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<i>Luohan</i>, also spelt <i>luhan</i> or <i>Lohan</i>, is the Chinese word for <i>arhat</i>, ascetic and distinguished figures in Buddhism, roughly equivalent to saints. <i>Arhat</i> translates as 'perfected person' or 'one who is worthy', denoting their achievement of nirvana and ascending to a higher state of enlightenment.
The Waqwaq is a giant tree that bears humanoid fruit in Indo-Persian lore. It is similar to the Japanese Jinmenju, another Human-Like tree.<br/><br/> The Waqwaq is a Persian Oracular Tree, originating from India, whose branches or fruits become heads of men, women or monstrous animals (depending on version) all screaming 'Waq-Waq'.<br/><br/> In the Islamic world, there is a legend about a fabulous tree on the island of Waq Waq, which has fruit in the form of human figures, or heads that talk and make prophesies. Alexander the Great is said to have encountered one such talking tree with human fruit.
The Miraj forms part of the Night Journey that the prophet of Islam, Muhammad took during a single night around the year 621 CE. In the journey, Muhammad travels on the steed Buraq to 'the farthest mosque' where he leads other prophets in prayer. He then ascends to heaven where he speaks to God, who gives Muhammad instructions to take back to the faithful regarding the details of prayer.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.
The Miraj forms part of the Night Journey that the prophet of Islam, Muhammad took during a single night around the year 621 CE. In the journey, Muhammad travels on the steed Buraq to 'the farthest mosque' where he leads other prophets in prayer. He then ascends to heaven where he speaks to God, who gives Muhammad instructions to take back to the faithful regarding the details of prayer.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.
Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya).<br/><br/> Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.
A young man offering a cup of wine to a young woman reflects a traditional Persian courtly ideal expressed in poetry and in painting. Yet it was common practice for Timurid artists to turn to Chinese models for stylistic inspiration.<br/><br/> In this painting, Chinese influence can be seen in the arrangement of figures on a horizontal groundline set against a neutral background, and in the identity and sinuous style of the flowering prunus tree that frames the princess.
An astrolabe (Persian: اسطرلاب‎, Greek: ἀστρολάβος astrolabos, 'star-taker') is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and vice-versa, surveying, triangulation, and to cast horoscopes.<br/><br/> It was used in classical antiquity, the Islamic Golden Age, the European Middle Ages and Renaissance for all these purposes. In the Islamic world, it was also used to calculate the Qibla (direction of Mecca) and to find the times for salat / namaaz, prayers.<br/><br/> There is often confusion between the astrolabe and the mariner's astrolabe. While the astrolabe could be useful for determining latitude on land, it was an awkward instrument for use on the heaving deck of a ship or in wind. The mariner's astrolabe was developed to solve these problems.
The Isra and Mi'raj (Arabic: الإسراء والمعراج‎, transl. al-ʾIsrāʾ wa l-Miʿrāğ), are the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad took during a single night around the year 621. It considered as both a physical and spiritual journey.<br/><br/> A brief outline of the story is related in surah 17 'Al-Isra' of the Qur'an, and other details come from the Hadith, supplemental accounts of the life ofthe Prophet Muhammad recorded by his companions. In the journey, the Prophet Muhammad travels on the celestial mount Al-Buraq to 'the farthest temple' (Holy Temple of Al-Quds or Jerusalem) where he leads other prophets in prayer. He then ascends through the seven heavens where he speaks to God, who gives Muhammad instructions to take back to the faithful on Earth about the number of times to offer prayers each day.<br/><br/> According to traditions, the Journey is associated with the Lailat al Miraj, as one of the most significant events in the Islamic calendar.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.
Isfandiyar, son of Gushtasp (the 5th Kayanian King) Battles Simurgh, the Fantastic Bird. From the Shah-nama (Book of Kings) the Epic of Medieval Persia by Firdawsi, a 10th century poet. Shiraz, 1330.<br/><br/> The Shahnameh or Shah-nama is an enormous poetic opus written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi around 1000 AD and is the national epic of the cultural sphere of Greater Persia. Consisting of some 60,000 verses, the Shahnameh tells the mythical and historical past of (Greater) Iran from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century.<br/><br/> The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Zoroastrian ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest.
