Echoes of Paradise: the Garden and Flora in Islamic Art
Visions of the Heavenly Garden and the Tree-of-Life
‘Trees with sweet-scented blossoms and plentiful ripe fruit play a special role.’
Trees with sweet-scented blossoms and plentiful ripe fruit play a central role in literary depictions of the Islamic Paradise. The palm tree occupies a special place. One tradition describes it as man's aunt, created out of the clay left after God's creation of Adam. According to another, the Prophet Muhammad associated the palm tree with Paradise. Reference is also made to the pomegranate tree and the mystical tuba tree, a Cyprus-like tree-of-life, placed at the heart of Paradise.
Ivory box from the Cathedral of Braga

Hegira 394 / AD 1004 and Hegira 398 / AD 1008
Umayyads of Córdoba, Caliphate period
Cathedral of Braga Treasury
Braga, Portugal
On this pyxis two figures harvest fruit from a tree amidst a lush setting reminiscent of Paradise.