Part 44

Sixth: The date-tree is the most resistant among trees to the violence of winds and adverse conditions. Many other great trees are sometimes swayed by winds, uprooted, or their branches snapped. Most do not resist lack of water like the palm-tree. A believer is similarly very patient against hardship, not easily shaken by ordeals.

Seventh: A palm-tree is beneficial in its entirety, so that nothing drops from it except that it is of advantage. Its fruit is beneficial; its trunk is useful for building, making roofs and so forth; its leaves are used for building roofs in place of canes, for closing up holes and cracks; its stalks are used for making containers, baskets and other vessels and mats etc.; its dried stalks and fibres are of such uses as is commonly known. It is for such considerations that some writers have established a direct correspondence between the above advantages and the qualities of a Muslim, so that for each feature of the palm-tree they mention a good quality in the Muslim. For instance, the thorns of the palm-tree are compared to the Muslim’s firmness in dealing with Allah’s enemies and sinful people; a Muslim is similar to the thorn in his strenuousness and coarseness against those people while

he is compared to the sweet and mellow dates of a palmtree in dealing with believers. This situation reminds one of a Qur’anic description of believers:

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“Hard against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves,” (49: 29)

Eighth: The longer it survives, the more good it does, and the better its fruit. In this, also, it resembles a believer, whose longer life is a means to do more good and benevolent deeds.

Ninth: Its kernel is one of the sweetest and best; and so is the believer's heart one of the kindest.

Tenth: Its benefit never ceases; whenever one of its advantages falls back, others become active. Even during a year when it does not bear fruit, people find benefits in its leaves, stalks, fibres, and dried leaves. Here also, we find its affinity with the believer; he does not let a day pass without doing some good. If he stops doing one thing, he will be sure to be doing some other thing instead. His good is always accessible, while he is always free from mischief. He realizes the purport of a tradition of the Prophet % reported by Al-Tirmidhee:

V5 Be LAR Y bf pStt5 tS Lays SE Ley bs ys 2 2: O53 Ay “The best among you is he whose good is expected, and whose mischief is not expected; the worst among you is he whose good is not expected, and whose mischief is likely to come.””

*Reported by Al-Tirmidhee, rated as ‘authentic’ by Al-Albanee.

The above section has been a diversion, and I chose to put it in as an elaboration of the wisdom underlying the creation of the palm-tree and its formation, so that the reader may reflect on it.

Regard, then, the trunk of the palm-tree! Observe its structure! You will notice how some of its fibres extend lengthwise, as if it were stitches of fabric; while others extend crosswise, as though it were sinews of meat. It does all of this as if it were man-made stitching. In this way the palm-tree is sturdier and more durable; it can withstand the weight of heavy animals and resist the shaking of violent gales; it is strong enough to use in building roofs and _ bridges; in making vessels and other similar uses. The timber from the palm-tree, like that of other trees, is seen on inspection to be similar to fabric, not solid like the homogeneous stone. You can notice how parts of it extend lengthwise, and other parts crosswise, similar to the body’s flesh where parts intertwine with other parts. This ensures the timber to be strong and better adapted to the purposes it was created for. If it were homogeneous like stone, it could not be used in the making of tools, doors, vessels, household objects, beds, coffins and so forth.

‘Tree used for logging can be so big that a road can be cut through them for cars to pass, as the above picture shows. It depicts a sequoia tree, which can give enough boards for carpenters to make 300 three-room

houses. Its height can reach 300 feet.

peas Kinds of fruits Orange

A fruit contains secds. ‘I'he true fruit is a fruit that grows only from the ovary, while a false fruit (e.g. strawberry) may also grow from the receptacle. The outer skin of a fruit is called the pericarp. It is divided in sume fruits into the epicarp, a fleshy part called the mesocarp, and an inner layer called the endocarp, Here arc the main types of fruits: The legume or pod: a fruit whose Shell |Iazelnut seeds are connected to its inner wall, and it ‘ releases its seeds by splitting open along two seams, The berry: a pulpy fruit, such as the orange and the black currant, that contains The nut: a dry truit, such as the hazelnut and walnut, with a hard shell, containing only one seed, The cereal grain, also called the Wheat cereal caryopsis or the kernel: a smull fruit, such as wheat, whose wall is fused with the seeds's coat, Achene: a small dry fruit, such as the Seed maple and the buttercup, with just one ced. A winged uchene, like the maple, is called ‘samara’ or a key fruit, drupe: a pulpy fruit, such as the peach, with a hard seed at it centre, usually called the pit, The pome: a fruit with a thick, fleshy outer pericarp and pulp. Its seeds are found inside a sac, ¢.g. the apple. ‘he pome is an example of the fulse fruit

The maple. a samara

Which are more beneficial, dates or grapes?

