Why do we Dream? (part1)

In the view of the Quran, sleep is outwardly the suspension of the natural forces in man, but it is at the same time a return of man"s spirit to his inner being. Sleep is the lesser death, and death is the greater sleep. In both cases, the spirit is transferred to a different world.’ – Sayyid Musawi Lari, Resurrection, Judgment, and Hereafter

Dreams are one of the great mysteries of life that bear reflection. Although there is much that is not well understood about dreams by most people, one thing that is commonly acknowledged is that not all dreams are equal. That is, there are different types of dreams that we may experience.

Many dreams are derived from our worldly experiences and desires – these dreams seem to be a kind of processing of what is happening to us and what we are feeling in our lives at the time. If we have spent the day hard at work studying for our physics and German classes, a dream such as this might involve us discussing physics equations to someone in German, even if we don"t really understand what we"re saying. Other dreams of this type are common stress-related dreams that at first seem unrelated to our daily lives but upon further reflection are symbolic of worries and feelings. These include dreams of running as hard as you can to get away from a threat or to meet some appointment, but no matter how hard you run, you seem to be moving in slow motion, and various obstacles keep coming in your way. The symbolism and causes of these types of dreams are often obvious to the dreamer when he reflects on the feelings associated with them.

Another category of dreams are fantasies, imaginings, or illusions. These dreams are a form of play or recreation, in which a person may experience things not available to him in his daily life. For example, someone may dream he has knowledge and abilities unattainable in real life, he may imagine that he is living in a different time or place, or he may create entire worlds and universes for his exploration. Many fiction authors derive inspiration, sometimes very directly, from such dreams.

Finally, there are dreams that foretell events, sometimes directly and sometimes in symbolism that cannot be understood if someone does not have the necessary skill or knowledge. These include dreams in which a person senses a natural disaster before it occurs, or the death of a relative or statesman, and so on. Sura Yusuf in the Quran tells a history which openly acknowledges the precognitive nature of some dreams – in this particular case, dreams of a pharaoh, a prisoner, and a prophet. These are more common than many people suppose.

Sayyid Musawi Lari, in Resurrection, Judgment, and Hereafter, recounts one such dream that he himself had: ‘On Saturday, April 24, 1962, a violent earthquake shook the city of Lar, leading to heavy losses of life and damage.

‘About one week before the earthquake, I dreamed that a strong earthquake was shaking Lar, destroying buildings and raising up clouds of dust that covered the sky like thick fog. With this terrifying picture pressing on my mind, I woke up in terror, probably at about midnight. A particularly remarkable detail is that in my dream I had seen the small child of one of my relatives who lived in a neighboring house. I saw him passing in front of a part of the house that was about to collapse, so I called out to him to get out of the way, which he did. When the earthquake occurred, the only part of the house that collapsed was the one that had done so in my dream; the rest of the house remained standing, and nothing happened to the child, because when the earthquake happened, he began running from one corner to the other in panic, moving out of the way of danger just when that particular part of the house began to collapse!’

The nature of this occurrence is often described as waves emitted by the world of the Unseen being picked up by man"s soul, the receiver. When events are particularly traumatic, the waves of that event to occur tend to be stronger or perhaps more memorable, and thus more people report experiencing precognitive dreams of these events. Similarly, when a revolutionary idea evolves from dreams, it is suggested that the collective consciousness of people at the time of the dream produces a wave or field that guides the dreamer.

Other links:

Why Do We Pray?

The Home - A place Where Allah is Remembered

The Lazy Lure

The secret of Number 40

How many worlds are there?