Water belongs to our most profound dreams: it evokes motherhood, cleanliness, purity, and death. This is true for every civilisation, but in Islam this series of ideas found its most profound meaning, turning water into one of the cornerstones of human existence: a cornerstone that is both spiritual as well as social and aesthetic. Statements in the Qur´an and subsequent literature illustrate the historic development of the many roles and meanings of water and its significance in Islamic art and craftsmanship.