Maryam (Mary) Shakes a Palm Tree to Provide Food for the Baby Isa (Jesus)

Known to Muslims as Maryam, Mary is the most prominent female figure in the Qur'an and the only one identified by name. She is referred to in some sources as a prophet and is named in seven chapters, including Chapter 19, the title of which is Maryam. Verses 19:22-26 tell how Mary removed herself to a place of seclusion to give birth to her son. Seeking to comfort her, God created a small stream so she might have water to cool herself and instructed her to shake a palm tree and eat its dates to replenish her strength. According to some Qisas al-anbiya texts, it was Jesus who, immediately after his birth, told his mother to shake a dead palm tree, which, the instant she touched it, sprang to life, a feat symbolised here by the half-dead, fruit-bearing tree. To the right of the tree lays a tightly swaddled, newborn Jesus, his whole upper body engulfed by a flaming halo.