a fish.

Ibn Sīrīn said to him, “Will you prepare a meal for me and invite me?”

He replied, “Yes.” So he did. When the table was set, there appeared a black slave-girl. Ibn Sīrīn asked, “Have you slept with her?” The man answered, “No.” Ibn Sīrīn said, “Then take her into the inner room.” He went in—and immediately cried out, “Abū Bakr, by Allah, it is a man!” Ibn Sīrīn said, “That is the one who has been sharing your wife.” (1)

Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh narrated from Mughīrah ibn Ḥafṣ:

Ibn Sīrīn was asked about something, and he said, “I saw in a dream that al-Jawzāʾ (Orion) moved ahead of al-Thurayyā (the Pleiades).” He explained, “This means that al-Ḥasan will die before me; then I shall follow him, even though he is higher in rank than I.” (2)

Many remarkable interpretations are related from Ibn Sīrīn; recounting them all would make this book exceedingly long. He clearly enjoyed divine assistance in this field.

Ḥammād ibn Zayd reported that Anas ibn Sīrīn said:

Muhammad kept seven regular litanies; if he missed any portion of them at night, he would recite it during the day. (3)

Ḥammād narrated from Ibn ʿAwn that Muhammad used to perform a full bath every day. (4)

The compiler says: He was well known for obsessive scrupulousness.

Mahdī ibn Maymūn said: I saw that whenever he performed wuḍūʾ and washed his feet, he would raise the water up to the calf muscle. (5)

Qurra ibn Khālid said: The inscription on Muhammad ibn Sīrīn’s signet ring was his kunyah—Abū Bakr—and I saw him wearing his ring on the left hand. (6)