The Timurid Book of Ascension Mirajnama

Mahoma English C. 02-07-08.
qxd:Historia 15/7/08 02:35 Página 237
THE TIMURID
“BOOK OF ASCENSION”
(MICRAJNAMA):
A STUDY OF TEXT AND IMAGE
IN A PAN-ASIAN CONTEXT
CHRISTIANE J. GRUBER
Ediciones
Patrimonio
Mahoma English C. 02-07-08.qxd:Historia 15/7/08 02:35 Página 238
Pour mon Papa et ma Maman,

avec affection et admiration
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments.............................................................................................. 243
Publisher’s preface ............................................................................................ 245
Preface Francis Richard.................................................................................... 247
Introduction:
The Prophet’s Micraj in Texts and Images........................................................... 249
Chapter One:
Establishing the Micrajnama’s Timurid Context ................................................. 259
Chapter Two:
The Micrajnama Text: Tradition and Variation as Exemplum............................ 275
Chapter Three:
The Micrajnama’s Form and Iconography.......................................................... 293
Chapter Four:
The Micrajnama’s Relationship to Sino-Central Asian Buddhist Art.................. 311
Chapter Five:
The Micrajnama’s Afterlife: Pictorial Stimulus and Verbal Ekphrasis ................ 327
Conclusion:
The Micrajnama as a Pictured “Tale-Argument”................................................. 349
Appendix I:
The Micrajnama Text in English Translation ...................................................... 355
Appendix II:
Catalogue of the Manuscript’s Paintings .............................................................. 369
Appendix III:
Catalogue of the Inserted Ottoman Inscriptions ................................................. 375
Appendix IV:
The Micrajnama’s Reception in French Scholarly Circles .................................. 384
Institutional Abbreviations .............................................................................. 395
Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 399

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to many individuals for their contributions to this study. In particular, I wish to thank Renata Holod,
Marianna Shreve Simpson, and Frederick Colby, who read the first stages of the manuscript and offered meticulous
feedback on a very rough draft. Their many suggestions improved the text’s structure and content, and their corrections
helped me avoid a number of errors. Naturally, any remaining mistakes are mine to bear.
Over the years, many colleagues offered valuable advice on a number of materials presented in this study. I owe
a special thanks to Sheila Blair, Sheila Canby, Stefano Carboni, Devin DeWeese, Massumeh Farhad, Oleg Grabar, Ernst
Grube, Gottfried Hagen, Beatrice Forbes Manz, Francis Richard, Everett Rowson, David Roxburgh, Uli Schamiloglu,
Eleanor Sims, Maria Subtelny, Zeren Tanındı, and Armen Tokatlian.
At Indiana University, Yasemin Gencer, Miki Morita, and Chris Börk helped me retrieve hard-to-find sources, sift
through and comprehend materials in Chinese, and handle technological issues as they emerged. I also owe a great
debt of gratitude to Janet Rauscher, whose sharp editorial skills chiseled my text into proper form.
This study emerged in part from three years of dissertation research in museums, libraries, and cultural institutions
in the United States, Europe, Iran, Egypt, and Turkey. My work was made possible by the generous support of the
American Institute of Iranian Studies, the American Research Center in Egypt, the American Research Institute in Turkey,
the Council on Library and Information Services, Fulbright-Hays, the University of Pennsylvania, and Indiana University.
For their perennial support, I thank my parents, Francis and Mary, and my little sister Florie. To my very patient
husband Erdem, thanks for all your love and “senses” of humor. Bu da geçti ya Hu!
243
P R E FA C E
A S a publication house specializing in facsimile editions of celebrated medieval codices, our ambition has always
been to offer a selection of titles that is modelled after the ideal Renaissance library. To that end, we seek to publish
artistic, scientific, and religious texts representative of the store of knowledge accumulated over the centuries, with a
particular focus on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Europe and, with the launch of this new project, in Islamic
lands.
Working under Muslim royal patronage, painters and illuminators produced lavishly illustrated manuscripts of
unsurpassable beauty. The Timurid Book of the Prophet Muhammad’s Ascension (Micrajnama) of ca. 1436 A.D., held in
the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (Suppl. Turc 190), is an artistic wonder in its own right. No manuscript
includes a more elaborate cycle of paintings depicting the Prophet Muhammad’s ascent through the heavens nor a greater
number of representations of angels, heaven, and hell. We feel that the facsimile publication of this masterpiece of Islamic
art, accompanied by Dr. Christiane Gruber’s erudite analysis, fills a notable lacuna and helps fulfill our mission to publish
masterpieces from the world of illustrated manuscripts.
I wish to dedicate the facsimile edition to my parents, José Aspas Martínez and Dora Romano Sánchez. The example
they set and the manner in which they educated me, I hope, is reflected in the extraordinary quality of the facsimile edition
of the codex, achieved through the passionate dedication of hundreds of artists and craftsmen.
JOSÉ ASPAS ROMANO

PUBLISHER
245
P R E FA C E
T HE illustrated Micrajnama in the National Library of France is one of the most prominent manuscripts in the Parisian
collection. Although a masterpiece of Timurid book arts, it has long remained an enigmatic manuscript. Christiane
J. Gruber has undertaken a remarkable endeavor by examining the work from multiple perspectives, including a detailed
codicological analysis, a contextual study of micraj texts and their genesis, and a thorough discussion of the manuscript’s
iconography.
In this study, Gruber offers a sophisticated—but always clear and accessible—consideration of an extraordinary work
that bears witness to the multiple junctures between Muslim and non-Muslim traditions. For historians of art, the Timurid
Micrajnama has long been a fascinating object of study. At the end of the nineteenth century, Pavet de Courteille edited
and translated the manuscript’s Turkish text, and in 1977 Marie-Rose Séguy published an album of the volume’s paintings.
Gruber’s comprehensive and detailed study is a valuable and long-awaited contribution to the existing scholarship
surrounding the Timurid Micrajnama.
Deciphering the manuscript’s various levels of influence and symbolic overtones demands an interdisciplinary approach,
and, by drawing upon recent scholarship, Gruber highlights the parallels that can be uncovered between the Micrajnama’s
paintings and the Buddhist artistic traditions of Central Asia. Her work also traces the text’s origins and position within
the history of Islamic theology, as well as the historical and political factors that sparked the interest of Timurid princes—
Muslim rulers of Central Asian lineage—in its subject and details.
Only a complete facsimile could convey the exquisiteness of the Micrajnama’s paintings and the richness of its palette
(both of which clearly indicate that the work is the product of a royal book atelier), restituting this extraordinary manuscript
to its proper place in the history of Persian painting. Gruber’s exemplary study forms a much-needed scholarly companion
to this facsimile, as it will help scholars of religion and historians of art garner a fuller understanding of Timurid civilization.
One of the most fascinating aspects of studying the Timurid Micrajnama’s iconography is that in doing so we may
explore many poorly understood cultural and religious spheres that were articulated visually by the noble families of
Timurid Iran. On the one hand, we notice the continued life of ascension narratives, traceable to Zoroastrian traditions
and recalling the Book of Arda Viraf; on the other, we are struck by the prominence of elements of Buddhist extraction.
The combination of Islamic and non-Islamic elements is not an instance of simple syncretism; rather, various pictorial
features are closely aligned to a text that falls within the Hadith genre. The prominent placement, above each painting,
of Arabic captions by a master calligrapher (who unfortunately did not sign his work) provides further proof of the
paintings’ importance to artist and viewer alike.
Until now, scholarship has tended to view the Micrajnama as an isolated work of art. However, Gruber anchors the
manuscript in a well-established literary and artistic tradition, bringing to light the particular functions that such works
might have fulfilled. For example, of particular interest is the high value placed on the Uighur script, itself an assertion
of the Timurid royal family’s roots. Alongside the strong Central Asian aristocratic heritage to which this script speaks,
the manuscript’s iconography also plays a crucial role. The paintings can be read and interpreted individually, and without
247
consideration of their accompanying texts, but together the words and images form an illustrative program that communicates
a strong message about the Prophet Muhammad’s superior status and about the joys and pains of the afterlife.
Without a doubt, Gruber’s study will help to generate further interdisciplinary research in the field of Islamic art. It
takes us to the heart of Timurid civilization and sheds new light on the transmission of textual and visual traditions that,
without her sophisticated study, are difficult to untangle and understand. The Micrajnama in the National Library of
France—whose transference from library to library, a fascinating subject in itself, is analyzed in this study—provides a
compelling argument for the importance of preserving and diffusing knowledge about Islamic book arts, a written heritage
of universal value.
FRANCIS RICHARD
SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR
BIBLIOTHÈQUE DES LANGUES ET CIVILISATIONS (PARIS)
248
INTRODUCTION
T H E P R O P H E T ’ S M I CR A J IN TEXTS AND IMAGES

The miracles of the Prophet are impressive, deeply Abrahamic faiths, his ability to receive revelations from
affective, and for all of us to see. God, and his witnessing of events in the hereafter, has
– Rashid al-Din 1 occupied a key position in Islamic religious and biographical
literature. Many narratives about the ascension in Arabic,
O N the night of 27 Rajab, the Prophet Muhammad was

awakened by the angel Gabriel, who, having arrived
in Mecca, informed the Prophet that the time had come for
Persian, and Turkish languages—not to exclude those in
Latin, Castilian, and Old French5—multiplied over the
centuries and provide powerful testaments to the story’s
him to embark on a night journey (isra’) to Jerusalem and to high esteem as well as its relevance to any number of
go on an ascension (micraj) through the skies so that he could religious and political claims. Its miraculous quality and
meet prophets and angels, converse with God, and visit heaven its affective potential, as the Ilkhanid vizier Rashid al-
and hell (Fig. I.1).2 The story of this legendary ascension Din (d. 1318) succinctly notes, certainly quickened its
inspired generations of writers and artists to explore and popularity among various Muslim communities.
represent its details from the first centuries of Islam until the
present day. The most lavish artistic attempt to convey the Although the exact details of the Prophet’s micraj
micraj story in its entirety occurred around 1436–37, at which fluctuate from one text to the next and from one oral
time the Timurid ruler Shahrukh (r. 1401–47) commissioned tale to another, the general layout of the story was more
an illustrated “Book of Ascension” (Micrajnama).3 This or less codified by the tenth century. Early biographers
manuscript is at the center of the present study, which serves of the Prophet such Ibn Ishaq (d. 768), Hadith transmitters
as a companion volume to the new facsimile edition of the like al-Bukhari (d. 870), historians such as Ibn Sacd (d.
Timurid Micrajnama published by Patrimonio Ediciones. 4 845), and exegete-historians like al-Tabari (d. 923) all
attempted to clarify and to elaborate upon the key yet
The combined isra’- micraj story, a tale indicating remarkably vague verses in the Qur’an that appear to
Muhammad’s superior status among all prophets of the describe the Prophet’s ascension.
