Islamic Gardens in Iran

CHAYfER THREE ~

Islamic Gardens in Iran

Vaneshdoust

When the subject of Islamic gardens isdiscussed, the question which immedi-ately arises is: "What effect does theIslamic religion have on these gar-

dens?".Before the birth of Islam, gardens,

besides being affected by geographicalconditions, were influenced by tradi-tion, rit'ual, and the cultural backgroundof the people. For exarnple, before Is-larn the figure 4 was repre:sentative ofthe four sa-=red elements, water,fire, wind and soil; from the days of theSassanids (224-641 A.D;) onwards itwas common to divide hunting groundsinto four sections, in the middle ofwhich a kind of mansion was con-structed. As a result, when we observeancient gardens in Iran, or in the terri-tories which were under Iranian influ-ence, we notice this quadruple divi-sion, and the older the garden the moredistinct it is and the more it determinesthe basic lines of the design. As timepassed the division becarne more orna-mental or subordinate in character, sothat where it still existed the originalimplication was overlooked, and wecan sometimes find gardens in which itdoes not exist at aIl. There are certainwords in the language which relate tothe idea -like the word "cheharbag"meaning "four gardens" -but they havecompletely relinquished their original

meaning.

Islam originated in the Arabian Pe-ninsula, a land where water and vegeta-tion are as rare as aIchemy. In theKoran, the holy book of the Moslems,it is written that righteous people arepromised paradise. Some of the fea-tures of this promised paradise as seenin the Koran and its commentaries,which have a bearing on our discussionand have an effect on gardens, shouldnow be mentioned briefiy:1. ln paradise there flow streams and

canaIs withgolden banks and bedsof pearls and rubies, tJie soil ofwhich bas a smell sweeter thanmusk.

2. Thereis perpetuaI shade which istamed to move according to thewill of man.

3. There is no extreme heat from thesun or bitter cold.

4. There are trees which are so greenthat they appear to be black.

5. Mention is made of the names oftrees such as the thornless lotus,tangled myrtle, palm and pome-

granate.6. There are high buildings unique in

the world.7. The dimensions of paradise may

be likened to the width of the skyand the earth.

8. Thereisanextraodinaryabundanceof unforbidden and perenniaI fruitwhich may be freely eaten.

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2. Theareaofthegardenissurroundedby a wall.

3. There is a main canal in it.4. The area of the garden is divided

into four.5. There is a mansion or palace in the

middle.6. Theplanting of rose-bushes is fre-

quent.7. A close relation with nature is ob-

tained in a simple manner and thereis no interval or boundary line be-tween the mansion and the rest ofthe garden, so that it cannot be seenwhere one begins and the otherends.

8. Alargenumberoftreesareplantedfor the sake of shade, and as a resultthegardencontains narrow walks.

9. CanaIs are so designed that theflow of the water produces a sound.

10. The design of the garden is basedon the use of straight lines.

Il. Provision is made for the flow ofthe water tQ be visible, and groovesare cut in the bot tom of the canaIsto cause the water to flow roughlyas if it were flowing over rocks.

12. There are a large number of fruit-trees; the bigger the garden themore fruit-trees are planted.

If we now go on to discuss gardensdesigned mainly for religiouspurposes, we must keep in mind thatsuch gardens win of course be greatlyinfluenced by religious factors.

Such a garden was laid out duringthe time of the Safavid dynasty. Thisgarden is unique in two ways:I. It was laid out in a religious pre-

cinct, and2. It was a public garden.