People have long disagreed about which are better and more beneficial, dates or grapes! Al-Jahidh has written a whole book debating the advantages of each, and he expatiated and dwelt on the issue; he listed the arguments of the two parties who supported one or the other. Then he concluded that palm-trees were better than grapes and more widely beneficial in their regions, like Al-Madinah, Al-Hijaz and Iraq; and grapes were better and more widely beneficial in their regions, as for instance in Syria, in mountains and in cold climates, where palm-trees could not be grown.

I was once present at a meeting attended by the most prominent celebrities in Makkah. This same issue was raised, and a certain man started expatiating upon the preference of palm-trees and their uses, then he added: “A conclusive argument in favour of dates is that we can exchange grapes for their stones; so how can a fruit that is obtainable for dates’ stones be preferred to it?” Another person from among those present supported this point-ofview by saying: “The Prophet 3 has given his judgement concerning this issue; he made all debate unnecessary by prohibiting people from using the word ‘al-karm’ (a name for the grape-vine implying generosity and liberality) to designate grape vine trees, and he added:

“ ‘al-karm’ is indeed a believer’s heart.” So what proof (in favour of the dates) can be more glaring than that?” And they continued to talk in that way. Then I addressed the first speaker; I said: “Your argument about the dates’ stones being the price for grapes is not a proof, as there are reasons for their being so. One reason is that

you need date stones for fodder, and the grapes’ grower needs them to feed his water-drawing beast and loading animal. Another reason is that the grapes’ seeds are of no use, nor are they normally collected. The third reason is that grapes are very little in your land, while there are lots of dates; therefore you have a lot of stones; and for that much of them you can buy some grapes. In countries where there is a predominance of grapes, the dates’ stones are of no worth, and you can buy nothing with them.

To the one who used the Prophet's tradition in support I said: The tradition you quoted is in fact a proof that favours grapes, because people used to call the vine ‘al-karm’, in recognition of its many benefits and merits. It is eaten fresh and dried, sweet and sour; various drinks, sweets and syrup and other things are made from it. When the Prophet 4 told the companions that the designation ‘al-karm’ more appropriately described the believer's heart, he was pointing to the great deal of goodness, blessing, mercy, kindness, justice, charitableness, sound advice and all kinds of excellence and goodness that Allah ingrained in the believer's heart. A believer’s heart has therefore a stronger claim to the designation ‘al-karm’ than the vine tree. It is not that the Prophet 4 meant that the vine tree did not have many benefits and functions, that the designation ‘al-karm’ is a misnomer, that it is a false usage, in the same way as it is false to use a ‘scholar’ to refer to an ignorant person, ‘good-doer’ to refer to a baddoer, or ‘generous’ to refer toa mean person. Do you not notice how he refrained from denying the benefits of the vine tree? He merely said that a believer’s heart was richer and more replete with goodness and blessing.

The above is more-or-less what took place during that meeting. Reflect on the Prophet 4 saying:

“ “‘Al-karm’ is the believer’s heart,” and you will realize that it is analogous to his saying of the vine tree: “It is like the Muslim.” He compared the palm tree to the Muslim in the tradition reported by Ibn Umar, and compared a Muslim to a vine tree in the other; in this latter tradition he forbade us to confine the designation ‘al-karm’ to the vine tree to the exclusion of a believer's heart. Some have suggested another interpretation, that he forbade us from calling a vine tree ‘al-karm’ (which denotes generosity and honouring), because the ‘mother of vices’(i.e. alcohol) is made from it; that he loathed to hear the vine tree called with a name that encouraged people to use wine; that his purpose was one of ‘eliminating the means of evil through word designations’. This argument would be acceptable, were it not for the other expression

“because ‘al-karm’ is a believer’s heart.” This statement in fact specifies the reason of the prohibition; it points out that a believer’s heart has a better claim to that designation than the vine tree. However, the Messenger # knew better his intent; whatever he meant to say is the truth.

On the whole, the Almighty Allah listed to His servants the fruits of the vine tree and the palm tree as two of His bounties and blessings to them. This supports the first view, that ‘al-karm’ should not be the designation of only the vine tree. Against the other interpretation there is the argument that ‘the mother of vices’ (i.e. alcohol) is extracted from various fruits, including dates. This is supported with the following verse from the Quran: