ABSTRACT
At the centre of this chapter is a woman’s dream, the dream of al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī’s wife. In the dream, an angelic figure gives her green myrtle branches to be placed on her and her husband’s hearts. The evergreen myrtle, she is told, represent holy men and women. Through comparative exploration, it becomes clear that images, symbols and rituals associated with the myrtle had pervaded the religious scene of Late Antiquity prior to the rise of Islam. In Judaism, Christianity, Manichaeism and Mandaeism, the myrtle in its evergreenness occurs profusely as symbol of sanctity and holiness. Through observing cultural processes in Early Islam, the traces that were left by the highly developed and rich traditions of Late Antiquity – Christian, Jewish, Gnostic, Pagan, Zoroastrian or even Indian – are revealed. Early Muslims, converts or inborn, either adopted the cultural models of these ancient traditions or carried them on. Symbols and images such as the myrtle were neither borrowings nor an independent development. While forging a distinctive Islamic character, they continued spiritual trends, which had persisted for centuries in the rich religious and cultural sphere of Late Antiquity.
