Page 12 - ISLAM Rock n Roll

Tulips are depicted on a variety of Ottoman decorative arts including textiles and ceramics. Called lale in Ottoman-Turkish, tulips held a range of meanings in Muslim contexts. For Su s
in Ottoman realms, the numerical value assigned to the letters forming the word lale, the total being 66, corresponded to the value assigned to the letters for Allah which suggested a mystical association between the ower and the Divine. One origin myth regarding the origins of red tulips comes from the story of Shirin and Farhad, two star-crossed lovers immortalized by the poet Nizami (d. 1209), where the drops of blood shed by Farhad a er hearing of the death of Shirin became the source of red tulips. The symbolic association between the tulip and blood also became part of Shiʿi martyrology in which the tulip represented the blood of al-Husayn.
Tulips are thought to have been introduced to Europe from Ottoman Turkey in the 16th century by the
herbalist and diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (d. 1592) who served as the Austrian ambassador at the court
of Sulayman the Magni cent. In his Turkish Letters (vol.i, pp.24–25) he writes:
As we passed through this district [on the road from Adrianople to Constantinople] we everywhere came across quantities of owers—narcissi, hyacinths, and tulipans, as the Turks call them. We were surprised to nd them owering in mid-winter, scarcely a favourable season.... The tulip has little or no scent, but it is admired for its beauty and the variety
of its colours. The Turks are very fond of owers, and, though they are otherwise anything but extravagant, they do not hesitate to pay several aspres for a ne blossom. These owers, although they were gi s, cost me a good deal; for I had always to pay several aspres in return for them.
tulips
Engraving of an Ottoman nobleman from Recueil de Cent Estampes représentant di erentes Nations du Levant, a costume book illustrating the regional, religious and national costume in the Ottoman Empire published in Paris in 1714.
Iznik tiles with tulip motifs
in the Rüstem Pasha Mosque (Istanbul) built by Sinan in 1563. The tiles used in this mosque depict some 41 di erent tulip designs. In the 16th century, Iznik (formerly Nicaea) became a major production centre for Ottoman tiles. Here, potters mastered the under-glaze painting technique and produced ceramic tiles in rich and vivid colours.