All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them

Dreams are a form of strength and sustenance for us. They give us hope, support, and courage even in adverse and unfavourable situations. We achieve the goals that we dream of, and this is the basis of success in life.
We see dreams in sleep and also when we are awake. We pursue dreams with all our strength and conviction. Dreams show us the path and help in achieving our goals. Firm conviction and relentless hard work coupled with joy and love are the required tools for achieving success in the life. This is at the core of the philosophy of the great poet philosopher Allama Sir Mohammad Iqbal (RA) who says:
“Yaqeen mohkam, ammal paiham, mohabbat fateh e alam
Jehaad-e-zindgani mein yeh hain mardon ki shamsheerein”
Many people despite having a humble beginning achieved great milestones in life and made a mark in history. George Washington, the first president of America, was a farmer who once cultivated tobacco on a small patch of land he inherited from his father. He dreamt high and toiled hard and rose to become the president of America. Abraham Lincon, another famous president of America, started his career as a clerk in a factory and was afterwards a village postmaster, who nurtured high ambitions and dreams. It is said that he used to read from borrowed books and toiled relentlessly to make his dreams come true.
Our ex-President, the late APJ Abdul Kalam, was the son of a little-educated boat owner in Tamil Nadu. He rose from obscurity to worldwide recognition. He was a great proponent of dreams and urged the young generation to dream high and pursue their dreams to their logical conclusion. The great literary figure in human history, HG Wells, was the son of a small shopkeeper with a meagre income. He was also a great dreamer who pursued his dreams with zeal and determination and became a great writer.
The list of such ordinary people having extraordinary ambitions and dreams is very long. They came from humble background, pursued their dreams of becoming great with single-mindedness, dedication and determination and reached the top positions in their fields.
The dreams we see in sleep are, however, illusory and end in vanity as soon as we wake up. Such dreams, though, have some effect on our lives and on our general attitude and behaviour. Our quality of sleep also influences our dreams. We see dreams only when we have a fast and sound sleep.
Some people are day dreamers and some walk in their sleep and are called sleepwalkers. These people get out of the bed and start talking and walking around in their sleep. Such curious cases are, however, very rare.
Patently abnormal dreams, called nightmares, are also seen by some people. Nightmares are defined as disturbances caused by sleep disorders associated with negative emotions. At times nightmares become very frightening. The condition of half-sleep and half-wakefulness makes it difficult to determine whether an action was done in sleep or in wakefulness. All such cases call for medical intervention and need proper counselling and medication.
The series of events or images which we see in dreams in a metaphorical style can be deciphered and interpreted by some well-read experts in the subject. Dreams are believed to carry a message which only a few can apprehend. Dreams are also regarded as a divine revelation and many learned persons have written books on them called Khwabnamas. Ibn-e-Seereen (RA) was one such authority on deciphering the meaning of dreams. His Khwabnama is regarded as a very authoritative text on the subject.
The Quranic story about the dream of Prophet Yousuf (AS) is well known to many of us. He saw a dream in his childhood that 11 stars and the sun and moon were bowing before him. He told of the dream to his father. His father, Prophet Yaqub (AS) advised him not to reveal the dream to his eleven stepbrothers, lest they harm him out of jealousy. The dream meant that one day Yousuf (AS) would be the king and his 11 stepbrothers would bow before him. His stepbrothers managed to take the custody of Yousuf (AS) from their father and then dropped him in a well in some remote place, wherefrom he was taken out by a travelling caravan and auctioned in the market of Egypt. The events that followed showed that Yousuf (AS) actually rose to the position of king, making his brothers bow before him and showing that his childhood dream had come true.
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) also saw many dreams before and after attaining prophethood, which turned out to be true. Books of Seerat (biography of Prophet) also mention such dreams. However these are different from Wahie (Quranic revealations) as the latter were revealed to the Prophet through Archangel Gabriel (AS). The companions of the Prophet (SAW) also used to tell their dreams to the Prophet and sought their interpretation from him.
It has been well said:
“I slept and dreamt that life was joy,
I awoke and found that life was service,
I acted and behold, service was joy”
All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

The writer is a retired telecom engineer and author of the book, “Footprints in the Sand”

Peerzada Abdul Rashid