Imām Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn

Imām Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn (محمد بن سيرين) (33 – 110 AH / 653 – 729 CE)

The Scholar of the Tābiʿūn and Master of Dream Interpretation

Early Life and Background

His full name was Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn al-Anṣārī al-Baṣrī
[أبو بكر محمد بن سيرين الأنصاري البصري].^1

He was born in 33 AH / 653 CE, during the caliphate of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (عثمان بن عفان رضي الله عنه), in Baṣrah – البصرة, a city then blossoming as one of the major centers of Islamic learning.

His father, Sīrīn (سيرين), was a freedman of Anas ibn Mālik (أنس بن مالك), the Prophet’s Companion,
and his mother, Ṣafiyyah (صفية), was also a freedwoman of the same noble Companion.
Thus, Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn was raised in a household deeply attached to the Sunnah and the love of the Ṣaḥābah (الصحابة).

Education and Teachers

Growing up in Baṣrah, Ibn Sīrīn witnessed the vibrant gatherings of the Companions.
He studied directly under some of the greatest of them, including:

Anas ibn Mālik (أنس بن مالك) — his master and close mentor;
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās (عبد الله بن عباس) — the great exegete;
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar (عبد الله بن عمر) — the jurist;
Abū Hurayrah (أبو هريرة) — transmitter of hadith;
and others among the senior tābiʿīn.

He memorized large portions of the Qurʾān and ḥadīth in his youth,
and was known for his sharp memory, eloquence, and immense humility.

“I met more than a hundred of the Companions,” he once said,
“and not one of them ever praised himself for what he did for God.”^2

Character and Spiritual Outlook

Ibn Sīrīn’s personality reflected the ideals of taqwā (تقوى – God-consciousness) and waraʿ (ورع – scrupulous piety).
He was cheerful and humorous among friends but strict with himself in worship.
He wept often when reciting the Qurʾān and was known for his nightly prayers.

He disliked excessive disputation, saying:

“Knowledge is not by argument, but by light placed in the heart.”

Even during times of hardship — such as his brief imprisonment due to a debt dispute — he displayed patience (ṣabr – صبر) and serenity, interpreting his own trials as divine refinement rather than punishment.

Scholarly Orientation

Ibn Sīrīn was among the foremost scholars of:

Fiqh and Hadith (الفقه والحديث) –
He transmitted narrations from Anas, Ibn ʿAbbās, and Abū Hurayrah, and was an authority for later jurists such as al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and Ibn Sahnūn.
Dream Interpretation (تعبير الرؤيا) –
He systematized the science of interpreting dreams, grounding it in Qurʾānic symbols and Prophetic narrations.
Ethics and Spiritual Psychology (الأخلاق وعلم النفس الروحي) –
His advice on sincerity, intention (niyyah – نية), and self-scrutiny influenced later ascetics and Sufis.

Teachings and Sayings

Some of Ibn Sīrīn’s famous maxims reveal the early zuhdī (ascetic) wisdom of the tābiʿūn:

“This knowledge is religion; so look from whom you take your religion.”^3
“The soul never feels full of the world unless it is empty of the hereafter.”
“The truest vision is that which comes in the last part of the night — when hearts are nearest to God.”

He also warned against innovation and false claims of prophecy, insisting that dreams must never contradict revelation.

🜂 Ibn Sīrīn and the Science of Dream Interpretation (ʿIlm Taʿbīr al-Ruʾyā – علم تعبير الرؤيا)

1. Foundation in Revelation

Ibn Sīrīn established the principles of dream interpretation as a religious discipline, not superstition.
He drew from the Qurʾān — particularly the story of Yūsuf (يوسف) — and the Prophet’s sayings about true dreams (ruʾyā ṣāliḥah – رؤيا صالحة).

He taught that:

Dreams come from three sources: divine inspiration (ruʾyā), self-reflection (nafs), and satanic illusion (ḥulm).
Interpretation (taʿbīr) depends on the dreamer’s context, piety, and timing — “for the meaning of milk in a scholar’s dream is not that of a tyrant’s.”

2. Symbolism and Method

His approach was systematic yet spiritual:

Symbol	Interpretation Example
Water	Knowledge, faith, or life (cf. Qurʾān 21:30)
Snake	Hidden enemy or strength, depending on context
Milk	Innate nature (fiṭrah – فطرة) and purity
Gold	Fitnah or wealth depending on moral state
Birds	Freedom, divine message, or lofty soul

These associations later formed the foundation of Islamic dream manuals, including Kitāb al-Taʿbīr (كتاب التعبير) attributed to him.

3. Ethical Limits

He warned against reckless interpretation:

“Dreams are like birds — if you seize them wrongly, they fly away.”

He required both piety and knowledge in the interpreter,
for only a purified heart can discern the divine hints within visions.

Relation to Contemporaries

Ibn Sīrīn was a contemporary of:

al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (الحسن البصري) — with whom he shared deep mutual respect;
ʿĀmir al-Shaʿbī (عامر الشعبي) — known for jurisprudence;
Qatādah ibn Diʿāmah (قتادة بن دعامة) — a student of his narrations.

His humility and integrity made him a model among the tābiʿūn and an early symbol of the union between inner purification and scholarly rigor.

Death and Legacy

Ibn Sīrīn passed away in 110 AH / 729 CE in Baṣrah – البصرة.
He was mourned by the entire city as one of its foremost saints and jurists.

His legacy endured in:

The codification of dream interpretation as a legitimate discipline,
His ethical maxims quoted in al-Ḥilyah of Abū Nuʿaym and Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ of al-Dhahabī,
And his influence on both the zuhd tradition and early taṣawwuf.

“He was among those in whose face the light of the Qurʾān could be seen.” — al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ

Legacy Summary

Field	Contribution
Hadith & Fiqh	Taught and transmitted from major Companions; early authority in jurisprudence.
Dream Interpretation	Founder of systematic Qurʾānic-based taʿbīr.
Spiritual Ethics	Emphasized sincerity, humility, and purification of the heart.
Pedagogy	Mentored many students who shaped early Basran scholarship.
Influence	Cited by later ascetics, theologians, and mystics as a model of God-conscious wisdom.

References (Chicago-style)

Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Ibn Sīrīn.”
Ibn Saʿd, Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā, vol. 7 (Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1968), 191–194.
al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 4 (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah, 1985), 606–615.
Ibn Qutaybah, ʿUyūn al-Akhbār (Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1996).
Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ, vol. 2 (Cairo: Dār al-Fikr, 1984).