Discover the meaning of the term Al-bstan (بستان) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readIt is an enclosure (ha'it) containing scattered palm trees that leave room for cultivation in their midst; if the trees are intertwined and leave no room for cultivation in their midst, it is then a garden (hadiqa).
An enclosure containing scattered palm trees that leave room for cultivation between them; if the trees are intertwined and leave no room for cultivation in their midst, it is not a bustan. Al-Farra said: it is an Arabic word; some said: it is a Greek (rumi) loanword arabized; plural: basatin. [al-Misbah al-munir (b-s-t-n) p. 19, al-Tawqif p. 129]. 'Al-busr': the well-known fruit of the palm. 'Al-busr': before the rutab (soft dates), for the order is: first the tal' (spathe), then the khilal (blossoms), then the balah, then the busr, then the rutab; the singular: basra. 'Al-munassaf': that whose clusters have reached the halfway point; 'al-mudhannab': that whose clusters have begun at the tails. It is also said: it is the palm's fruit when it begins to lengthen and take on red or yellow color. Abu Sulayman said: 'ibtasarat' (she set out): that is, she began her journey; everything one takes green one has 'basarta' and 'ibtasarta'; one says 'ibtasartu l-ma'': when one takes it at the moment it descends as rain.
An enclosure containing scattered palm trees that leave room for cultivation between them; if the trees are intertwined and leave no room for cultivation in their midst, it is not a bustan (see al-Ta'rifat p. 49).
A garden; a Persian word, from 'bustan'.
It is an enclosure containing scattered palm trees that leave room for cultivation in their midst; if the trees are intertwined and leave no room for cultivation in their midst, it is then a garden (hadiqa).