1 Rashid al-Din, The History of Ghazan Khan, quoted in Spuler, History of the Mongols, 145.
2 There are varying opinions about the exact date of the Prophet’s ascension, including whether it took place before or after his hijra in 622, at the beginning
of his prophetic career (al-bactha or al-mabcath), or before or after the beginning of God’s revelations (al-wahy). Today, most scholars accept 27 Rajab
as the date of the micraj, but other dates—such as 17 Rabic I, 27 Rabic I, and 17 Ramadan—have been proposed as well (see al-Qushayri, Kitab al-Micraj,
68; al-Suyuti, “al-Aya al-Kubra fi Sharh Qissat al-Isra’,” 195; cAbd al-Muncim, al-Sahih min Qissat al-Isra’ wa’l-Micraj, 33–36; and Ibn Dihya, al-Ibtihaj fi
Ahadith al-Micraj, 6–13).
3 BnF Sup Turc 190. Also see Séguy, The Miraculous Journey of Mahomet. Because no evidence disproves the hypothesis that this Micrajnama was
commissioned by Shahrukh, the present study accepts this attribution and will refer to the manuscript as the “Chaghatay Micrajnama,” the “Timurid
Micrajnama,” and “Shahrukh’s Micrajnama.” Scholars sometimes refer to the manuscript as the “Paris Micrajnama,” because it is preserved in the
Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. The expression “Paris Micrajnama,” however, is not used in the present study, because it is not indicative of
the manuscript’s language, date, or provenance.
4 Although the present study includes a number of paintings from the manuscript, the reader is asked to refer to the new facsimile edition published by
Patrimonio Ediciones or to Marie-Rose Séguy’s 1977 facsimile edition The Miraculous Journey of Mahomet. The new facsimile edition reproduces all folios
in the Micrajnama, while Séguy’s edition includes all paintings but only three folios of text (see Séguy, The Miraculous Journey of Mahomet, pl. 1, folio
1v; pl. 34A, folio 38v; and pl. 39A, folio 47r).
5 See Liber Scale Machometi; and Hyatte, The Book of Muhammad’s Ladder of 1264. Scholars such as Miguel Asín Palacios have argued that European
translations of the ascension tale had a direct influence on Dante’s Divine Comedy (see especially his Islam and the Divine Comedy). This hypothesis has
been contested and remains highly debated in scholarship today.
251
THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )
At the source of the micraj story lie the Qur’anic verses heart (fi qalbihi) rather than constituting an ocular vision
17:1 and 53:6–18. The first verse of the seventeenth (fi’l-basar) per se.11
chapter (sura) of the Qur’an, entitled “The Night Journey”
(al-Isra’) or “The Israelites” (Bani Isra’il), states: “Glory The conjoining of Qur’an 17:1 and 53:6–18, as well
to the One who made His servant travel by night from as the incorporation of a number of short Qur’anic verses
the sacred place of worship (al-masjid al-haram) to the and biographical details from non-Qur’anic sources,
furthest place of worship (al-masjid al-aqsa) whose engendered the primary elements of the story of the
precincts We have blessed, in order that We may show Prophet’s micraj.
him some of Our signs.”6 Most writers interpreted this
verse (aya) as an indication of Muhammad’s (that is, the MICRAJ TEXTS: FROM MICRAJNAMA TO MICRAJIYYA
“servant’s”) journey from Mecca to a far-away place,
understood to represent Jerusalem. Already at this early Probably prompted by storytellers and oral traditions,
time, the expression al-masjid al-aqsa was synonymous writers attempted to standardize more “definitive” versions
with the Noble Enclosure (al-haram al-sharif) in Jerusalem, of the Prophet’s micraj by collating a number of details to
7 where at the turn of the eighth century Umayyad rulers these otherwise fragmented verses. Such attempts at codifying
constructed a mosque bearing the same name.8 As a the ascension narrative may have been underpinned, in part,
result of these historical factors, Qur’an 17:1 is often by varying oral tales. Although numerous reports about the
explained as the lateral and earthly portion of Muhammad’s Prophet’s ascension exist in Hadith manuals, biographies
nocturnal voyage, taking him from Mecca to Jerusalem (siyar), exegetical works (tafasir), and histories (tawarikh),
before his vertical ascension through the heavens.9 the first truly independent and complete work dedicated to
the theme of the ascension was the “Book of Ascension”
Another series of consecutive verses in the Qur’an, (Kitab al-Micraj) attributed to the Prophet’s cousin, Ibn cAbbas
6–18 from the fifty-third sura, entitled “The Star” (al- (d. 688).12 His Kitab al-Micraj set the standard for most
Najm), complete the narrative by describing the Prophet’s subsequent autonomous versions of the “Book of Ascension”
arrival at a very high horizon, marked by a tree called in Arabic, also known in Persian and Turkish spheres as
the Lote Tree of the Limit (sidrat al-muntaha) that divides Micrajnama. The main narrative clusters of such texts
the contingent from the eternal realms. Once he arrives underwent elaboration and embellishment over time, and
close to God—so close, in fact, that only the space of their details could be altered as well to suit sectarian concerns.
two arcs (qab qawsayn) remain between them—God
bestows revelations upon the Prophet who, in turn, The basic framework of a “Book of Ascension” is as
observes the greatest signs of the Lord.10 The rather elusive follows. The Prophet most often is described as mounting
features of these verses led to heated disputes over the a winged, human-headed steed named al-Buraq, responsible
nature of Muhammad’s vision of God but also allowed for carrying him on his journey from Mecca to Jerusalem
for creative liberties in interpretation. Most frequently, and onward to the seventh heaven. In Jerusalem, he
however, writers tended to concur that the Prophet’s meets a number of prophets and serves as their prayer
vision (ru’ya) of God was one that occurred solely in his leader. From there, he rises through the seven heavens—
6 Ali, al-Qur’an, 240, 17:1. I have changed Ali’s English translation of al-masjid al-haram as the “Sacred Mosque at Mecca” to the “sacred place of prostration”
for the sake of consistency.
7 For a further discussion of the term and its various interpretations, see Busse, “Jerusalem in the Story of Muhammad’s Night Journey and Ascension”; and
Guillaume, “Where was al-Masjid al-Aqsa?”
8 On the al-Aqsa Mosque (709–715), the Dome of the Rock (691), and the Temple Mount, see Oleg Grabar, The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996); Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, The Early Islamic Monuments of al-Haram al-Sharif: An Iconographic Study (Jerusalem:
Qedem, 1989); Nasser Rabbat, “The Meaning of the Umayyad Dome of the Rock,” Muqarnas 6 (1989), 12–21; and idem, “The Dome of the Rock Revisited:
Some Remarks on al-Wasiti’s Accounts,” Muqarnas 10 (1993), 67–75.
9 For a history of the interpretations of Qur’an 17:1, see Gilliot, “Coran 17, Isra’, 1 dans la recherche occidentale.”
10 See Ali, al-Qur’an, 455, 53:6–18.
11 Van Ess, “Le micraj et la vision de Dieu dans les premières spéculations théologiques en Islam.”
12 Ibn cAbbas, al-Isra’ wa’l-Mi’raj, 9–33; Colby, “Constructing an Islamic Ascension Narrative”; and idem, Narrating Muhammad’s Night Journey. Colby notes
that there are several versions of the “Book of Ascension” attributed to the figure of Ibn cAbbas; however, these did not crystallize into a relatively fixed
narrative until the ninth century.
252
THE PROPHET’S M I CR A J IN TEXTS AND IMAGES
at times, each heaven bears a particular name and is champions of Sunni Islam in paradise. On the other hand,
created from a specific substance—where he encounters one can easily recognize a Shici Micrajnama if the text
further prophets and many angels of varying sizes and recounts the Prophet’s meeting with Imam cAli beyond the
shapes. Having arrived at the utmost limit, he then has seventh heaven and their discussion of the importance of
a vision of, and communicates with, the Lord about his cAli’s guardianship (walaya), or the Prophet’s encounter
own merits and his community’s obligations, which with members of his family (ahl al-bayt) in paradise.15
include the five daily prayers. Moving forward, he visits
heaven and its inhabitants and finally observes hell and Among the best-known ascension texts composed in
the various punishments reserved for sinners. Upon his Arabic, some reveal Sufi tendencies. These include most
return to Mecca, Muhammad is questioned about his prominently al-Sulami’s (d. 1021) “Subtleties of the Ascension”
miraculous ascent to the heavens by the members of the (Lata’if al-Micraj), a work which employs the motif of the
Quraysh tribe, particularly their leader Abu Jahl, who ascension to explain mystical concepts through a number
claims that the Prophet is guilty either of prevarication of theme-specific sayings.16 Like al-Sulami, al-Qushayri (d.
or sorcery. The Prophet proves his own assertions, 1073) was a mystical writer. Although best known for his
however, by describing Jerusalem correctly, or by treatise (risala) on the principles of Sufism, he also composed
determining the precise time of a caravan’s arrival in a Kitab al-Micraj.17 Sufi shaykhs like himself saw in the
Mecca. As a result, a number of members of the Quraysh Prophet’s ascension the pattern of a spiritual voyage toward
tribe accept Muhammad’s prophecy and embrace Islam.13 witnessing God (mashahid al-haqq).18 Even more famously,
the Sufi writers Abu Yazid al-Bistami (d. 878) and Ibn
Texts in the Micrajnama genre became highly prized cArabi (d. 1240) believed that individual aspirants could
because of three principal and complementary factors. First, freely employ the Prophet’s corporeal micraj as a template
through their ability to inspire awe and fear in their readers for their own spiritual ascensions toward divine
or listeners, the texts were effective pedagogical tools for enlightenment.19 Early Sufi exegetes like Jacfar al-Sadiq (d.
teaching a portion of the Prophet’s biography and warning 765) and al-Tustari (d. 896) equally interpreted Qur’anic
audiences of what awaits those who do not follow doctrinal verses on the Prophet’s ascension as recording an intimate
regulations and the “right path” (al-sirat al-mustaqim). communion between a lover (habib) and the beloved
Second, due to the narrative’s conclusion, which promotes (mahbub),20 terms tinted with unmistakable Sufi overtones.
Muhammad’s prophetic mission and the superiority of the
Islamic faith, micraj tales and texts could be used as alluring Works on the micraj abound in Persian as well. Some
tools in the various processes of conversion to Islam. Third, of them are allegorical, some Sunni or Shici in character,
the ascension tale was utilized in intra-religious debates: and still others Sufi and highly poetic. Ibn Sina’s (d. 1037)
Muslim groups attempted to advance their own sectarian Micrajnama is the earliest of its type in Persian prose.
claims—be these Sunni, Shici, Ismacili, Sufi, or other—by His text employs the conceptual pattern of Muhammad’s
modifying particular details in the versions of the “Book of ascension to explain his particular philosophical system
Ascension” they produced.14 For instance, a Sunni Micrajnama rather than to recount a particular moment in the Prophet’s
might describe angels praying on behalf of the Sunni biography.21 On the other hand, a number of Persian-
community (ahl al-sunna) and uttering curses to the Shici language tafasir–such as those composed by Surabadi
community (ahl al-Shica), or the Prophet encountering (d. 1100), 22 the Shi ci author Abu’l-Futuh al-Razi (fl.
13 This dénouement is typical of ascension texts after the ninth century. However, pre-ninth-century versions of the story describe members of the nascent
Muslim community abandoning the Prophet because they refused to believe in his ascension (see Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, 183).