A scene from the Isra and Mi'raj (Arabic: الإسراء والمعراج‎, al-’Isrā’ wal-Mi‘rāğ), the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islamic tradition, the Islamic prophet Muhammad took during a single night around the year 621.<br/><br/> It has been described as both a physical and spiritual journey. A brief sketch of the story is in sura (chapter) 17 Al-Isra of the Qur'an, and other details come from the Hadith, supplemental writings about the life of Muhammad.<br/><br/> In the journey, Muhammad travels on the steed Buraq to 'the farthest mosque' where he leads other prophets in prayer. He then ascends to heaven where he speaks to God, who gives Muhammad instructions to take back to the faithful on Earth about the number of times to offer prayers each day.
Tabriz was capital of the Safavid Empire from 1501 to 1548, during which time many great painters, such as Aqa Mirak, Mir Sayyid Ali and Dust Muhammad produced magnificent royal manuscripts. Safavid art set the standard for painting, literature and architecture, as well as ceramics, metal and glass. While of course nourished by Persian culture, much Safavid art was strongly influenced by Turkish, Chinese, Ottoman and Western cultures. The royal workshops of Tabriz were very influential, and illuminated and illustrated manuscripts spread throughout the empire. When the capital was transferred from Tabriz to Qazvin in 1548, the court artists fled to foreign courts, mostly Mughal or Ottoman.
A Persian miniature is a small painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a muraqqa. The techniques are broadly comparable to the Western and Byzantine traditions of miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. Although there is an equally well-established Persian tradition of wall-painting, the survival rate and state of preservation of miniatures is better, and miniatures are much the best-known form of Persian painting in the West, and many of the most important examples are in Western, or Turkish, museums.<br/><br/> Miniature painting became a significant Persian genre in the 13th century, receiving Chinese influence after the Mongol conquests, and the highest point in the tradition was reached in the 15th and 16th centuries. The tradition continued, under some Western influence, after this, and has many modern exponents. The Persian miniature was the dominant influence on other Islamic miniature traditions, principally the Ottoman miniature in Turkey, and the Mughal miniature in the Indian sub-continent.
Tabriz was capital of the Safavid Empire from 1501 to 1548, during which time many great painters, such as Aqa Mirak, Mir Sayyid Ali and Dust Muhammad produced magnificent royal manuscripts. Safavid art set the standard for painting, literature and architecture, as well as ceramics, metal and glass. While of course nourished by Persian culture, much Safavid art was strongly influenced by Turkish, Chinese, Ottoman and Western cultures. The royal workshops of Tabriz were very influential, and illuminated and illustrated manuscripts spread throughout the empire. When the capital was transferred from Tabriz to Qazvin in 1548, the court artists fled to foreign courts, mostly Mughal or Ottoman.
Birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Miniature illustration on vellum from the book Jami' at-Tawarikh (literally 'Compendium of Chronicles' but often referred to as 'The Universal History or History of the World'), by Rashid al-Din, Tabriz, Persia, 1307 CE, now in the collection of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.
The Prophet Muhammad receiving his first revelation from the angel Jibril (Gabriel). Miniature illustration on vellum from the book Jami' at-Tawarikh (literally 'Compendium of Chronicles' but often referred to as 'The Universal History or History of the World'), by Rashid al-Din, Tabriz, Persia, 1307 CE, now in the collection of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.
The Isra and Mi'raj (Arabic: الإسراء والمعراج‎, transl. al-ʾIsrāʾ wa l-Miʿrāğ), are the two parts of a Night Journey that, according to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad took during a single night around the year 621. It considered as both a physical and spiritual journey.<br/><br/> A brief outline of the story is related in surah 17 'Al-Isra' of the Qur'an, and other details come from the Hadith, supplemental accounts of the life ofthe Prophet Muhammad recorded by his companions. In the journey, the Prophet Muhammad travels on the celestial mount Al-Buraq to 'the farthest temple' (Holy Temple of Al-Quds or Jerusalem) where he leads other prophets in prayer. He then ascends through the seven heavens where he speaks to God, who gives Muhammad instructions to take back to the faithful on Earth about the number of times to offer prayers each day.<br/><br/> According to traditions, the Journey is associated with the Lailat al Miraj, as one of the most significant events in the Islamic calendar.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.