CHAPTER I 

 THE DATE PALM 



The date palm is something more than a fruit 

 tree which furnishes the principal means of existence 

 to hundreds of thousands of people. To the Arab it is 

 a sacred institution identified with the Semitic race 

 since the dawn of history and consecrated by 

 Muhammad both in his public and his private life. 



"There is," said the prophet, "among the trees 

 one tree which is blessed, as is the Muslim (among 

 men): it is the palm;"* and he explained on another 

 occasion the reason for this pre-eminence, as follows: 



"Honor your uncle, the palm: I call him your 

 uncle because he was created from the earth left over 

 after the creation of Adam (on whom be peace and the 

 blessings of God!). The palm resembles man by its 

 erect position and its height, by its separation in two 

 sexes, and by its necessity for the pollination of the 

 female. If its head is cut off it dies; if its heart is 

 exposed to too great a strain, it perishes. Is it not the 

 same with man? If its leaves are cut off it can not 

 grow others in the same place; no more can man if 

 he loses his members. It is covered with a fibre, 

 analogous to the hair of man."t 



The tradition continues that Adam cut his hair 

 and nails with an instrument miraculously provided, 

 and buried the cuttings in the ground of Eden. 

 Immediately there sprang from the spot a palm tree, 

 fully grown and covered with ripe dates. Adam fell 



* Al Bukhdrl, Ch. 42, on authority of Abdallah b. 'Umar. 



fKamal al Din of Caiio in "The Life of Animals and Plants." 

 The tradition is given in slightly different forms by many writers. 



