Echoes of Paradise: the Garden and Flora in Islamic Art
Visions of the Heavenly Garden and the Tree-of-Life
‘Images of the paradisiacal Tree-of-Life evoke lushness, a profusion of shade-giving leafy branches and fertility.’
Often the notion of the paradisiacal Tree-of-Life is alluded to in Islamic art without depicting a specific type of tree. Stylised images do, however, always evoke lushness, a profusion of shade-giving leafy branches and fertility. Sometimes, the image of the tree is replaced by a luxurious vase that holds an exuberant, colourful bouquet of flowers. This motif goes back to pre-Islamic, Hellenistic notions of the Font-of-Life. It recalls both expensive flower displays in the arcades of Islamic garden pavilions, and the floral delights in the Garden of Paradise.
Prayer rug

Hegira 1217 / AD 1802
Ottoman
Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Here, a stylised Tree-of-Life grows from a ewer, in itself symbolising the waters of Paradise.