14 A number of articles in Amir-Moezzi’s Le voyage initiatique en terre d’Islam address the ascension’s use among various Muslim communities.
15 See Colby, “The Role of Early Imami Shici Narratives in the Construction of and Contestation over the Story of Muhammad’s Ascension”; and Amir-Moezzi,
“L’Imam dans le ciel.”
16 Al-Sulami, The Subtleties of the Ascension; and Colby, “The Subtleties of the Ascension.”
17 Al-Qushayri, Kitab al-Micraj; and idem, “Kitab al-Micraj.” For a study of al-Qushayri’s Kitab al-Micraj, see al-Samarrai, The Theme of Ascension in Mystical
Writings, 245–265.
18 Al-Qushayri, Kitab al-Micraj, 107.
19 There exist many studies on al-Bistami’s and Ibn cArabi’s ascension texts. Among them, see Nicholson, “An Early Arabic Version of the Mi’raj of Abu
Yazid al-Bistami”; and Morris, “The Spiritual Ascension.”
20 Böwering, “From the Word of God to the Vision of God”; el-Azma, “Some Notes on the Impact of the Story of the Mi’raj on Sufi Literature”; idem, al-
Micraj wa’l-Ramz al-Sufi ; and al-Samarrai, The Theme of the Ascension in Mystical Writings.
21 Ibn Sina, Allegory and Philosophy in Avicenna (Ibn Sînâ); idem, Micrajnama; and Nünlist, Himmelfahrt und Heiligkeit im Islam.
22 Surabadi, Qisas-i Qur’an-i Majid, 192–210.
253
1100–1150),23 and the Sufi exegete al-Maybudi (fl. ca. Chataghay Micrajnama illustrated ca. 1436–37 for the
1100–1150)24–depend on a framework of scriptural exegesis Timurid ruler Shahrukh, in fact, forms the core subject of
to compose longer, quasi-independent narratives on the the present study. Because of their textual similarities,
Prophet’s ascension.25 Another version preserved in an loci of production, and visual parallels, these two works
anonymous Ilkhanid Micrajnama manuscript, on the will be discussed in relationship to one another.
other hand, makes much more explicit claims about the
rightful rulership of the Sunni community at a time of The wide range of languages and texts confirms that
tremendous religious flux in Iran.26 While such freestanding the story of the Prophet’s ascension permeated all aspects
texts on the ascension were produced in Persian-speaking of Islamic literature. It served as a way to teach a momentous
lands, the preferred form by far was the ascension poem occurrence in Muhammad’s life, to explicate doctrinal
(micrajiyya). Typically included after the requisite prayers points, to promote specific religious ideas, and to describe
addressed to God and the Prophet, it occurs in the prefaces the afterlife. It also provided the quintessential narrative
(dibacha) of epic stories and romances composed by conduit for the celebration of divine love and the expression
numerous writers, among them the legendary poets of religious inspiration.
Nizami (d. 1218), Amir Khusraw Dihlavi (d. 1325), and
Jami (d. 1492).27 These eulogies—bearing the titles nact, SEVEN CENTURIES OF MICRAJ IMAGES
madh, duca, munajat, or sitayash—are couched in highly
metaphoric terms and thus lay the groundwork for Single-page paintings of the Prophet’s ascension appear
interpreting the narratives they accompany in highly in illustrated world histories and biographies, as well as
allegorical (and visual) terms. in animal fables like Kalila va Dimna, compendia of
poetical extracts, Persian romances, heroic tales, and
In Turkish traditions, the ascension also constituted a divination books. Fully independent and illustrated
popular subject in biographical, theological, and poetic Micrajnamas also were produced and include longer
works. Micraj tales and poems are found in old Anatolian cycles of ascension images depicting the tale’s many
and Ottoman Turkish prose and verse works composed episodes and details.
during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. These include
most prominently Ahmedi’s (d. 1412) Iskandername (Book The earliest surviving image of the Prophet’s ascension
of Alexander the Great), Süleiman Çelebi’s (d. 1422) complements a section of the micraj included in the Jamic
Mevlid-i Serif (Noble Birth [of the Prophet]), and al-Zarir’s al-Tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) of the Ilkhanid
(fl. ca. 1350–1400) Siyer-i Nebi (Life of the Prophet).28 vizier Rashid al-Din made in Tabriz in 1306–7.30 In the
Independent Micrajnamas also developed in Khwarezmian painting, the Prophet is depicted bestride al-Buraq, which
and Chaghatay Turkish milieus. For example, al-Sara’i (fl. holds a closed book in its hands while its tail appears to
ca. 1325–50) dedicated two chapters to the ascension transform into an angel wielding a shield and a sword.
story in his Khwarezmian text entitled Nahj al-Faradis Two angels, one of whom holds a gold cup on a platter,
(Pathway to the Heavens),29 itself at the foundation of a approach the Prophet from a set of doors that seem
Micrajnama in Chaghatay Turkish. The latter two texts— affixed to the sky. Judging from the elements in the
that is, the Nahj al-Faradis and the Chaghatay Micrajnama— painting and their relationship to (and location within)
were both illustrated during the Timurid period. The Rashid al-Din’s text, the image presents a moment in
23 Although Abu’l-Futuh al-Razi is a Shici author, his interpretation of the ascension bears no overtly Shici elements. See Abu’l-Futuh al-Razi, Tafsir-i Rawh
al-Jinan wa Ruh al-Janan, vol. 7, 162–187; and Piemontese, “Le voyage de Mahomet au paradis et en enfer.”
24 Al-Maybudi, Kashf al-Asrar wa cUddat al-Abrar, 484–500; and also discussed in Nünlist, Himmelfahrt und Heiligkeit im Islam, 338ff.
25 These autonomous Persian narratives are based on the long (but not necessary freestanding or complete) descriptions of the Prophet’s ascension in
antecent works in Arabic. These include most importantly Ibn Ishaq’s (d. 768) Sirat al-Nabi (Life of the Prophet), the Hadith manuals compiled by al-
Bukhari (d. 870) and Muslim (d. 875), Ibn Sacd’s (d. 845) al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (History of Generations), al-Tabari’s (d. 923) universal history entitled Ta’rikh
al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk (History of Prophets and Kings) and his Qur’anic exegesis (Tafsir al-Tabari or Jamic al-Bayan), and al-Thaclabi’s (d. 1035) exegetical
work (al-Tafsir al-Kabir).
26 See Anonymous, Micrajnama, SK Ayasofya 3441, dated 685/1286.
27 These are compiled in Ranjabar, Chand Micrajnama. Also see Mayel-Heravi, “Quelques mecrajiyye en persan”; Rasheed, “The Development of Na’tia
Poetry in Persian Literature”; and De Fouchécour, “The Story of the Ascension (Mi’raj) in Nizami’s Work.”
28 There exist numerous Turkish editions and studies of these works. For a broad review of the subject, see Akar, Türk Edebiyantında Manzum Mi’râc-
Nâmeler.
29 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis.
30 EUL Or. Ms. 20, folio 55r; and published in Talbot Rice, The Illustrations to the “World History” of Rashid al-Din, 110, fig. 36.
254
which the Prophet must choose between evil (possibly The Ilkhanid illustrated Mi c rajnama may have
the Angel of Death) and good (the Qur’an), a decision engendered a number of other illustrated manuscripts,
that sets him on the right path from the earth into the in particular the famous Timurid Micrajnama most likely
skies. His proper course is echoed by his selection of produced in 1436–37 for the Timurid ruler Shahrukh,
the cup of milk and his rejection of the cups containing himself a staunch “reviver” (mujaddid) of Sunni Islam.
water, honey, and/or wine. This episode of the “testing The Timurid manuscript stands out for three reasons: it
of the cups” appears frequently in ascension narratives,31 was composed in Chaghatay Turkish, transcribed in
and serves to adumbrate Muhammad’s righteousness and Uighur script, and contains sixty stunning paintings that
prophetic mission. reveal a pictorial impact of Sino-Buddhist elements.33
These images appear to have been borrowed freely from
While belonging to a larger cycle of images dedicated materials witnessed by its unknown artist, who was
to Muhammad’s life, the painting of the micraj in the Jamic familiar with Buddhist art in Central Asia and China and
al-Tawarikh, then, bears specific pedagogical and didactic may have participated in the Timurid mission of 1419–22
overtones. Very soon thereafter, however, the micraj as that traveled across the Serindian road to the Ming capital
a subject unto itself and as a teaching tool seems to have of Khan Baliq (Beijing). The manuscript’s iconography
proliferated: the first recorded pictured Micrajnama is therefore speaks to an age of increasing trans-regional
believed to have been made a decade or two later for contact and inter-religious conflation.
the last Ilkhanid ruler Abu Sacid Khudabanda (r. 1317–35).
Unfortunately, only a series of nine paintings pasted onto Although the manuscript drew upon pictorial materials
eight folios in a Safavid album of calligraphies and paintings east of the Persian world, it never traveled eastward; to
are preserved today, and none of them include the original the contrary, it left Herat and proceeded westward,
ascension text.32 Rather, sixteenth-century Safavid inscriptions finally arriving in Istanbul, where it was kept in the
attributing the works to Ahmad Musa appear on a number Topkapı Palace Library until 1672 at the latest, when
of paintings, while others are simply provided with beautiful the Frenchman Antoine Galland purchased the manuscript
frames and mounted onto Safavid gold-sprinkled paper. in the book market for the paltry sum of twenty-five
piasters.34
The Ilkhanid illustrated Micrajnama’s purpose and
tone can be determined by comparing it to the anonymous Another fascinating illustrated manuscript that looks
and unillustrated Ilkhanid Micrajnama text dated 1286 almost like a duplicate copy of Shahrukh’s “Book of
(SK Ayasofya 3441). This Persian text helps identify and Ascension” also survives. Produced ca. 1465, it bears an
order the paintings, and suggests very strongly that the initial shamsa that dedicates the volume to Shahrukh’s
story of the ascension at this time could have helped to successor Abu Sacid Gurgan (r. 1451–69). This work
promote the ascendant status of the Sunni community remains almost unknown and at present is held in a
(ahl al-sunnat). This is perhaps not surprising given Abu private collection of Asian art. The manuscript appears
Sacid’s overt embracing of Sunni Islam following his father to be quite closely affiliated with its precursor Micrajnama,
Öljeïtu’s espousal of Shici Islam. The text also teaches excepting several paintings that are novel and only nine
Arabic prayers, themselves echoed specifically in the (not sixteen) images of hell. These two elements support
hand gestures depicted in some of the paintings—such its identification as al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis proper
as the crossing of the hands at chest level (qabd) and rather than a variant “Book of Ascension” or a duplicate
the raising of the two hands (rafc al-yadayn). In other copy of the Timurid Micrajnama. This particular manuscript,
words, the earliest illustrated Micrajnama that has come as a result, places the “Ascension Book” firmly within
down to us seems to have functioned as a Sunni illustrated the Hadith genre, and thus opens up new venues for
prayer manual for a Persian-speaking audience probably understanding these kinds of illustrated works as essentially
within the ruler’s immediate entourage. religious in character.
31 See the painting of the “testing of the cups” in the Chaghatay Micrajnama of ca. 1436–37 (BnF Sup Turc 190, folio 34v).
