From Herbals to Walled Gardens j 277277 277
“So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, “I have
vowed a fast to (Allah) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into not
talking with any human being’ ”
At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They
said: “O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!”The Quranic variant of Pseudo- Matthew is highly significant for several reasons.
First, the incident occurs prior to the birth of Jesus. Instead of Jesus, the active agent
in the story is identified as “a voice” who “cried to her from beneath the palm tree.”
Although some commentators have identified the voice as Jesus inside Mary’s womb,
there is no reference to “womb” in the passage. At the time the Quran was composed,
Arabs were still polytheistic and Al- ’Uzza was worshipped as a goddess of date palms.
The voice from beneath the date palm could therefore be associated with the tree
itself—the roots or the soil—perhaps representing the chthonic aspect of Al- ’Uzza or
a similar tree goddess.
According to Sura 19, after eating the dates and drinking the water from the sacred date
palm, Mary gave birth and subsequently returned to her village to show the baby to her
people. Instead of rejecting her as she feared they would, her neighbors recognized that a
miracle had taken place and celebrated the new arrival. By implication, Mary’s eating the
sacred dates and drinking the sacred water marked Jesus as a miraculous child.
The date palm persisted as an emblem of the Virgin Mary’s miraculous pregnancy well
into the Renaissance, as seen in Christian religious art. For example, in “The Virgin’s
Wedding Procession” by the Giotto, the palm leaf extending from the balcony symbolizes
Mary’s pregnancy (Figure 10.12).
The story of Mary and the sacred tree even made its way to northern Europe. In the pro-
cess, the date palm became transformed into the more familiar cherry tree. In the “Cherry
Tree Carol,” Joseph and Mary happen upon a cherry orchard during their journey to Egypt:O then bespoke Mary,
With words so meek and mild,
“Pluck me one cherry, Joseph,
For I am with child.”O then bespoke Joseph,
With answer rude and wild,
“Let him pluck thee a cherry
That brought thee now with child.”O then bespoke the baby
Within his mother’s womb
“Bow down then the tallest tree
For my mother to have some.”Then bowed down the highest tree,
Unto his mother’s hand.
Then she cried, “See, Joseph,
I have cherries at command.”