Former Prophets

The Birthplace under the Palm

Maryam (peace be upon her) gives birth to 'Isa (peace be upon him) beneath the date palm (Q 19:22-26)

The time of the birth of 'Isa (peace be upon him)

Imagined 360° reconstruction of The Birthplace under the Palm

Educational historical reconstruction

Where

A remote place with a date palm and a stream; Bayt Lahm (Bethlehem) in the standing Sunni tradition

31.7053, 35.1944 · View on OpenStreetMap

Background

The Qur'an records the birth of 'Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) in two principal passages: Surat Maryam (Q 19:16-34) and Surat Al 'Imran (Q 3:42-47), with further references at Q 4:171 and Q 5:75. The narrative of Surat Maryam begins with Maryam (peace be upon her) withdrawing from her people to a remote place (Q 19:16), where she was visited by the angel Jibril (peace be upon him) in human form and given the news of the divine grant of a son. She returned (Q 19:22-26) carrying the child to a place described as remote, with a date palm and a stream; when the pains of childbirth came upon her, she withdrew to the foot of the palm and cried out in distress: 'Would that I had died before this and been forgotten!' (Q 19:23). The Qur'an records the divine consolation: a voice called from below her, 'Do not grieve; your Lord has put beneath you a brook; and shake toward you the trunk of the palm; it will let fall upon you fresh ripe dates. So eat, drink, and let your eye be cooled' (Q 19:24-26). 'Isa (peace be upon him) was born; Maryam (peace be upon her) returned with him to her people; when they reproached her, she pointed to the infant in the cradle; and the Qur'an records the infant 'Isa (peace be upon him) spoke from the cradle: 'I am the servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet, and has made me blessed wherever I am, and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakat as long as I live, and dutifulness to my mother. He has not made me arrogant or wretched' (Q 19:30-32). The Sunni qisas al-anbiya' tradition (Ibn Kathir's Qisas al-Anbiya', al-Tha'labi's 'Ara'is al-Majalis) preserves the narrative and accepts the standing Sunni Muslim topographical identification of the birthplace with the region of Bayt Lahm (Bethlehem) in the southern Palestinian hill country. The Sunni tradition is uncompromising on the prophetic and servant status of 'Isa (peace be upon him), against the later Christian doctrines of incarnation and divinity: 'Isa (peace be upon him) is the kalima of Allah cast to Maryam (Q 4:171), a servant and a messenger, born by direct divine command (Q 3:47, kun fa-yakun), without a father, as a sign for humanity. The dating is by anchor (the time of the birth of 'Isa peace be upon him); the academic consensus places the historical Jesus's birth c. 6-4 BCE. This scene depicts the place of the birth: the solitary date palm by the dry watercourse, the spring running clear from beneath the rocks, the fallen ripe dates, the small earthen cradle prepared for the child. Maryam (peace be upon her) and the infant 'Isa (peace be upon him) are not depicted.

What you see

A remote place in the limestone hill country of southern Palestine, a dry watercourse running between low rocky terraces. The air is silver and still.

A single solitary date palm rises from the side of the wadi. Ripe golden-yellow dates have fallen at its foot. From beneath the rocks a clear spring runs in a narrow channel toward the watercourse. The Qur'an records the moment at Q 19:24-26: fa-nadaha min tahtiha alla tahzani qad ja'ala rabbuki tahtaki sariyyan wa-huzzi ilayki bi-jidh'i al-nakhlati tusaqit 'alayki rutaban janiyyan, 'A voice called her from below: Do not grieve; your Lord has put beneath you a brook; and shake toward you the trunk of the palm; it will let fall upon you fresh ripe dates.'

Maryam (peace be upon her), having withdrawn to a remote place to give birth, is not depicted. The Qur'anic narrative of Surat Maryam (Q 19:16-34) records the birth of 'Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) by direct divine command (Q 19:35 kun fa-yakun), without a human father, as a sign for all humanity.

On the rocks at the foot of the palm, the small earthen cradle prepared for the child. The Qur'an records 'Isa (peace be upon him) spoke from the cradle (Q 19:30): qala inni 'abdu Allahi atani al-kitaba wa-ja'alani nabiyyan, 'He said: I am the servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet.'

The Qur'anic narrative of Surat Maryam is the foundation of the Sunni Muslim recognition of 'Isa (peace be upon him) as a servant of Allah and a prophet, born to Maryam (peace be upon her) by divine command, kalimatuhu alqaha ila Maryam wa-ruhun minhu, 'His word that He cast to Maryam, and a spirit from Him' (Q 4:171). The Sunni tradition is uncompromising on his prophethood and his being the servant of Allah, not a son of God.

The light is the silver light of the southern Palestinian hill country. The dating is by anchor: the time of the birth of 'Isa (peace be upon him); the Sunni tradition does not commit to a precise year (the conventional Christian dating of 6-4 BCE is academic). The Sunni topographical tradition associates the birthplace with Bayt Lahm (Bethlehem), as in the Christian tradition.

The narrative: Q 19:16-34 (the principal Qur'anic passage on the birth), Q 3:35-47, Q 4:171, Q 5:75. The Sunni qisas: Ibn Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya'; al-Tha'labi.

Primary sources

The Qur'an, Surat Maryam 19:16-34: The principal Qur'anic narrative of the birth of 'Isa (peace be upon him).

The Qur'an, Surat Al 'Imran 3:42-47, Surat al-Nisa' 4:171, Surat al-Ma'ida 5:75: Parallel and supplementary Qur'anic passages on Maryam (peace be upon her) and 'Isa (peace be upon him).

Ibn Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya': Standard Sunni stories of the prophets; the chapter on 'Isa (peace be upon him).

Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim: Standard Sunni tafsir; the exposition of Surat Maryam.

al-Tabari, Tarikh and Jami' al-Bayan: Standard Sunni history and tafsir.

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