32 TSK H. 2154 (Bahram Mirza’s album of 1544-45), folios 31v, 42r–v, 61r–v, 62r, 107r, and 121r. There are three other related paintings in TSK H. 2152
(folios 64r, 68v, and 69r), but these appear to depict another tale, probably the dastan of Amir Hamza. See Ettinghausen, “Persian Ascension Miniatures
of the Fourteenth Century.” On the Bahram Mirza album, see Roxburgh, The Persian Album, 1400–1600, 245–307.
33 Althought Tomoko Masuya has argued that the manuscript’s paintings must be understood within Persian pictorial traditions rather than Buddhist art,
the influence of non-Islamic motifs remains undeniable (see Masuya, “The Mi’rajd-nama Reconsidered”)
34 Galland, Voyage à Constantinople (1672–1673), 29; and see Annie Berthier’s discussion of the manuscript after its arrival in Paris, included in this study.
255
The illustrated Micrajnama genre appears to have The ascension narrative, its potential for spiritual
faded in popularity between 1465 and 1850, giving way abstraction, and its many awe-inspiring features have
to Timurid and Safavid single-page ascension paintings provided a rich and constant source of inspiration to
and Ottoman illustrated biographies. 35 At this time, artists. For example, Erol Akyavas (d. 1999), one of
ascension paintings appear as single-page images at the Turkey’s most prominent modern painters, was greatly
beginning of illustrated manuscripts, most especially inspired by the tale when he produced his series of
Nizami’s Khamsa (Quintet), Amir Khusraw Dihlavi’s mixed-media lithographs entitled Micraçname. His prints
Khamsa (Quintet), and Jami’s Haft Awrang (Seven explore the realms of the unconscious and the metaphysical
Thrones). They also are included in a large number of by borrowing choice motifs—such as the rooster angel,
other illustrated texts, including compendia of poems, the stepped ladder, and the celestial spheres (aflak)—
histories, cosmologies, and divination books. Although which had matured within the cycle of ascension images
most of these paintings typically represent the Prophet’s over the past seven centuries (Fig. I.3).38 Likewise, painters
micraj in an iconic, rather than narrative, fashion, some active in modern Iran, such as Behnam Kamrani (b. 1968),
include intriguingly sectarian details. Of particular note also have produced micraj-themed works of art that are
are Safavid paintings bearing unmistakable Shici overtones: inspired by a pictorial tradition that is long-lived, creative,
these represent Muhammad ascending toward a lion, the and filled with allegorical potential.39
angelic stand-in for Imam cAli, to whom the Prophet
presents his signet ring in order to receive celestial The Timurid Micrajnama thus lies at the center of a
authority (Fig. I.2). These particular kinds of paintings sustained tradition of texts and images devoted to the
stress, in quintessentially visual terms, the dependence Prophet Muhammad’s ascension, which flourished from
of Muhammad’s prophecy (nubuwwat) upon cAli’s superior, the very beginnings of Islam to the present day. A probable
God-given viceregency (walaya). descendant of the Ilkhanid illustrated “Book of Ascension”
of ca. 1317–35, Shahrukh’s magnum opus in turn stimulated
During the Qajar period in Iran, a number of small a series of subsequent illustrated works on the micraj in
illustrated “Books of Ascension” reappear. One of them Persian and Turkish realms. The lineage and gradual
contains seven paintings that are clearly painted in the evolution of these kinds of paintings place them in a
Qajar style of ca. 1850–1900. 36 The text is patently Shici: class of their own—a class comprising paintings that are
dialogues between Muhammad and the angels take the above all “religious” in style, function, and character.
shape of the Shici shahada (“There is no God but God,
Muhammad is His Prophet, and cAli is His Viceregent”); CHAPTER SUMMARY
angels are described as bearing Shici inscriptions on their
wings and foreheads; and Muhammad encounters cAli Chapter One places the manuscript in a historical,
beyond the seventh heaven, at which time the latter political, literary, and religious context by analyzing some
enumerates all of his, the imams’, and the ahl al-bayt’s of the main actors responsible for its production. These
virtues. Therefore, after a period of four hundred years include Mir Haydar Tilbe (fl. ca. 1410), the text’s putative
since the Timurid Micrajnama manuscript, the genre author who was a panegyrist at Iskandar Sultan’s court
suddenly reemerges in the form of a Shici rather than Sunni in Shiraz; Malik Bakhshi (fl. 1430s), a member of Ulugh
illustrated tale. This phenomenon—which remains to be Beg’s court (divan) and the scribe most likely responsible
examined in greater detail—appears related to the Qajars’ for transcribing the manuscript; and Shahrukh, the
sponsorship of popular Shici piety and the religious arts.37 enlightened ruler who attempted to promote Islam in
35 To my knowledge, no autonomous illustrated Micrajnama manuscripts survive from this period.

36 Beinecke Persian Mss. 8. This manuscript is similar to another Qajar Micrajnama (Majlis-i Shura ms. 7557) composed by Sayyid Niyaz and dated 1870,
which includes seventeen paintings. For each narrative episode of the ascension, the author includes a Shici sermon (khutba). Another anonymous
Micrajnama (Astan-i Quds ms. 8564) is dated 1848 and includes 24 paintings. For each episode of the ascension, the author also includes a Shici sermon
(khutba), as well as a description of a particular suffering (musibat) of Imam Husayn.
37 Chelkowski, “Narrative Painting and Painting Recitation in Qajar Iran”; Diba, “Popular Arts: Patronage and Piety”; and Floor, “Art (Naqqashi) and Artists
(Naqqashan) in Qajar Persia,” 138–139.
38 Serifoglu and Sanlıer, Erol Akyavas ve Miraçnamesi.
39 See his painting entitled “al-Buraq” (1999) in The Dream of Angels: Symbolic Expression in Iranian Modernist Painting (Tehran: Museum of Contemporary
Art, 2000), 51.
256
Timurid lands and abroad, as attested by his pious Timurid Micrajnama must be categorized as a “religious”
endowments in Iran as well as his correspondence with manuscript, and thus encourage new approaches to the
the Ming emperor Zhu Di (r. 1402–22), whose era name study and classification of Islamic painting. While only
was Yongle (“The Perpetually Delighted”).40 An analysis a selection of the manuscript’s paintings will be analyzed
of Ming-Timurid relations follows, with a particular focus here, brief descriptions of all compositions are listed in
on the famous Timurid mission to Beijing, which occurred Appendix II.
in the years 1419–22 and is recorded in great detail in a
number of chronicles penned by Timurid writers, such Chapter Four focuses on select iconographic elements
as Hafiz-i Abru, cAbd al-Razzaq al-Samarqandi, and Ghiyath in the Timurid Micrajnama that appear to be drawn from
al-Din Naqqash (“the painter”). These historical and medieval and contemporary Buddhist pictorial traditions
political events help to contextualize the Micrajnama’s in Central Asia and China. Paintings that form the central
production and offer comparative venues for exploring focus of this chapter include those featuring the angel
the reasons behind its production, as well as the various of half-fire and half-snow and the polycephalous angel
mechanisms and channels of transmission through which of prayer. These two angels bear intriguing similarities
Central Asian and Chinese forms were introduced into to the form and function of the Buddhist bodhisattvas
Western Asian and Persian lands over the course of the Dizang and Guanyin, both of whom play substantial
fifteenth century. intercessory roles in the Chinese Buddhist Scripture of
the Ten Kings. This sutra, along with its widespread
Chapter Two examines the text of the Micrajnama in illustration (especially of hell and its torturing demons)
light of other ascension texts, especially its “base” text, in China and Central Asia from the tenth to the fifteenth
the Nahj al-Faradis (Pathway to the Heavens) composed centuries, provides a key comparative visual corpus for
by al-Sara’i in Khwarezmian Turkish sometime around understanding the ways in which certain iconographic
1357–60. The narrative clusters in this particular work motifs might have been selected for the Micrajnama’s
are largely retained, although a number of new motifs illustrations. Along with formal parallels, symbolic meanings
have been added to alter its meaning. By tracing the could have been transferred from Buddhist to Islamic
recurring patterns and (more interestingly) the ways in traditions, and, in such a case, this process might best
which the Micrajnama diverges from the Nahj al-Faradis, be called “strategic co-optation.”
this chapter examines textual variations in light of Shahrukh’s
Sunni policies and his relationship with China. It also Chapter Five examines the Micrajnama’s afterlife and
demonstrates that the Micrajnama is essentially a micraj- its influence on later illustrated texts of the Prophet’s
Hadith manual and thus must be considered religious in ascension. The manuscript certainly inspired a “duplicate”
character. copy commissioned by the Timurid ruler Abu Sacid Gurgan
sometime around 1465—that is, between the time he
Chapter Three moves to a discussion of the manuscript’s made Herat his capital (1458) and the lavish circumcision
extensive cycle of paintings and analyzes their iconography ceremony he held for his sons in 1466. Abu Sacid’s copy
and style. It examines, in particular, the manuscript’s removes certain variations in the Micrajnama and also
paintings in terms of their format, scale, and palette. The returns to the original text of al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis,
ways in which figural imagery–such as representations thereby forming the only extant illustrated Hadith manual
of the Prophet Muhammad, angels, and demons–was to date.42 For these reasons, Abu Sacid’s manuscript also
conceived by the Mi crajnama’s artist also reveal his strongly suggests that the Timurid Micrajnama must be
attempt to convey pictorially both the human and divine considered above all as belonging to the Hadith genre
realms.41 These formal elements demonstrate that the as well.
40 Shahrukh’s letters to Yongle are available in Kauz, Politik und Handel zwischen Ming und Timuriden; and Nava’i, Asnad va mukatibat-i tarikh-i Iran az
Taymur ta Shah Ismacil.
41 Throughout this study, the term “artist” is used as a functional term for the artist or artists who painted the illustrations in the Timurid Micrajnama. The
manuscript’s paintings are internally consistent in style and thus appear to have been executed by either a single artist or a small group of artists working
in close collaboration. The manuscript’s style and the artist possibly responsible for its paintings are discussed in Chapters Three and Five.
42 Henceforth, this manuscript will be referred to as Abu Sacid’s Nahj al-Faradis in order to avoid confusion with the Timurid Micrajnama produced during
Shahrukh’s reign.
