Islamic Interpretation
(Vessel, Person, Strength, Parent, Confinement, Celestial body, Deliverance, Anxiety) Witnessing a ship in a dream signifies deliverance from peril, triumph over hardships, recuperation from sickness, or it may denote rainfall following intense aridity. For someone enduring difficulties, observing a moored ship in port suggests their troubles will soon dissipate. Should one envision himself pulling or steering it across land, it indicates hypocrisy or immoral intermediation. Sailing aboard a ship with the virtuous signifies guidance upon the righteous path and forgiveness of transgressions. Disembarking safely onto the shore denotes a life of security, joy, and evasion from foes. A dismissed employee dreaming of being on a boat portends reinstatement to his former station with renewed authority, or embarking on a hazardous journey ending in either demise or narrow escape. Deeming a vessel unworthy of one's status forewarns of impending danger. A sinking ship rescued by another signifies escaping grave peril only to be subjected to a powerful individual, or avoiding one threat but straying if the second ship's commander is disobeyed and abandoned. Retrieving a sunken ship from the depths symbolizes reclaiming authority. If the ship represents power, then losing it suggests diminished influence. If understood as burdens, overcoming them through supplication, alms, or medicinal treatment is indicated. Clinging to wreckage after a shipwreck signifies confronting the anger of an authority figure, potential loss of leadership for an official, or bankruptcy for a merchant. Perishing in the ordeal suggests being slain, with death itself providing escape from a greatly feared circumstance. An empty ship denotes commercial gain. A passenger vessel carrying people implies safety, while a stationary floating ship represents incarceration. Grasping a ship's line signifies attaching oneself to a devout instructor; even releasing the ropes or dropping anchor means remaining in that person's company. Voyaging with kin and companions heralds honor, abundance, and refuge from adversaries. Crossing rough seas in a small boat warns of upcoming danger. A gracefully floating ship suggests contentment, while watching one from the shore brings good news. A ship ascending skyward indicates slowly arriving benefits; descending from the heavens signifies swiftly approaching advantages. The ship's timbers symbolize religious devotees, faith, steadfastness, or complexities. Sails represent its commander; the crew denotes servants; oars, rudders, or propellers signify the ship's motion or the owner's offspring. The vessel's condition mirrors the dreamer's state or living situation. Salvaging a sunken ship hints at discovering treasure, matrimony for the unmarried, or a monetary boon for a government employee. Imagining oneself as a ship heaving with the tide, then calming with the sea, forecasts a prestigious appointment, leadership, power, and honor. A ship sailing on a sea of blood implies adultery. If it founders and some planks remain afloat, it may presage a mother's passing, for she was his original vessel. Purchasing a ship signifies entering marriage. Bearing oars represents knowledge. A flying ship suggests the rider's death, may symbolize another conveyance, or represent a coffin or funeral rites. Dying within a sinking ship promises salvation from hereafter's torments and escape from worldly fears. Discovering a leak means avoiding drowning. A ship can also depict a stout woman, the Bridge of Judgment (Sirat) stretched on Resurrection Day for crossing into the Grand Assembly, deliverance, dispelling ignorance, or overcoming enticement. A sick person riding in a ship's morgue among the deceased signifies escaping life's trials. A knowledge-seeking healthy individual doing so foretells meeting a spiritual guide to gain wisdom and flee ignorance. An indebted dreamer will settle obligations; a deprived person will find abundance and unexpected wealth. If one's ship reaches shore and becomes land-worthy, driving him over earth, it warns of religious wavering, deviation toward innovation, hypocrisy, and arrogance. For a non-student, it portends divorcing then cohabiting unlawfully with his wife; for a merchant, business stagnation and resorting to illicit trade practices. A ship may further symbolize: virtuous acts, righteous associates, companionship with a sage, commendable fellowship, admirable deeds, craftsmanship, commercial inactivity, dread, expectation, redemption, a mosque, marketplace, father, mother, master, instructor, mentor, riches, a home, an adulteress, a vehicle, a spouse, or a servant. It can also represent a tavern where one enters sober and exits intoxicated. It parallels the human form: its hull as the body, oars as hands, bow as head, cargo as mind, planks as ribs, ropes as veins, etc. A ship resting atop a mountain signifies security, escape from harm, or protection from enemies. Sinking in the sea may also indicate becoming an inhabitant of hellfire. Transforming into iron promises long life. Consuming its wood suggests a substantial inheritance or eating prohibited meat. A ship speaking comforting words indicates heeding a wise counselor's admonitions. Seeing Noah's ark heralds gladness, rejoicing, celebration, salvation, alleviation of anxiety and cares, safety from drowning, marriage, a position of authority, or conquering an opponent. (Refer also to Boat, Helm)