278 i Flora Unveiled
The carol is more light- hearted than either the early Christian or Quranic versions and
seems to combine elements of both. In Pseudo- Matthew, Jesus speaks from his mother’s
arms, whereas in the Quran it is a voice from below the tree. In the “Cherry Tree Carol,”
Jesus does indeed speak from the womb. Many books were transmitted to the West from
Islamic sources during the Late Middle Ages, and the Quran was among them. Although it
may seem counterintuitive given the historically fraught relationship between Christianity
and Islam, it is possible that the European Christmas carol was influenced by both the early
Christian and Quranic versions of the story.
Muhammad and the Date GrowersDates and melons were the Prophet Muhammad’s favorite foods, and date palms are
mentioned twenty times in the Quran. A summary of the date palm’s unique biological
attributes, drawn mainly from Islamic authors writing after the time of Muhammad, was
provided by the thirteenth- century Muslim historian Zakariya Muhammad Qazwini, in
his book The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence:
Figure 10.12 “The Virgin’s Wedding Procession” by Giotto (1266/7–1337).