257
Once the Timurid Micrajnama arrived in Istanbul ca. system, but their slight variations in pronunciation are
1500, it was extensively commented upon by a scribe taken into consideration (for example, Tadhkira appears
proficient in Turkish languages (bakhshi), probably the as Tazkirat). For words in Ottoman, Chaghatay, and
Ottoman court scribe cAbd al-Razzaq Bakhshi. Over the Khwarezmian Turkish, the modern Turkish transliteration
course of the sixteenth century, Ottoman inscriptions system is followed (al-Zarir for al-Darir; siyer for siyar).
that translate the Arabic captions and summarize the The adjective “Turkish” is used throughout this study to
Chaghatay text were written on the pages of the manuscript, refer to the Turkish (a.k.a. Turkic) traditions and peoples
and twenty-five new pages, bearing further Ottoman of inner and western Asia, not those of the modern nation-
glosses, were inserted into the original manuscript as state of Turkey. Chinese words have been rendered
well. These translational procedures helped an Ottoman according to the pinyin Romanization system.
audience understand the text and images in this “Book
of Ascension” and thus aided artists in digesting and Names of individuals are followed by the years of
“naturalizing” Turco-Persianate textual and pictorial their death (d.), regnal years (r.), or, if authors, the years
traditions to newly emergent Ottoman artistic programs. during which their literary activities flourished (fl.) if their
Efforts were concentrated on the ascension cycle in Sultan dates of death are unknown. When dates of death or
Murad III’s Siyer-i Nebi (Life of the Prophet) of 1595–96. activity are not fully established, several dates or a range
It is argued here that ekphrastic practices and translations of dates (ca.) are given, as for al-Baghawi (d. 1122 or
of micraj texts and images coalesced to sustain the transfer 1117) and al-Sara’i (fl. ca. 1325–50). Dates are given
and adaptation of ascension tales within an Ottoman according to the A.D. (anno Domini) system only, unless
milieu. a specific date in the Islamic A.H. (anno Hegirae) calendar
is given in a work’s colophon. The A.D. calendar is solar,
The conclusion offers a few new theoretical approaches while the A.H. calendar is lunar, so sometimes an A.H.
to the Micrajnama. It is suggested that the work, which date spans two A.D. years: such is the case for the Timurid
is anchored in the Hadith genre, displays a visual program Micrajnama of ca. 1436–37, which is believed to date to
that is equally religious. Its combined ascension tale and the same year as cAttar’s Tazkirat al-Awliya’ (Memorial
exposition of Islamic principles turn it into a “tale-argument” of Saints), whose transcription was completed in Herat
used for the purposes of entertainment, indoctrination, by the scribe Malik Bakhshi in Jumada II, 840 (that is,
and perhaps even conversion. The Timurid Micrajnama, December 1436 to January 1437).
along with other illustrated manuscripts in the same genre,
forces us to question received scholarly paradigms and Appendix I includes a complete English translation
to explore new ones in order to categorize and explore of the Timurid “Book of Ascension,” based on the
Islamic painting. Although many questions remain original manuscript as well as editions of the text
unresolved, this study aims to open fresh venues for translated into German, English, and French. The
examining the history, transmission, and illustration of entirety of the text is made available in this study so
the spectacular and awe-inspiring tale that is the Prophet as to present the manuscript in as comprehensive a
Muhammad’s micraj. manner as possible. Finally, Appendix II provides a
catalogue of all paintings in the Timurid Micrajnama,
NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION, DATES, AND APPENDICES and Appendix III offers an English translation of all
Ottoman inscriptions located on the manuscript’s
For the sake of simplicity, all foreign words in this original folios and on the twenty-five pages inserted
study are transcribed without diacritics. The transliteration into the manuscript at a later date, and Appendix IV,
of Arabic words follows the Library of Congress system prepared by Annie Berthier, examines the manuscript’s
as described in the International Journal of Middle East reception in French scholarly circles after its acquisition
Studies. Persian words follow the Arabic transliteration by Antoine Galland in 1672.
258
CHAPTER I
E S TA B L I S H I N G THE M I CR A J N A M A ’ S T I M U R I D
CONTEXT
and “unrefined” polity–as it had been under Shahrukh’s

D uring the period of Shahrukh’s rulership, “artistic
production was so closely intertwined with political,
social, and economic events that they must be discussed
father Timur (r. 1370–1405)–into a centralized, autonomous,
and “refined” state. To achieve these aims, this powerful
together.”1 This chapter aims to do just that: it examines husband-and-wife team initiated a number of socio-
the dramatis personae in the Micrajnama’s history, its religious mechanisms by which they sought to realize a
putative author (Mir Haydar Tilbe), its best candidate for vision of unrivaled political and religious authority over
a scribe (Malik Bakhshi), and the rationale and implications much of western and middle Asia.
for the work’s production in Chaghatay Turkish using Shahrukh systematically promoted Sunni Islam both
the Uighur script. It also aims to contextualize the manuscript at home and abroad. On the domestic front, he fashioned
within this particular period of Islamic history, which himself as a great renewer (mujaddid) and ruler of Islam
witnessed a steady increase in international contact and (padishah-i islam). He abolished the Great Mongol Law
trade, as well as an interest in Central Asian and Chinese Code (Yasa) and replaced it with Islamic law (sharica),3
artistic traditions. outlawed wine-drinking, prostitution, and gambling, and
established a “core curriculum” of Sunni learning in the
The Timurid Micrajnama is a product of its time. This school (madrasa) he built in Herat in 1410–11.4 This
was a period of brilliant artistic efflorescence, of intense openly pious monarch was also a key player on the
pan-Asian contact as well Islamic revivalism and the global political stage. Keen to spread Islam beyond the
recrudescence and official support of Islamic orthodoxy. boundaries of the Timurid empire, he provided financial
These historical and religious factors suggest strongly and logistical support for Sunni missionary activities in
that a version such as this “Book of Ascension” must the Ismacili enclave of Quhistan (northeastern Iran), in
have been made within the circles of the Timurid court the Qipçaq steppe (north and west of the Aral Sea), and
and, more specifically, within the court of the Timurid in India.5 Most remarkably, on at least one occasion he
Sultan Shahrukh. Its proposed patron Shahrukh managed wrote to the Ming emperor Yongle pushing him to embrace
to secure power for himself and widen his ties with Ming Islam–an invitation that the Chinese sovereign surely
China, while architectural patronage throughout the must have found preposterous, having come from a mere
Timurid realms fell largely under the purview of his “official” in his “tribute” state. Shahrukh’s long reign, in
influential wife Gawharshad.2 Their joint efforts aimed this manner, was not just characterized by an ostentatious
to turn the dynasty from a nomadic, expansionist, militaristic, (but apparently genuine) display of piety but also by an
1 Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 69.

2 For Gawharshad’s architectural patronage, see Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 84, 106, 225, cat. no. 128; and Marefat, “Timurid Women,”
41–44. For a discussion of Timurid women more generally, see Soucek, “Timurid Women.”
3 Because Shahrukh saw himself as a successor to the Chingizids and the Ilkhanids, he did not abandon all older traditions. For example, he retained the
Turco-Mongolian Court of Law (yarghu) and taxation practices. See Forbes Manz, “Shah Rukh,” E.I.2, vol, 9, 198; and Subtelny, “The Survival of the Turko-
Mongolian Court of Law (yarghu) in Iran and Central Asia in the Post-Mongol Period,” lecture delivered at the Middle East Studies Association of North
America Conference, Orlando, Fla., November 16–19, 2000.
4 Subtelny, “The Sunni Revival under Shah-Rukh and its Promoters”; and eadem and Khalidov, “The Curriculum of Islamic Higher Learning in Timurid Iran
in the Light of the Sunni Revival under Shah-Rukh,” 211–212. In 1440, Shahrukh personally accompanied the censors (muhtasibs) of Herat to the wine
cellars to ensure the disposal of wine (Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 80).
5 Subtelny and Khalidov, “The Curriculum of Islamic Higher Learning in Timurid Iran in the Light of the Sunni Revival under Shah-Rukh,” 212.
261
abandonment of military projects in favor of international included those of Muslim, al-Bukhari, al-Zamakhshari,
diplomacy and trade, especially with Ming China. and al-Baghawi, among others.9 He also was quite fond
of handbooks giving advice (pand, nasihat, etc.) to rulers:
Shahrukh welcomed Chinese ambassadors and delegates one of these, written by al-Qayini, included an entire
at his court in Herat, and both his own representatives section on the punishments of infidels, apostates, heretics,
and those of his Timurid provincial governors were and innovators.10 Within the context of the Hadith and
received by Yongle. Shahrukh’s reign witnessed the most nasihat texts that Shahrukh commissioned, the Micrajnama
intense Serindian diplomatic traffic of the Timurid period, seems to have been fashioned as an almost perfect (and
with a total of nineteen missions between 1407 and 1424 pictured) fusion of both genres, the meaning of which
(a trickle of this exchange would continue and be diverted must be considered in light of a larger historical context.
to Samarqand during the reign of his successor Abu Sacid
Gurgan). 6 These missions exchanged diplomatic
correspondence, and served as efficient means to trade THE ELUSIVE MIR HAYDAR AND HIS MICRAJNAMA
mutually beneficial gifts such as horses and textiles and
to collect military intelligence. In 1410, Shahrukh sent a Persian literary materials, themselves inspired by or
delegation to the (then) Ming capital Nanjing along with directly drawing upon works in Arabic, were absorbed
a personal letter asking Yongle for silk products. In his into and adapted by Turco-Mongolian literary culture in
letter, Shahrukh also encourages the Ming ruler to adopt the Timurid period, especially during the governorship
Islam, much as many of his Chingizid forerunner–such of Iskandar Sultan (r. 1409–14) in Shiraz and the rule of
as the Ilkanid rulers Ghazan, Öljeïtu, and Abu Sa cid his uncle Shahrukh in Herat.11 Like other Chaghatay texts
Khudabanda–had done.7 In return, the Chinese monarch inspired by a large corpus of religious works, the Timurid
sent his own delegation, under the direction of Chen Micrajnama draws upon older autonomous ascension
Cheng and Li Xian, to Herat in 1413, along with gifts of narratives in Arabic and Persian, and merges them with
silk and other fine textiles.8 Shahrukh responded in turn novelizing Hadiths translated into Persian or Khwarezmian
by dispatching a large Timurid embassy comprised of Turkish from an original source in Arabic.
five hundred members in 1419. Headed by the artist-
chronicler Ghiyath al-Din, it is by far the best recorded Some of the major narremes–that is, cohesive storyline
Timurid mission to the Ming realms. clusters or pre-constituted narrative ensembles–found in
the Timurid Micrajnama indicate that the text draws
An illustrated version of the Micrajnama cannot be substantially on a long tradition of ascent narratives which
understood as a mere curiosity. It appears to have been grew out of biographical literature (sira), Hadiths, and
a natural outgrowth of Shahrukh’s sustained attempts to exegesis (tafsir), all of which had the intention of explicating
revive the Prophet’s Sunna as well as a product of his and filling out the vague Qur’anic verses that evoked the
and his artists’ interest in “eastern things.” Furthermore, Prophet’s micraj. Despite its continuation of the autonomous
the Micrajnama text is firmly anchored in the Hadith “Book of Ascension” genre and some of its more familiar
genre. As such, it is not at odds with the ruler’s interest narremes, however, the Timurid Micrajnama also diverges
in patronizing the science of Traditions (Hadith), from conventional patterns in a number of notable ways.
jurisprudence (fiqh), and Qur’anic exegesis (tafsir), all
of which found pride of place in the curricula he It has been assumed hitherto that a Micrajnama was
implemented. In fact, his rule points toward a marked “written” ca. 1410 in Shiraz by Iskandar Sultan’s court panegyrist
increase in Hadith production, and favored compendia Mir Haydar. Be that as it may, Mir Haydar’s name is not
6 Rossabi, China and Inner Asia from 1368 to the Present Day, 32. For a detailed study of Ming-Timurid missions occurring between the 1430s and 1460s,
see Kauz, Politik und Handel zwischen Ming und Timuriden, 153–220.
