Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Shāhīn al-Ẓāhirī, Khalīl al-Dīn
A short biography and the method of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Shāhīn al-Ẓāhirī, Khalīl al-Dīn in interpreting dreams, with the list of symbols he treats in his primary work.
Era and place
813 AH / 1410 CE — 873 AH / 1468 CE, Cairo
A scholar and emir from among the Mamlūk ulema of Egypt. He served in the sultan's diwan and was a confidant of the court before devoting himself to authorship. He is best known for his book on dream interpretation, which builds on Ibn Sirin and broadens the scope with chapters on symbolic indication.
Primary work
al-Ishārāt fī ʿIlm al-ʿIbārāt
Method of dream interpretation
Ibn Shāhīn adopts a compositional method of indications: combining the principal symbol with its surroundings (agent, time, place, manner) to arrive at a layered reading. He details special cases extensively and links symbols that share thematic ground. His book is organised by chapter rather than alphabetically.