Not all sacred perfumes are burned. Some are poured, sprinkled or offered in small phials. Among these, rosewater holds a special place in the Persian and Islamic world: it perfumes mosques and homes, accompanies the welcoming of guests, appears in festive cooking and above all in poetry, where the rose becomes one of the richest symbols of all mystical literature.
From rose to water: distillation
Rosewater is obtained by distilling fresh petals with water. The steam that forms carries the aromatic substances with it, then cools and condenses into a fragrant liquid. The instrument used is the alembic, whose name came into European languages from the Arabic al-anbīq, itself derived from the Greek ambix.
The medieval Islamic world inherited distillation techniques from the Greek authors of Alexandria and developed them widely. The philosopher al-Kindī, who lived in Baghdad in the ninth century, is credited with a treatise on the chemistry of perfume and on distillations, containing numerous recipes for making aromatic waters and oils. From then on rosewater became a sought-after product, exported to many regions of the world.
Kashan and the harvest festival
In Iran the traditional production of rosewater is linked above all to the region of Kashan and the village of Qamsar. In spring, when the damask roses bloom, the petals are harvested and then distilled in homes and workshops. This period, called golāb-giri, "taking the rosewater", has become a festival that draws visitors from across the country.
The picking takes place in the early hours of the morning, when the flowers are freshest. The collective gesture, the shared labour and the scent that fills the villages give this moment an almost ritual character.
The rose and the nightingale
In Persian poetry the rose, gol, and the nightingale, bolbol, form a constant symbolic pair. The nightingale sings for the rose, longs for it, suffers from its thorns and its brevity. Poets have read many things into this pair:
- the lover and the beloved;
- the soul and God;
- human desire and the beauty that attracts it but cannot be possessed.
In Farid al-Din Attar's Conference of the Birds, the nightingale is one of the birds that refuse to set out on the great journey, because it does not want to leave its rose. The guide reminds it that the rose's beauty is fleeting: loving the flower can become an obstacle on the path towards the source of all beauty.
The poet Saadi entitled one of his most famous works Golestān, "the rose garden", explaining in the preface that the petals of a picked rose soon wither, whereas his rose garden of words would stay in bloom.
Cleansing and welcoming
Rosewater also plays a practical role in the care of sacred places. In the tradition of Mecca, the Kaaba is washed in periodic ceremonies with water mixed with rosewater and perfumed with agarwood. Medieval chroniclers relate that Sultan Saladin, after retaking Jerusalem in 1187, had the shrines of the sacred esplanade purified with rosewater.
In homes rosewater accompanies hospitality. In many regions of the Islamic world and of India, sprinklers with a long, slender neck are used to sprinkle guests on arrival or during celebrations, as a sign of honour and joy.
The rose beyond Islam
The symbolism of the rose does not belong to the Persian world alone. In the Christian tradition the rose is linked to the Virgin, and the word "rosary" comes from the Latin rosarium, a rose garden: the sequence of prayers is conceived as a garland of roses offered to Mary. In the Hermetic and Rosicrucian tradition the rose at the centre of the cross became one of the best-known symbols. These traditions differ, but they share the idea of the rose as an image of a beauty pointing to something higher.
Symbols of the rose
| Aspect | Symbolic reading |
|---|---|
| Petal | Fleeting beauty |
| Thorn | The pain that accompanies love |
| Distilled water | The essence that outlives the flower |
| Nightingale | The longing soul |
The most interesting aspect, symbolically, is distillation itself. The flower withers in a few days, but its essence, drawn out by fire and water, can last a long time. It is an image well known to the Hermetic tradition: the work of the alembic separates the subtle from the gross and preserves what is essential.
In short
- Rosewater is made by distilling petals; the word "alembic" comes from Arabic.
- Al-Kindī, in the ninth century, wrote a treatise on perfumes and distillations.
- In Iran the spring rose harvest of Kashan and Qamsar is a traditional festival.
- In Persian poetry the rose and the nightingale symbolise the beloved and the longing soul.
- Rosewater cleanses shrines and honours guests in the home.
