All praise is due to Allah. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and all his companions.
Wa alaykum salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
To proceed:
My advice to a person who faces this condition is that he should always fear Allah the Exalted, and should not be deceived by these occurrences because if a person has a true dream this does not necessarily mean that he is righteous. These dreams occur to many people, the righteous, and the unrighteous. A true dream is part of truthful speech. It is also one of the signs of the proximity of the day of Judgment. Imam Muslim transmitted a hadeeth on the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, " When the time draws near (when the Resurrection is near) a believer's dream can hardly be false. And the truest vision will be of one who is himself the most truthful in speech, for the vision of a Muslim is the forty-fifth part of Prophecy good tidings from Allah; the evil dream which causes pain is from the Satan; and the third one is a suggestion of one's own mind; so if any one of you sees a dream which he does not like he should stand up and offer prayer and he should not relate it to people."
In general the Sunnah indicated some etiquettes concerning dreams, and they are of two types:
The first type: The good dream. There are a number of recommended etiquettes in this regard and they include:
Firstly: The person should praise Allah for this dream because it is from Him, and one-forty sixtieth of prophethood, and it is glad tidings for a Muslim. This is indicated by what was transmitted by al-Bukhari (7045) on the authority of Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, " "If anyone of you sees a dream that he likes, then it is from Allah, and he should thank Allah for it and narrate it to others; but if he sees something else, i.e., a dream that he dislikes, then it is from Satan, and he should seek refuge with Allah from its evil, and he should not mention it to anybody, for it will not harm him" Transmitted by al-Bukhari (3292) and Muslim (2261). Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "A good dream is from Allah."
Secondly: He should not tell anyone about the dream except those whom he loves because of the hadeeth that was transmitted by al-Bukhari (7044) and Muslim (2261) from the hadeeth of Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "If any of you see a dreams which he likes, he should only inform those whom he loves."
The second type: When a person sees what he does not like, there a number of etiquettes which he should follow so as to be protected from the evil of what he saw. These etiquettes are:
Firstly: He should spit three sides to his left side.
Secondly: He should seek Allah's refuge from Satan three times.
Thirdly: He should change the side on which he was sleeping.
These three etiquettes are indicated in the hadeeths in the Sahihayn and other books of hadeeth. These hadeeths include the hadeeth which was transmitted by Muslim (2262) on the authority of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that he said, " "When one of you sees a bad dream let him blow three times on his left, seek refuge in Allah from the Satan three times and change the side on which he was lying."
Fourthly: He should stand up and pray.
Fifthly: He should not tell anyone whether by informing anyone or seeking interpretation.
These two last etiquettes are indicated by the hadeeth of Abu Hurairah which was transmitted by Muslim where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, " so if any one of you sees a dream which he does not like he should stand up and offer prayer and he should not relate it to people". And Allah knows best.
