Abstract:

Throughout history, dreams have been interpreted as a miraculous experience through which individuals obtain hidden knowledge, enabling them to distinguish between right and wrong and to gain insight into the future. The prominent historian al-Mas‘ūdī, who lived in the Abbasid lands in the IV./Xth century, attached special importance to dreams in historiography and even wrote two works in which he dealt with this subject. Although these books have not survived, we have a separate chapter in his famous work, al-Murūj al-dhaḥab, in which he discusses dreams within the subject of prophecy. As it is understood from this unity, in his historical narrative, the dream, as an element of prophecy, comes into existence as a tool that informs the truth. Moreover, when al-Mas‘ūdī’s dream narratives are compiled, it is seen that the narrations are concentrated in the Abbasid period. When this situation is considered together with the author’s Shi‘ite tendency, living and writing his works in the Abbasid period, it opens the door to meaningful questions. This is because the author may have used the dream motif as a tool to reveal his true attitude towards the legitimate rulers of the age. This article discusses the meaning al-Mas‘ūdī implies to his readers by analyzing the dream narratives he recorded during the Abbasid period.

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