The garden is 25 km. from Nishaborr ,and is caned "Qadamgah" ("footing")because on the left-hand side, in asouthem portion of the wall inside the

In the later periods of the Islamic agethe main objective in the designing ofgardens was to make them as close tothis description as possible, and a goodgarden was always compared withparadise. Many otherpromises are givenconcerning the eternal paradise. But itshould be noted that. viewed as a gar-den, paradise is merely an extreme ex-ample, much more desirable than whatalready exists. Gardens in Islamic terri-tories in later ages were influenced bybath the Koran and previous tradition.The contents of the Koran had a greatinfluence even on the people who livedin fertile and evergreen lands like thoseof the north of Iran, though this influ-ence was, of course, much greater inbarren and arid lands. Bu't besides theclimatic conditions, which were an es-sential factor, tastes and enthusiasms incertain respects aIso had a permanentinfluence. Hence the characteristicsacquired by Iranian gardens are theoutcome of a variety of factors. Theirdesign was influenced nolt only by thedescriptions of the promised paradisegiven in the Koran, but also indirectlyby the philosophy of Islam and its im-posed restrictions which affect the lifeof the people and theirway ofthinking.Such restrictions are the veiling ofwomen, the problem of prohibited andnon-prohibited relations between menand women, prohibition of wine-drink-ing, and so on. It should be noted that inthe past, gardens were usuaIly privateand very seldom were they constructedfor public purposes. For this reason theinfluence not only of the designer'spersonaI character and ideas, but alsoof those of the owner, is cl!early visible.Nevertheless, there are certain featurescommon to aIl Iranian gardens whichcan be defined as fo11ows:

1. A garden is laid out on :steep ground.

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3. The mansion-the entrance to the spring is seen on the right.

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Islamic Gardens in Iran

mansion, there is a piece ofblack stoneon which two footprints have beencarved. It is believed by the cornrnonpeople that these footprints belong toEmam Reza, the eighth successor ofthe Holy Prophet in the Shi-ite sect ofIslam. The fact is that Emam Rezacame to this place during his tour ofMashad, and the people carved foot-prints on the stone, years later, as aremembrance of bis setting foot in theplace. The "Qadamgah" garden iscomposed of the three sections whichare described below.

a. The space surrounding themansion: This area is rectangular inshape and measures 102 by 115 metres.It is surrounded by w:i1lls. A canal whichwaters the garden enters from behindthe mansion and, after filling a poolmeasuring 13 by 16 metres and flowingon through several channels and foursmaller pools around the building, takesits course along the main axis of thegarden. The large pool is also used as areservoir .AlI the sections of this gar- ,den are on steep ground and it thereforeconsists of several different levels whichare connected to another by stairs.

The mansion, which is decoratedwith glazed tiles, "kashi" stands a littleway from the centre of the garden, onthe linear axis. Except for a few apricottrees, the area is planted only withplane trees and pinf;S. The fruit from theapricot trees, after being dried, used tobe sent to various people as a token ofblessing. There is a spring beside themansion, which is believed by the com-mon people to have gushed forth whenEmam Reza inserted his staff into thespot. Its water is belil~ved to be sacredand blessed. The garden in this area isvery plain, since most of the attentionhas been given to the mansion and thedecoration of its surroundings.

b. The general area of the garden:This area is laid out onboth sides of theaxis in a syrnmetrical maner and oneach side there are twenty booths forthe use of caravans of pilgrims. Thetrees in this part are mostly mulberry ,which, according to the common be-lief, were planted only for charity, sothat everyone was free to eat their fruit.The axial canal continues through this

area, and, after passing between twohuge plane trees, enters a pool measur-ing Il by 8 metres. When this hasfilled, it again flows as a narrow canalalong the axis. The mulberry trees areplanted in three distinct rows. The mid-dle one, beinga double row .Iines bothsides of the axial canal, providing shadein accordance with Iranian taste. Theother two rows are planted in front ofthe pilgrim booths. The booths are con-structed on two different levels and areof two categories. Those of the fIrstcategory , which are situated on thelower level, are spacious enough tolodge pilgrims for a longer period andhave a fireplace and some recesses intheir walls. Those in the second cat-egory rather resemble a decorativearch which could serve for short restsand could actually have containedgar-den seats.

