that I entered the Friday mosque. With me were three older men and one handsome young fellow. I said to the young fellow: "Who are you? "Once Ibn Sīrīn was able to see Yūsūf's heart, he had acquired the skill of interpretation. Not only had he learned the prophet's innermost secret, but seeing beyond the visible and interpreting dreams are also two interrelated gifts.He replied: "I'm Joseph [Yūsūf]."
I said: 'And who are these older men?" He answered: "My fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
I said: "Teach me what God has taught you."...
He then opened his mouth and said: "What do you see?" I replied: "Your tongue." He opened his mouth further and said: "Look now! What do you see?" I said: "Your uvula." He opened his mouth still further and said: "Look now! What do you see?" I said: "Your heart."
He then said: "Interpret [abbir] and conceal nothing."...
When morning came, whenever anyone told me about a dream it was as if I could see it in the palm of my hand.
(John Lamoreaux, The Early Muslim Tradition of Dream Interpretation 2002, 22f.)
An alternative account of Ibn Sīrīn's calling involves a slightly different version of the dream-encounter:
[Ibn Sīrīn] said: "In a dream I saw Joseph the prophet over our prophet. To him I said: 'Teach me the interpretation of dreams.' He replied: 'Open your mouth.' This I did. He then spat into it. When morning dawned--behold, I was an interpreter of dreams."According to both versions, Ibn Sīrīn received the gift of dream interpretation directly from the prophet Yūsūf; the passing on of saliva symbolizes the transfer of knowledge. Although one could easily read these initiation stories and their contemporary counterparts with an eye to their legitimizing and authoring function, such accounts also tell us something about how the gift of interpretation is conccptualized. Far from being simply a mechanical skill, the ability to interpret is a prophetic gift that is passed on...
(ibid, 22).
SOURCE: Dreams that Matter: Egyptian Landscapes of the Imagination by Amira Mittermaier (2011, University of California Press), p.68
DATE: rough. Wikipedia has Ibn Sīrīn as born 654 CE, died 728; when his career in dream interpretation began is unclear.
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