A023
Surah: 030 - Ayah: 023
Click here to see the translations
30:23
Similarly, if it is autumn in the external world, it does not have to be so in the world of dreams. It is never so. For, the world of dreams in its essence and nature is the fountainhead of the manifestations of the non-spatial world and many other diverse things. And this nature of the dream is among the Divine miracles. As the Qur'an says: "And of His signs is your dream (manam) by night and by day, and your seeking of His bounty. Lo! herein indeed are signs (miracles) for those who listen (with the ear of understanding)" (30:23). The tawil of this verse will be explained later on. Here, at the place of tanzil the meaning of manam as dream is absolutely correct, and it (dream) is among the Divine miracles.
In this verse, the word manam' is full of. wisdom, it means sleep and dream. And its ta'wil is to enter the spiritual or non-spatial world through dhikr and ibadat. For one of the states of spirituality resembles sleeping or descending of sleep, as mentioned in connection with imposing sleep upon the external senses, and awakening the internal senses.
The complete tawil of the verse is this: And your spirituality (manam) by night and day which is like sleeping and dreaming and your seeking of knowledge and wisdom in it and its results, are Indeed the Divine miracles for those who listen with the real ear. This reveals the fact that the state of entering the boundary of the non-spatial and non-temporal world is like sleeping and the return from it is like waking up from the dream.
This verse is also in this connection: "Then, after grief, He sent down the state of satisfaction upon you which was as a slumber which overcame a party of you." (3:154). This was the defeat of the battle of Uhud, in which the special mumins, in the state of fear and grief, remembered God abundantly. Thus the result came forth in the form of spirituality. That is to say that the miraculous sleep was imposed upon them, which brings spirituality with it. Otherwise, no sleep of negligence can be praised in this way.
Wonders and Marvels of Dreams:
See verse (30:23) which indicates that sleep and dream are among the Divine signs and it is necessary to reflect upon Divine signs, otherwise we may be guilty of negligence and ingratitude, as mentioned in the Prophetic Hadith: MA mumin's dream is a part of the forty-six parts of Prophethood." But the condition is that a mumin has to be a true mumin so that his dream may be transformed into spirituality and luminosity.
In this connection, the verse (30:23) can be interpreted in this way: One great miracle, among the miracles (signs) of God, which embraces uncountable wonders and marvels, is your dream by night and by day and your seeking of His bounty for the body and soul. That is to say that, dream, in addition to physical rest, is also an occasion for thought and reflection. Indeed in dream there are many miracles for those who heed. That is, its symbols are understood only by the people of wisdom (30:23). Here an ignorant person may ask, how can a disorderly dream be among the miracles of God, the Exalted? The answer is that if the dream is not good, it is due to man's own word and deed. It is the beauty of the function of dream, that it has taken the exact x-ray of the internal chaos of man and placed it in front of him, so that he may organise himself in word and deed in the light of the Qur'an and Islam, and protect himself from every kind of chaos and perplexity.
This verse has been referred 2 times.