A short thread peeking at the age-old tradition of Islamic gardens ~

"Gardens beneath which rivers flow" is a well-known and oft-repeated Qur'anic image of Paradise, and as with any rich tradition, has inspired centuries of development in architecture and design.

For sake of brevity, let's explore the most prominent manifestation of this divine image: the Persian Chahar Bagh (four gardens).

In its most common form, four symmetrical plots are bordered by streams, capped at centers (or ends) with fountains.

The resultant space is intended both to represent and remind of Paradise.

Here are some examples of Chahar Bagh from across the Muslim world.

Left: Tomb of Jahangir, Lahore.
Right: Court of Lions at the Alhambra, Granada (once full of rich planting).

The Taj Mahal is of course an example of the same great motif on a much larger scale:

As the very concept is thought to have originated in Persia, it’s natural that the most evolved examples are found there. Timur is known to have had great gardens across his empire that no longer remain, unfortunately.

Below though, is Naqshe Jahan square, Isfahan:

And here we see a smaller scale, contemporary example from the recent Cambridge Mosque (see next tweet):

The design at Cambridge is by Emma Clark, a prominent Muslim landscape architect.

She discusses our topic of today in detail here:

One sees great elegance in a tradition that is able to translate key ideas & images into forms & schemes, just like here: Quranic verse made physical.

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