7 Nava’i, Asnad va mukatabat-i ta’rikh-i Iran az Taymur ta Shah Ismacil, 133–134; Kauz, Politik und Handel zwischen Ming und Timuriden, 103; and
Fletcher, “China and Central Asia, 1368–1884,” 211.
8 Kauz, Politik und Handel zwischen Ming und Timuriden, 108; Rossabi, China and Inner Asia from 1368 to the Present Day, 13–16; and idem, “A Translation
of Ch’en Ch’eng’s Hsi-Yü Fan-Kuo Chi.”
9 Subtelny, “The Sunni Revival under Shah-Rukh and its Promoters,” 16–17.
10 Subtelny, “The Sunni Revival under Shah-Rukh and its Promoters,” 18–20.
11 A brief discussion of the influence of Persian materials on Turkish literature is offered in Köprülü, “Çagatay Edebiyatı,” 287–288 (Türkler ve acem kültürü);
and Boeschoten and Van Damme, “Chaghatay,” 167.
262
E S TA B L I S H I N G THE M I CR A J N A M A ’ S TIMURID CONTEXT
mentioned anywhere in the Chaghatay Micrajnama text. So sources give him the epithet “Shirazi” due to his residence
it is quite possible, even probable, that the text penned at Iskandar Sultan’s provincial capital–where he served as
during the reign of Shahrukh was not his own particular the governor’s court panegyrist in Turkish language (turki-
“version.” Furthermore, even if we accept that Mir Haydar guy)14–most biographical notes on Mir Haydar list his place-
was responsible for composing the text at the base of the name or nisba as Khwarezmi,15 that is, as coming from
Timurid “Book of Ascension,” we must be careful in identifying Khwarezm in Middle Asia.16 For example, in his Muhakamat
Mir Haydar as its “author” since the writer responsible for al-Lughatayn (The Judgment Between the Two Languages),
composing the work clearly notes that he rendered it into the Timurid poet and scholar Mir cAli Shir Nava’i (d. 1501)
Chaghatay Turkish basing himself on al-Sara’i’s (fl. ca. 1325–50) lists Haydar Khwarezmi as one of the earliest poets writing
Nahj al-Faradis (Pathway to the Heavens). Nowhere does in Chaghatay Turkish during the reign of Shahrukh.17 In fact,
he claim to have “authored” it ex nihilo.12 Likewise, the text Mir Haydar signed his own work as “Haydar Khwarezmi,”18
quotes several Sayings on the Prophet’s ascension attributed evidence that he was not of Persian origins but of Turkic
to Anas b. Malik and Malik b. Sacsaca as included in al- extraction,19 thereby aligning himself with the Turco-Mongolian
Baghawi’s (d. 1117 or 1122) Masabih al-Sunna (The Lanterns traditions of Iskandar Sultan, the second son of cUmar Shaykh
of Tradition), itself an inspiration for the Nahj al-Faradis. At b. Timur (d. 1394) and Malakat Agha (d. 1440), herself a
least once, the Micrajnama’s “compiler” notes that the Hadith daughter of a Chaghatay khan from Turkestan.20
he cites is in Persian (although he transcribes it in Chaghatay
Turkish instead).13 In other words, this Timurid “Book of Despite his Khwarezmian roots, Mir Haydar mastered
Ascension” preserves both the Nahj al-Faradis and the Persian and therefore was able to translate Nizami’s (d. 1209)
Masabih al-Sunna through processes of compilation and Makhzan al-Asrar (The Treasury of Secrets), the first book
translation. What could be identified as a true authorial voice of his Khamsa (Quintet), into Chaghatay Turkish, a versified
is thus muted because the author seems more of a synthesizer and homonymous translation which he duly dedicated to
than a creative writer. Iskandar Sultan.21 As the latter himself composed poetry in
turki, he would have appreciated Mir Haydar’s mastery of
Before examining the Masabih al-Sunna and the Nahj both Persian and Turkish. Moreover, it was probably at the
al-Faradis in order to determine the exact scope of the Timurid governor’s behest that this turki-guy panegyrist
Timurid Micrajnama’s indebtedness to and alteration of both composed Chaghatay-language eulogistic qasidas written in
texts’ elements and structures, a few words must be offered Uighur script, a copy of which is preserved in an anthology
about its putative “compiler” Mir Haydar. Although some of texts transcribed in Herat ca. 1450 (Fig. 1.1).22
12 The author uses the first person plural “we” in this instance: “We have rendered [or translated] it [The Book of Ascension] into the Turkish language from
the book entitled Pathway to the Heavens.”
13 He states: “In his book entitled The Lanterns, Imam Baghawi, God’s Mercy be upon him, reported this Saying [of the Prophet] rendered in Persian. The
meaning of the Saying is that paradise is accessed with difficult deeds [such as] fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, and holy war (gaza).”
14 Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-Nâmeh, XXVII; and Gandjeï, “Note on an Unknown Poem of Haidar in Uighur Characters,” 66 (the term turki-guy means that
he composed a kind of song in Turkish in the variant of the meter ramal).
15 Or the nisba in Turkish, Khwarezmli.
16 This area was under the rule of the Golden Horde (1242–1502) during Mir Haydar’s time.
17 Mir cAli Shir Nava’i, Muhakamat al-Lughatayn, 41. Haydar Khwarezmi is listed alongside the famous Turkish poets Sekkaki and Lutfi, as well as lesser
known poets such as Atayi, Muqimi, Amiri, Yaqini, and Gadayi. In his Majalis al-Nafa’is (Assemblies of Distinguished Men) completed in 1492, Mir cAli
also includes a note about Mir Haydar, whose nickname is listed as Majzub (“the possessed”), a term similar to Tilbe (“the mad”), found in other sources.
See Mir cAli Shir Nava’i, Majalis al-Nafa’is, 28; and Gandjeï, “Note on an Unknown Poem of Haidar in Uighur Characters,” 65. His nicknames majzub
and tilbe suggest that he was mystically inclined, perhaps even an ecstatic dervish.
18 Köprülü, “Çagatay Edebiyatı,” 291.
19 It is possible that Mir Haydar, a newly conscribed Timurid writer, moved from Khwarezm to Shiraz after Timur’s first (1388–91) or second (1395) campaign
in the Golden Horde. On Timur’s policies of conquest and administration, see Forbes Manz, The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane, 90–106.
20 Aubin, “Le Mécénat Timouride à Chiraz,” 76; and Soucek, “Eskandar Soltan b. cOmar Shaykh b. Timur,” Encyclopedia Iranica (http://www.iranica.com,
accessed May 31, 2007).
21 Richard, Splendeurs Persanes, 77, cat. no. 41. Several manuscript copies of Mir Haydar’s Makhzan al-Asrar (Treasury of Secrets) can be found in international
collections. One of the more intriguing copies of his text (BL Or. 3491) contains six Ottoman miniatures showing Persian influence. One, located in the
introductory section in praise of the Prophet, shows the Prophet Muhammad in a mosque with a group of men seeking his intercession (folio 2v). Another
painting in the section praising the work’s patron depicts Iskandar Sultan as a beautiful young man with a flaming halo (i.e., sanctified and depicted à
la Yusuf) in a landscape with the author Mir Haydar at his side (folio 8r).
22 Collection of Poems (Jung-i Ashcar), GP ms. 2181 (formerly Imperial Library of Iran ms. 647). The poem in Uighur script is three folios long (pages 73–77)
and includes a note stating that Mawlana Haydar composed it (Mawlana Haydar aytur). Although the poem was probably composed by Mir Haydar in
Shiraz ca. 1410, Gandjeï argues that the Uighur copy was transcribed possibly in Herat sometime around 1450 for an unidentified Timurid king or emir
(“Note on an Unknown Poem of Haidar in Uighur Characters,” 65).
263
Iskandar Sultan was a polyglot patron and an One wonders how Iskandar Sultan, a ruler with
inquisitive intellectual. He surrounded himself with Shi ci tendencies, might have employed a “Book of
poets, including the ingenious rhymester Abu Ishaq, Ascension” to further his own religious beliefs and
who composed lyric poems in seven languages (haft activities. Since the beginning of Islam, oral and written
lughat) for the Timurid governor. 23 The celebrated narratives of the Prophet’s ascension had provided
thinkers of his time–such as the theologians Sayyid the locus classicus for sectarian debates and for powerful
Sharif Jurjani and Shams al-Din Muhammad b. al-Jazari, tales overlaid with missionary and regulatory overtones.
as well as the famous mystic Shah Nur al-Din Nicmatullah For example, a number of early Shici writers, such as
Vali Kirmani–all engaged in oral and written discussions Saffar Qummi (d. 902–3) and Furat Kufi (d. ca. 912),
over the finer points of religion and doctrine. One claimed that the Prophet Muhammad received the
telling example of their extensive scholarly rapports revelation of cAli’s right of rulership (walaya) and
occurred when Iskandar Sultan, having composed a witnessed the imams in heaven during his ascension(s).26
compendium (majmuca) of treatises (rasa’il) on various On the other end of the spectrum, Sunni writers sought
theological issues,24 posed a series of questions to both to promote Abu Bakr and cUthman as champions of
Jurjani and Shah Nicmatullah. In particular, he wanted the faith or as inhabitants of paradise, and even
to know whether the Prophet’s micraj took place in proclaimed in their versions of the mi craj that only
the body or spirit, what the flying steed al-Buraq was, people abiding by the Prophet’s customs (ahl al-sunna
and what occurs on the Day of Judgment. We are told wa’l-jamaca)–as opposed to antinomian Sufis, Shicis,
that he was pleased by Shah Nicmatullah’s reply but and members of other religions, such as Buddhism
was disappointed by Jurjani’s answer.25 and Zoroastrianism–will be saved on the Day of
Resurrection.27
These extended discussions reveal Iskandar Sultan
as a man deeply interested in the Prophet’s ascension If we support the prevailing assumption that Mir
and eschatological matters, and his theological and Haydar produced a Micrajnama for Iskandar Sultan, it
spiritual inquiries may have provided the impetus for is likely that it would have contained palpable Shici
Mir Haydar’s desire (or commission) to sort through overtones. Two pieces of external evidence support
older Arabic, Persian, or Turkish sources on the ascension such a hypothesis: a double-page painting included in
and to create an updated, Chaghatay-language text for an anthology of texts produced in Shiraz in 1410–11
the governor’s personal edification and entertainment. for Iskandar Sultan and a fragment of a Chaghatay-
However, what cannot be known (due to to the fact that language ascension text transcribed in Uighur script in
no manuscripts of his text survive) is whether Mir Haydar Yazd in 1431.
actually wrote a Micrajnama, whether it was considered
an innovative text or simply a reworking of antecedent The double-page painting was included in a pocket-
sources, and whether it was utilized during discussions size anthology of texts produced for Iskandar Sultan in
and debates within early Timurid court circles. It is also Shiraz in 1410–11 (Fig. 1.2).28 This painting represents
unclear to what extent the Micrajnama attributed to Mir either the Prophet’s intercession (shafaca) on behalf of
Haydar was similar to the copy of the text produced as believers on the Day of Judgment or his encounter with
an illustrated manuscript for Shahrukh in 1436–37. the imams and his witnessing of hell during his
23 Huart, “Le ghazel heptaglotte d’Abou-Ishaq Halladj,” 629–630.

24 These treatises were also entitled Jamic-i Sultani (Royal Compendium) and are now preserved in Yazdi’s Zafarnama (Book of Victory). See Aubin, “Le
Mécénat Timouride à Chiraz,” 80 (CUL ms. Browne H5/7).
