Daffodilly Search. Narcissi, Frankendael, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
'Evet', said the white-bearded Turkish gentleman -ak sakallı dede -, 'evet'; 'yes, flowers are good for the heart', I understood him to say. And he shuffled away over the muddy path.
So at home i went to Google to look up daffodils or narcissus and Islam. There's a large literature in the East about flowers and plants in prose and in poetry as well.
But I was searching more specifically for my bulb-friends. Almost immediately I hit upon a quote attributed to the Prophet: 'If a man has two loaves of bread, let him exchange one for some flowers of the narcissus; for bread only nourishes the body, but to look on the narcissus feeds the soul'. For various reasons, it seemed to me that this quote - in circulation perhaps 150 years in the western world - must be apocryphal. Moreover, I couldn't find any reputable source traceable to either Quran or Hadith.
I carried on and saw that somtimes 'daffodil' or 'narcissus' is replaced by 'hyacinth', and that others claim the quote goes back on Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī's, Gulistan (Rose Garden), middle of the thirteenth century CE. But I couldn't find that citation there either.
Anyone out there in Flickrland in the know? Please tell me.
Regardless, my heart danced with this Late-Winter Yellow, to half-quote someone.
Daffodilly Search. Narcissi, Frankendael, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
'Evet', said the white-bearded Turkish gentleman -ak sakallı dede -, 'evet'; 'yes, flowers are good for the heart', I understood him to say. And he shuffled away over the muddy path.
So at home i went to Google to look up daffodils or narcissus and Islam. There's a large literature in the East about flowers and plants in prose and in poetry as well.
But I was searching more specifically for my bulb-friends. Almost immediately I hit upon a quote attributed to the Prophet: 'If a man has two loaves of bread, let him exchange one for some flowers of the narcissus; for bread only nourishes the body, but to look on the narcissus feeds the soul'. For various reasons, it seemed to me that this quote - in circulation perhaps 150 years in the western world - must be apocryphal. Moreover, I couldn't find any reputable source traceable to either Quran or Hadith.
I carried on and saw that somtimes 'daffodil' or 'narcissus' is replaced by 'hyacinth', and that others claim the quote goes back on Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī's, Gulistan (Rose Garden), middle of the thirteenth century CE. But I couldn't find that citation there either.
Anyone out there in Flickrland in the know? Please tell me.
Regardless, my heart danced with this Late-Winter Yellow, to half-quote someone.