Ascension of the Prophet (Mi`raj), from the Garden (Bustān), by Sa`di

Muhammad Sharif, attributed to

Ascension of the Prophet (Mi`raj), from the Garden (Bustān) of Sa`di. The Ascension and Night Journey of the Prophet Muhammad is noted in the Qur'an, and many later writers have described and praised this mystical narrative, including the poet Sa`di. Surrounded by golden flames (to show holiness), the Prophet rides through the night sky, upon his magical steed Buraq, with a retinue of angels. His guide is the angel Jibril (Gabriel, on the upper left), who leads the Prophet on his journey to the furthest mosque (al-Masjid al-Aqsa'), to the circles of hell and heaven, and then back. Folio, ink, colours and gold on paper, Persian text in nasta`liq script, full-page painting (on recto, attributed Muhammad Sharif), from the Garden (Bustān), by Sa`di, copied by Mir Salih al-Katib, possibly Bukhara, Uzbekistan, c. 1570, this painting one of eleven later added, for the library (kitabkhana) of Hidayat ibn Mir Mu`in al-Din Khwaja `Abd al-Rahim Juybari (d. 1628), possibly at the dynastic Sufi shrine complex of Char Bakr, Sumitan, near Bukhara, Uzbekistan, c. 1616.