25 Aubin, “Le Mécénat Timouride à Chiraz,” 78–80. Shah Nicmatullah’s answers to Iskandar Sultan’s questions are preserved in manuscript form (BL Per.
1234, folios 275–285).
26 Amir-Moezzi, “L’Imam dans le ciel”; Colby, “The Role of Early Imami Shici Narratives in the Construction of and Contestation over the Story of Muhammad’s
Ascension”; and idem, Narrating Muhammad’s Ascension, Chapter 4. In these Shici narratives, as in those of the later Safavid period, Muhammad is
described as having a vision of a cosmic or angelic cAli (Fig. I.2), as well as witnessing the primordial luminous forms (ashbah) of the imams. Often, cAli
is heralded as “the first and the last,” epithets typically reserved for God.
27 Anonymous, Micrajnama, folio 60v.
28 See Persian Art in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection, pl. 15; and Fontana, L’Iconografia dell’Ahl al-Bayt, pl. VII. This anthology (CGF LA 161B) is the second
of two anthologies in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. It was calligraphed by the scribes Hasan al-Hafiz and Mahmud al-Husayni, and it contains fourteen
paintings. The paintings reproduced here (folios 265v–266r) are included in the text of the Qisas al-Anbiya’ (Stories of the Prophets). This anthology, like others
produced for Iskandar Sultan, is quite small in size. These manuscripts include poetical, philosophical, theological, and scientific texts, thereby constituting a
bibliothèque de poche for the Timurid governor (Aubin, “Le Mécénat Timouride à Chiraz,” 77; and Soucek, “The Manuscripts of Iskandar Sultan”).
264
ascension–two themes that are often interwoven in micraj himself.30 In response to questions about the angel of
narratives. The message is unambiguously Shici here: as death named cAzra’il, the text’s answer provides a
depicted in the folio on the right, the Prophet, wearing lengthy digression on the Prophet’s micraj.31 The Siraj
his green mantle and carrying his staff, is accompanied al-Qulub resembles the text of Shahrukh’s Micrajnama,
by cAli, his grandsons Hasan and Husayn, and the remaining except when it describes the Prophet’s visit to the
eight imams below, as they all intercede on behalf of Kawthar Basin in paradise. In the anthology text,
members of their community. For some it is already too Muhammad encounters cAli, Hasan, and Husayn at the
late; they are already engulfed by the flames of hell and Kawthar Basin, while the Timurid Micrajnama describes
pleading for mercy, as depicted in the folio on the left. the Prophet’s meeting with cUmar and Rumaysa’ in
There is no question that this painting of heaven and heaven.32
hell promotes Muhammad’s and the ahl al-bayt’s ability
to intercede in paradise. This textual deviation in the Timurid Micrajnama
bears interesting implications. It transforms a motif of
It is entirely likely that this sectarian position would have Shici legitimization in the Yazd version into a narrative
been reflected in a Micrajnama text commissioned around episode promoting the Prophet’s Sunna. It also suggests
the same time by Iskandar Sultan. Yet, Shici themes are patently that the micraj text transcribed in Yazd in 1431 could
absent from the text of the Timurid illustrated manuscript. have served as a link between a Shici “Book of Ascension”
Although Mir Haydar’s text could have been “Sunnified” produced in Shiraz ca. 1410 and Shahrukh’s Micrajnama
when used in Shahrukh’s manuscript, it is more likely that made in Herat ca. 1436-37, at which time the text was
only al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis, the “base” text of the Timurid “Sunnified.” Perhaps Mir Haydar’s text arrived in Yazd
Micrajnama, was consulted (with little or no interest paid to during Iskandar Sultan governorship33 and before his
Mir Haydar’s text). For these reasons, it is best to put to rest defeat, blinding, and deposition at the Battle of Isfahan
the idea that the illustrated Timurid “Book of Ascension” was in 1414. In Yazd, it was transcribed in 1431 by Mansur
written by Mir Haydar; to the contrary, and as will be Bakhshi, Amir Chaqmaq’s “writer in the Turkish language,”
demonstrated in Chapter Two, the text must have been suggesting that the genre was more popular than
synthesized, rather than authored, at the time of Shahrukh. previously suspected.
The second piece of evidence that supports the These two fragments suggest that, if Mir Haydar had
hypothesis that a Shi ci Mi crajnama may have been penned a now-lost Micrajnama for Iskandar Sultan, he
penned by Mir Haydar at Iskandar Sultan’s behest is a probably inserted into his “edition” Shici details in order
fragmentary Micrajnama text included in an anthology to appeal to the governor’s credal system and to partake,
of texts in Uighur script transcribed by the calligrapher like other theologians and thinkers during the early
Mansur Bakhshi in the city of Yazd in 1431 at the order Timurid period, in discussions about spiritual and religious
of Mir Jalal al-Din Firuzshah Chaqmaq Shami, then matters. The fragmentary Chaghatay-language Micrajnama
governor of the city.29 The anthology’s first text, the in Uighur script made in Yazd in 1431 may have provided
Siraj al-Qulub (Lamp of Hearts), contains an exegetical a link between Mir Haydar’s text of ca. 1410 and Shahrukh’s
passage on Islamic theology and eschatology. Each illustrated copy of ca. 1436–37, revealing the ways in
section is introduced by a short question, to which a which some Shici themes could be eradicated along the
lengthy reply is given by the Prophet Muhammad way. If this theory of textual transmission and alteration
29 Clauson, “A Hitherto Unknown Turkish Manuscript in Uighur,” 112–113. The anthology (BL Or. 8193) bears colophons at the end of three different texts:
29 Rajab 835/ Nov. 29, 1431 (folio 129v), 4 Shacban 835/ Dec. 4, 1431 (folio 135v), and 6 Rajab 835/ Nov. 6, 1431 (folio 178r). The first colophon (folio
129v) states that the work was executed in the city of Yazd (Yazd shahrïda); the second specifies that it was executed in the entourage of Jalal al-Din
(Mir Jalal dinning suhbatinda); and the third that it was carried out by the order of the governor (Mir Jalal Din buyurghan üçün).
30 Clauson, “A Hitherto Unknown Turkish Manuscript in Uighur,” 116–117. This question (su’al) and answer (jawab) format is typical of exegetical works,
while the first person singular answer of the Prophet recalls the structure of Hadiths (e.g., “I said,” or “qultu”).
31 Clauson, “A Hitherto Unknown Turkish Manuscript in Uighur,” 118–119 (BL Or. 8193, folio 4v et seq). Later on, two folios from a different manuscript
appear inserted at random into the anthology (folios 179 and 180). These two folios contain a text describing Muhammad’s ascension; this text reproduces
almost verbatim parts of the Timurid Micrajnama text (Clauson, “A Hitherto Unknown Turkish Manuscript in Uighur,” 122).
32 Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-Nâmeh, 20; and Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 279.
33 During the period of his governorship, Iskandar Sultan ruled over Shiraz, Yazd, and Isfahan (Soucek, “Eskandar Soltan b. cOmar Shaykh b. Timur,”
Encyclopedia Iranica [http://www.iranica.com, accessed May 31, 2007]).
265
is accepted, then Shahrukh’s Micrajnama represents yet have been a high-ranking officer (amir) by the name of
another textual reworking, that is, a new and updated Haru Malik b. Musaka Nukuz, who served in several
edition of a narrative that was always flexible enough to Timurid divans in Herat and Samarqand from 1409 to
accommodate sectarian shifts. This process, in turn, implies 1451.35 His activities included transcribing a number of
that the textual adjustments and variations present in the texts in Uighur script, which will be discussed below,
illustrated “Book of Ascension” probably occurred at the and he appears to have been a poet in his own right.36
time of the manuscript’s production in 1436–37. Significantly, he also participated as Ulugh Beg’s (r.
1409–49) official envoy in the Timurid mission to the
Ming Emperor Yongle in 1419–22.37
MALIK BAKHSHI AND THE SCRIBAL CONTEXT
At least one formal decree written in Uighur script by
It is believed that the Timurid was copied
Micrajnama Malik Bakhshi at the request of Shahrukh survives today.38
by Haru Malik Bakhshi, a man whose epithet “bakhshi” It takes the form of a deed of entitlement to a source of
indicates that he was a scribe proficient in the Uighur revenue (suyurghal) dated 22 Muharram 825/ January
script, serving as an official secretary in Turkish language.34 22, 1422.39 In the suyurghal, the ruler allows a certain
However, this copy of the “Book of Ascension” is not Ismacil to collect money earned by the visit of pilgrims
signed by him. It is the colophon of cAttar’s Tazkirat to the Buddhist monastery of Ot-böri, where Ismacil is
al-Awliya’ (Memorial of Saints), bound into the same to remain in residence. The beneficiary’s name is clearly
volume as the Micrajnama, which states that the Tazkirat Muslim, which raises the question of his exact role at the
al-Awliya’ was completed in Jumada II of the Year of monastery beyond the collection of the monastery’s
the Horse 840 (i.e., December 1436 to January 1437) proceeds. 40 This document is important for the
in Herat by his hand. Although Malik Bakhshi only contextualization of the Micrajnama’s production, as it
signed and dated the Tazkirat al-Awliya’, the scripts proves that the ruler ordered official decrees executed
of both works appear to be by the same hand and are in Uighur script and that at least one other writing sample
on similar paper, thus suggesting that they were can be linked directly to Malik Bakhshi.41
transcribed at approximately the same date. Thus it is
safe to attribute the Mi crajnama to his hand and to Malik Bakhshi’s various movements in Central Asia
Herat ca. 1436–37. and Iran are difficult to track after he executed the deed
for Shahrukh in 1422, and before he joined Abu Sacid in
Who was Malik Bakhshi, what other texts did he Samarqand in 1436. The years 1422–36 are marked by
transcribe, and how do his movements shed light on the itinerancy, as substantiated by a few of his other surviving
production of the Timurid Micrajnama? He appears to signed and dated works. For instance, he copied a
34 Malik Bakhshi’s nisba “Haru” shows that he was originally from Herat. Moreover, the term “bakhshi” in this case designates a man who can use the Uighur
script, not necessarily a Buddhist religious devotee (Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-Nâmeh, XV). In Timurid sources, expert writers like Malik Bakhshi went
by various appellations: they were called “secretaries” (bakhshi or tuvaci), “writers in Turkish” (navisandagan-i turk), or “secretaries in Uighur” (bakhshi-
yi uighur). See Ando, Timuridische Emire nach dem Mu’izz al-ansâb, 234.
35 Richard, Splendeurs Persanes, 77; Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 263; and Ando, Timuridische Emire nach dem Mu’izz al-ansâb. In Ando’s work on
the Timurid amirs according to the Mucizz al-Ansab, the author notes (158) that another son of Musaka named Mahmud (Haru Malik’s brother) also was
active in the courts of Ulugh Beg and Abu Sacid.
