Dual-Trunk Wāq Tree in the Demūt Shāhnāma: Kabbalistic Reflections in Zaragoza Bible

This study explores shared Jewish-Islamic thought through the dual-trunk Wāq tree in the Demūt Shāhnāma (circa 735/1335) and the Trees of Life and Knowledge in the Zaragoza Bible (1404 CE). Ilkhanid religious tolerance fostered Jewish-Muslim cultural exchanges, while Sephardic Jews in Spain, influenced by Islamic thought, produced manuscripts like the Zaragoza Bible, where the trees’ common trunk reflects Ibn ʿArabī’s concept of unity. In Persian literature, the Wāq tree symbolizes fate, appearing in the Demūt Shāhnāma with dual trunks bearing human fruits. Using a descriptive-analytical and comparative approach, this research examines Iranian literary texts, Islamic sources (Qurʾan, ḥadith), Jewish texts (Torah, Zohar), and Islamic philosophies like Ibn Sīna and Ibn ʿArabī to uncover Kabbalistic influences on an Islamic artwork. The dual-trunk motif underscores a shared moral framework of good and evil, reflecting broader Jewish-Islamic symbolic thought. This analysis highlights a medieval Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultural dialogue, addressing a gap in scholarship on Jewish-Islamic artistic interactions.