# Camphor and the Camphor Fountain

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Frank Lewis, Camphor and the Camphor Fountain, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Camphor and the Camphor Fountain
> 
> Frank Lewis
> 
> 1999-04
> 
> This is the purpose underlying the symbolic
> words of the Manifestations of God. Consequently,
> the application of the terms "sun" and "moon" to
> the things already mentioned hath been demonstrated
> and justified by the text of the sacred verses
> and the recorded traditions. Hence, it is clear and
> manifest that by the words "the sun shall be darkened,
> and the moon shall not give her light, and
> the stars shall fall from heaven" is intended the
> waywardness of the divines, and the annulment of
> laws firmly established by divine Revelation, all
> of which, in symbolic language, have been foreshadowed
> by the Manifestation of God. None except
> the righteous shall partake of this cup, none
> but the godly can share therein. "The righteous
> shall drink of a cup tempered at the camphor
> fountain."
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 41 [emphasis added]
> 
> Observant Bahais can be culturally and linguistically handicapped when it
> comes to wine metaphors. I had a devil of a time coming to
> grips with the terminology and referents of medieval wine convivia in
> Persian and Arabic poetry, but I think I can help some with camphor.
> 
> Wine in the ancient world was infrequently imbibed raw or undiluted.
> There was cooked or mulled wine (the French term for cooked "cuit" has
> come into wine terminology as "cute") and wine was usually mixed with
> water or some other flavoring. The word for wine used in the 11th century
> Qaabuus naameh is seyaki, meaning three parts to one (probably one-third
> water or some water-dissolved flavor such as rosewater, ginger, etc.).
> 
> The rituals of wine drinking were also quite symbolic; in Herodotus you
> will find a tale about how the Scythians were allowed to join the drinking
> circle only after having slain their first man in battle. The Persian
> kings drank heavily according to Herodotus, and generally took their
> decisions of state while drunk, to be ratified in the morning when sober.
> The royal wine banquet among the Persians remained an elaborate affair,
> all the way through the Islamic period.
> 
> Camphor (probably originally from Sanskrit kappuura, as the two trees
> which go by this name originated in Indochina) is one of the
> spices that was apparently mixed into wine, at least among the Arabs
> (chemical composition of it is C10-H16-O). It has a unique and pleasant
> fragrance and a bitter taste. It is white in color, and could be
> reduced to powder but also apparently produced whitish-transparent
> globules. It was widely used as a cosmetic in the ancient Near East. In
> Persian folklore and medicine, it was believed to be an anti-aphrodisiac,
> though I'm not sure that this meaning has anything to do with the Camphor
> Fountain at hand. Herbs have different virtues attributed to them by
> different cultures at different times, and this may have been a digestive
> aid. I think it is still considered to have sedative properties and in
> ancient medicine, inhaling its fragrance was considered to relieve
> headaches.
> 
> While the analgesic properties may be relevant (see below), I think the
> semiotic range of Camphor applicable in poetry and literature is less
> medicinal and more in the realm of whiteness/beauty, sweet fragrance (to
> complement delectability) and coolness/refreshment. Persian forms many
> compounds with Camphor, which due to its whiteness (and the association
> with snow) and perfume, is metaphorically combined with verbs of raining,
> shedding, casting and sifting. It was kept in special vials (kaafuur
> daan) and the word was used in compound adjectives to refer to white
> clothes, white skin, white hair and there is also a word for
> camphor-eater.
> 
> In scripture, the Hebrew word Kopher occurs in the Song of Solomon
> [Canticles]: 1:14, 4:13), though this may refer rather to the
> Henna plant than camphor or camphire. The locus classicus for the image
> of the Camphor Fountain is, naturally, the Koran, where the word Kaafuur
> occurs only once, in Suurat al-insaan (Sura 76). Some classical
> dictionaries give its meaning as palm frond or calyx, specifically of
> an Indian tree (an exotic and therefore expensive spice), but I think the
> specific camphor plant is envisaged:
> 
> v5: Inna al-abraara yashrabuuna min ka'sin kaana mazaajuhaa kaafuuran
> 
> v6: `aynan yashrabu bihaa `ibaadu'llaah yufajjiruunahaa tafjiiran
> 
> The righteous drink from a cup [here, a measure of wine, not the actual vessel] mixed with camphor
> 
> A fountain [spring--`ayn] from which the servants of God drink, digging a channel for it to gush through
> 
> The paradaisacal imagery goes on to describe (vv12-14) the heavenly reward
> for the righteous, which includes a luxurious garden, silken garb, pillows
> upon which one can loll about protected from the sun and from chill, with
> overhanging shade and boughs laden with fruit. Furthermore, there will be
> silver vessels and crystal goblets passed around (this an allusion to
> ceremonial rounds of wine-drinking, vv 15-16), and they will be served in
> these goblets a cup (i.e., a measure of wine [I believe]), mixed with
> Zanjabiil from a fountain (spring) there, called Salsabiil (vv17-18).
> 
> In modern Arabic Zanjabiil means ginger, and it was probably
> considered a digestive aid. More importantly, though, ginger was an
> exotic spice, desirable for flavoring; undoubtedly it added a certain
> pungency to wine (Arabs made mostly date wine, I think, though they were
> by no means unfamiliar with Roman, Greek and Persian wines.
> 
> All these spiced wines were served by androgynous, unageing youths,
> scattered around the wassailers like white, shiny pearls, dressed in fine
> green silks and wavy brocades, decked with silver bracelets.
> God here gives them to drink a pure wine sharaaban tahuuran (Q76:19-21).
> 
> This is evidently the same wine of Suurat al-waaqi`a (Sura 56),
> proffered once again by androgynous youth (the famous dark-eyed Houris)
> circling around the reclining denizens of paradise, pouring out cups of
> spring-derived intoxicants into goblets from pitchers. Despite all this
> drinking, though, "they will not experience an after ache nor will they
> suffer intoxication" (56:19). Perhaps here the camphor's
> supposed analgesic properties are relevant.
> 
> So, in short, Bahaullah has alluded directly to a verse of the
> Koran, one in which the wine from a gushing spring in paradise, probably
> identical with the one named Salsabil elsewhere in the Koran, has been
> tempered with camphor, a sweet fragrance adding perhaps a slightly pungent
> but refreshing tang to the wine, perhaps even giving the drink a
> whitish hue (the color of milk and purity), and staving off a
> hangover.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views18467 views since posted 1999-04-03; last edit 2025-03-06 15:51 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../lewis_camphor_fountain;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> Citation: ris/483
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> — *Camphor and the Camphor Fountain (Used by permission of the curator)*