One exceptional feature of this partof the garden is the fact that there is nowall or gate at its entrance.

c. The portion between the man-sion and the general area: The upperpart of the general area contains a com-paratively big court yard with no trees.This courtyard serves as a forecourtwhere one may stop before entering themansion yard to say prayers or wait forone's turn. The facade of the mansionand the subordinate buildings are infact the nerve-centre of the whole. Aremarkable aspect of this garden is that

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I4. A view of the mansion from the uppermost parts shows how the

building and garden are combined.

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Islamic Gardens in Iran

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of the mansion by having hannonythey associate the .nature.

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ithas never had a private owner and themain purpose in laying it out was tocater for the comfort of the pilgrimsand create a suitable place where theycould stop and rest on a warm day; as aresult the main objectwas DOt to achieveidealistic beauty, and most attentionwas paid to the mansion and to creatingan atmosphere of comfort for the pil-grims. Incidentally, it possesses alI thecharacteristics of an Iranian garden al-ready mentioned above, except for thequadruple division, which is not verydistinctly noticeable in its plan; how-ever, the descriptions given in the Ko-ran of a paradise garden have had noinfluence on its design.

Most of the fe.atures described inthe Koran are financially out of thequestion in a garden meant for publicpurposes, and only some of them canbe seen in the royal palace gardens.

The gardens which have corne intoexistence since the Safavid Dynastyhave been influenced to a greater oflesserextent by otherparts of the world,especially Europe, owing to the devel-opment of closer contacts with othernations in more recent times. Unfortu-nately these changes have been effectedwithout any allowance for local condi-tions and have proved to be unsuitableto warmer climates. It is true that withthe expansion of international relationseverything is becoming more universalin form, and such revolutionary changesare unavoidable; but we mlust considerlocal geographical conditions as theessential and permanent factor and be-liëve that observation of this principlein aIl parts of the world is an absolutenecessity .

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Islamic Gardens in Irnn

Résume: jardins islamiques en Iran

Les plus anciens trai'ts des jardins iraniens apparaissent avant l'introduction del'Islam, dès la Perse achéménide; la division des jardins en quatre parties (selonles quatre éléments) ,est déjà affirmée à l'époque sassanide (224-641). A cepremier fonds vint s'ajouter l'idée du jardin contenue dans le Coran et diffuséepar les Arabes: jardin irrigué, planté d'arbres fruitiers, où l'ombre joue un rÔle

important.L'auteur souligne les traits essentiels du jardin iranien is,lamique: installé sur unsite en pente, le jardin est clos de murs. Son tracé utilise des lignes droites, ilest divisé en quatre p;arties et un canal court selon l'axe central. Le palais, oula maison, est au centre du jardin. Beaucoup d'arbres sont plantés, pour assurerde l'ombre, surtout des arbres fruitiers et de nombreux buissons de roses. Ondoit voir courir l'eau et entendre son bruit. De petites chutes son ménagées, àcet effet, à la fin des canaux.

Un jardin de l'époqlue safavide nous est présenté en détail: II s'agit d'un jardinpublic, situé à 25 km de Nishaborr et appelé "qadamagah", consacré au souvenird'un descendant du Pr,ophète, Emam Reza, et destiné à recevoir des pélerins. Lejardin comprend trois parties principales. Autour de la maison, un jardinrectangulaire clos de murs, planté de platanes, de pins et d'abricotiers. Descanaux et plusieurs bassins assurent sont irrigation. Puis deux autres jardins,situés, de part et d'autre de l'axe central, occupé par un canal. Vingt cellules ontété aménagées, dans chacun de ces derniers jardins, pour abriter les pélerins. Lecanal débouche sur un grand bassin (11 x 8 rn) qui alimente ensuite un canal plusétroit, toujours dans 1';axe du jardin. Des mûriers y sont plantés en trois rangées:l'une ombrageant les bords du canal, tes deux autres faces aux cellules. Lesvisiteurs pouvaient manger leurs fruits. Entre ces deux jardins publics et l'enclosentourant la maison est une vaste cour, sans arbre, qui servait de lieu de passageet d'attente.

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