page_title: Islamic garden
section_title: Architectural design and influences
hierarchical_section_title: Islamic garden / Architectural design and influences
caption_attribution_description: English: It shows the front lawn and garden area of humayun's tomb and it is clicked from the terrace of tomb which makes it more stunning.
context_page_description: An Islamic garden is generally an expressive estate of land that includes themes of water and shade. Their most identifiable architectural design reflects the Charbagh quadrilateral layout with four smaller gardens divided by walkways or flowing water. Unlike English gardens, which are often designed for walking, Islamic gardens are intended for rest, reflection, and contemplation. A major focus of the Islamic gardens was to provide a sensory experience, which was accomplished through the use of water and aromatic plants.
  Before Islam had expanded to other climates, these gardens were historically used to provide respite from a hot and arid environment. They encompassed a wide variety of forms and purposes which no longer exist. The Qur'an has many references to gardens and states that gardens are used as an earthly analogue for the life in paradise which is promised to believers:
  Allah has promised to the believing men and the believing women gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetual abode; and best of all is Allah's goodly pleasure; that is the grand achievement. – Qur'an 9.72
context_section_description: After the Arab invasions of the 7th century CE, the traditional design of the Persian garden was used in many Islamic gardens. Persian gardens were traditionally enclosed by walls and the Persian word for an enclosed space is pairi-daeza, leading to the paradise garden. Hellenistic influences are also apparent in their design, as seen in the Western use of straight lines in a few garden plans that are also blended with Sassanid ornamental plantations and fountains.
  One of the most identifiable garden designs, known as the Charbagh (or Chahār Bāgh), consists of four quadrants most commonly divided by either water channels or walkways, that took on many forms. One of these variations included sunken quadrants with planted trees filling them, so that they would be level to the viewer. Another variation is a courtyard at the center intersection, with pools built either in the courtyard or surrounding the courtyard. While the Charbagh gardens are the most identified gardens, very few were actually built, possibly due to their high costs or because they belonged to the higher class, who had the capabilities to ensure their survival. Notable examples of the Charbagh include Balkuwara Palace and Madinat al-Zahra in Spain.
  An interpretation of the Charbagh design is conveyed as a metaphor for a "whirling wheel of time" that challenges time and change. This idea of cyclical time places man at the center of this wheel or space and reinforces perpetual renewal and the idea that the garden represents the antithesis of deterioration. The enclosed garden forms a space that is permanent, a space where time does not decay the elements within the walls, representing an unworldly domain. At the center of the cycle of time is the human being who, after being released, eventually reaches eternity.
  Aside from gardens typically found in palaces, they also found their way into other locations. The Great Mosque of Córdoba contains a continuously planted garden in which rows of fruit trees, similar to an orchard, were planted in the courtyard. This garden was irrigated by a nearby aqueduct and served to provide shade and possibly fruit for the mosque's caretaker. Another type of garden design includes stepped terraces, in which water flows through a central axis, creating a trickling sound and animation effect with each step, which could also be used to power water jets. Examples of the stepped terrace gardens include the Shālamār Bāgh, the Bāgh-i Bābur, and Madinat al-Zahra.
caption: Humayun's Tomb (1565), Delhi, India, shows a four-quadrant axial design.
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