36 Clauson, “A Hitherto Unknown Turkish Manuscript in “Uighur” Characters,” 113; and Gandjeï, “Note on the Colophon of the “Latafat-nama” in Uighur
Characters from the Kabul Museum,” 164.
37 Ando, Timuridische Emire nach dem Mu’izz al-ansâb, 158; Hafiz-i Abru, A Persian Embassy to China, 8; and Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, “Report to Mirza
Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking.” The report describes that a certain Bakhshi Malik (i.e., Malik Bakhshi) received a
number of gold ingots (64) and ingots of silver, robes, horses, saddles, arrows, spears, and clothing for women (66).
38 Deny, “Un Soyurgal du Timouride Shahrukh en écriture ouigoure,” 253–266.
39 Deny, “Un Soyurgal du Timouride Shahrukh en écriture ouigoure,” 254.
40 Deny asks whether Ismacil was a convert to Buddhism (“Un Soyurgal du Timouride Shahrukh en écriture ouigoure,” 257). This appears unlikely, as he
would have been considered an apostate.
41 This same document also bears two seal impressions (nishan), one of which belongs to Shahrukh. The other seal impression belongs to the Black Sheet
(Qara Qoyunlu) ruler Muzaffar al-Din Jahanshah, who conquered Herat and Yazd in 862/1457–58 (Deny, “Un Soyurgal du Timouride Shahrukh en écriture
ouigoure,” 255–256).
266
Bakhtiyarnama in 838/1435 (Bodleian ms. Hunt 598), superior to Persian. In his Muhakamat al-Lughatayn
whose place of execution remains unknown.42 The reason (The Judgment Between the Two Languages), he states
for his many travels seems to revolve around his proficiency that, “it is well known that Turkish is a more intelligent,
as a trained bakhshi and the apparent demand for his more understandable and more creative language than
specialized skills. Persian.”45 By way of conclusion, he further states that
he has proven:
Several bakhshis are recorded in addition to Malik
Bakhshi: Mansur Bakhshi, who was active in Yazd during …to men of learning of the Turkish nation, and have made
the early 1420s, and Mahmud Bakhshi (i.e., Mahmud al- them realize, the facts about their own words and expressions
Katib b. Nizam of Herat), who worked for Sultan Husayn and the superiority of their own language and its vocabulary
Bayqara (r. 1470–1506).43 Other bakhshis, such as cAbd and that [he has] thus liberated them from the taunts and
al-Razzaq Bakhshi, also were active in Samarqand but criticisms of those who are enamored of Persian.46
appear to have moved west and reappear in Istanbul
during the reigns of the Ottoman sultans Mehmed II (r. His feelings are certainly underscored by the extensive
1444–46 and 1451–81) and his son Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512). fifteenth-century production of Chaghatay works, decrees,
Mentions of bakhshis indicate that these professional documents, and, last but not least, the illustrated Micrajnama.
scribes played an essential role in the production and
continuity of Turkic literary culture over the course of Uighur script, too, was highly esteemed. Derived
the fifteenth century. from the Sogdian cursive alphabet, it was originally
used for Manichaean, Buddhist, and Christian texts
produced in the eight and ninth centuries in Turkestan
A CONSIDERED CHOICE: CHAGHATAY LANGUAGE AND UIGHUR (especially Turfan).47 It was later adapted by the Mongols
SCRIPT at the order of Chingiz Khan, and was employed in
documents written primarily by Uighur Buddhist monks
(bakhshis) who served as secretaries in the Mongol
The Timurid Mi crajnama is written in Chaghatay administration. After the Mongols embraced Islam and
Turkish and rendered in the Uighur script, one of only Ilkhanid rule was established over greater Persia, Arabic
two surviving examples of the application of this script script supplanted Uighur as the alphabet of choice.
to a complete and autonomous ascension narrative.44 However, Uighur was revived by the Timurids over the
Chaghatay is also known as eastern Turkish, and, like course of the fifteenth century.48 This stunning recovery
Khwarezmian, Anatolian, and Azeri, is one of several of the script was intended to ally the Turco-Mongol
principal Turkish dialects. Alongside Persian, it was utilized Timurid dynasty with Mongol rule and thus function as
by a largely bilingual elite in Iran and Central Asia during a symbol of the Timurid’s ancient literary heritage.49
the Timurid period. The script also may have been selected to help broaden
lines of communication at a time of increased contact
Over the course of the fifteenth century, Chaghatay across Asia.
flourished as a language of communication and poetic
expression. In fact, the enlightened Timurid vizier and Turkish-language ascension manuscripts, which are
literary figure Mir cAli Shir Nava’i considered Turkish either in complete or fragmentary form, total six in number
42 Ethé, Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî and Pushtû Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, 1181, cat. no. 47 (2085). The Bakhtiyarnama (The
Book of Viziers) comprises a number of fairy tales, romances, and short stories, much like the Thousand and One Nights (Rypka, History of Iranian
Literature, 664–665). The stories revolve around a young prince falsely accused of incest, who is able to survive only by telling stories to his father, the
king of Turkestan. Its epic-romantic themes bear no resemblance to the Micrajnama. Because the manuscript’s place of production remains unknown,
this work does not shed further light on Malik Bakhshi’s itinerary and for this reason will not be discussed here.
43 Esin, “Four Turkish Bashshi active in Iranian Lands,” 58. Mahmud Bakhshi was active in Bukhara, where he transcribed in 1541 a Timurnama (History
of Timur) of Hatifi in Uighur script for Sultan Husayn Bayqara (TSK H. 1954).
44 The second example is Abu Sacid Gurgan’s illustrated Nahj al-Faradis of ca. 1465.
45 Mir cAli Shir Nava’i, Muhakamat al-Lughatayn, 5.
46 Mir cAli Shir Nava’i, Muhakamat al-Lughatayn, 46.
47 Tekin, Eski Türklerde Yazı, Kagıt, Kitap ve Kagıt Damgaları; and Zieme, “Religions of the Turks in the Pre-Islamic Period,” 35.
48 Golden, “The Turks: A Historical Overview,” 22–23. Uighur script passed into Manchu and today is still used in Inner Mongolia.
267
and thus compose a distinct body of Turkic ascent literature The utilization of Malik Bakhshi, a specialist of Turkic
written in Iran, Central Asia, and Egypt during the Islamic language and the scribe of Shahrukh’s illustrated copy
Later Middle Period (ca. 1250–1500).50 Besides the Timurid of ca. 1436–37, makes the use of the Uighur alphabet a
Micrajnama, three other “Books of Ascension” written in conscious decision by the Timurid ruler. This was by no
variants of Turkish–an exact copy of the Timurid Micrajnama means an exceptional endeavor, considering the number
text in Chaghatay (without paintings) completed in Cairo of other texts transcribed into Uighur during the first half
in 1511,51 as well as two copies of a fifteenth-century “Book of the fifteenth century.56 These include, most notably,
of Ascension” composed in Khwarezmian Turkish52 – utilize the poem by Mir Haydar in honor of Iskandar Sultan
the Arabic script instead. And as discussed previously, a (Fig. 1.1), the decree (firman) issued by Shahrukh dated
short fragment of a Chaghatay ascension text written in 1422, the collection of texts written in Yazd in 1431, and
Uighur script and bearing some similarities to the Timurid Mir Haydar’s Makhzan al-Asrar (The Treasury of Secrets)
Micrajnama was included in an anthology (majmuca) of copied by the scribe Zayn al-cAbidin in Samarqand in
texts transcribed by a certain Mansur Bakhshi in 1431. 1444.57 Judging by this corpus of texts, Chaghatay works
written in Uighur script were made principally from 1422
How and why did this particular kind of Islamic to 1444 in the Timurid capital of Herat and the main
biographical and apocalyptic literature flourish outside provincial cities of Samarqand and Yazd.
of Arabic and Persian linguistic spheres during the 1400s,
and why was Uighur script selected as the alphabetic Shahrukh was attempting to insert himself into Islamic
vehicle for the Timurid “Book of Ascension”? One can history by making a number of representative works,
hypothesize that the sudden flourishing of the genre such as biographies of the prophets and Hadith collections,
represents a natural progression of Turkic literary activity, available in his native tongue. In this manner, he succeeded
since several texts principally composed in Khwarezmian brilliantly by commissioning a large corpus of Islamic
Turkish during the fourteenth century–namely, al-Rabghuzi’s texts available for reading and instruction, thereby
Qisas al-Anbiya’ (Stories of the Prophets) 53 of ca. 1310 elevating Turkish to a quasi-official status,
and al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis (Pathway to the Heavens)54 supplementing–though not supplanting–Arabic and
of ca. 1357–reveal a deep interest in Islamic hagiography Persian. Shahrukh’s continuation and expansion of the
and proper religious conduct. Poetry in Chaghatay also Sunna and its literary output no doubt buttressed his
blossomed ca. 1400–1500, first at the hands of early domestic religious and political agenda at the same time
fourteenth-century poets such as Sekkaki and Lutfi55 and as it advertised an eastern Turkish dialect and the Uighur
during the last three decades of the fifteenth century script as suitable means to transmit and enlarge Islamic
thanks to Mir cAli Shir Nava’i. literary traditions.
50 This term is borrowed from the chronological framework of Marshall Hodgson as utilized in his three-volume The Venture of Islam. These are: the Classical
Age (ca. 650–950), the Islamic Earlier Middle Period (ca. 950–1250), the Islamic Later Middle Period (ca. 1250–1500), the Gunpowder Empires (ca.
1500–1800), and the Modern World (1800 to 2000).
51 This manuscript (SK Fatih 2848) contains both an Arabic-script transcription of the Micrajnama text (folios 1v–12v) as well as cAttar’s Tazkirat al-Awliya’
(folios 13v–151r) as found in BnF Sup Turc 190. Its scribe, Nur al-Din cAli b. Kiçkina Sayyid al-Taliqani, states that he completed both texts in Cairo
(mısır’da) on 20 Rajab 917/ October 13, 1511 (folio 151r). This fact suggests strongly that a transcription, if not the original copy, of the Timurid ascension
text, already bound with cAttar’s Memorial of Saints, arrived in Cairo by 1511. It may have been sent to Cairo upon the request of the last Mamluk Sultan
Qansuh al-Ghawri (r. 1501–1522), who is known to have commissioned at least one Turkish-language ascension poem bearing an opening dedicatory
shamsa (TSK Koguslar 989). For a discussion of SK Fatih 2848, see Eckmann, “Die Literatur von Chwarezm und der Goldenen Horde,” 292. This copy of
cAttar’s Memorial of Saints is discussed in Ritter, “Philologika XIV. Fariduddin ‘Attar. II,” 70. The ascension poem made for al-Ghawri (TSK Koguslar 989)
is listed in Flemming, “Turkish Literature of the Golden Horde and of the Mamluks,” E.I.2, vol. 10, 717–718.
52 Vámbéry, Cagataische Sprachstudien, 70–83; and Akar, Türk Edebiyatında Manzum Mi’râc-nâmeler, 96–99.
53 Al-Rabghuzi’s Qisas al-Anbiya’ (Stories of the Prophets) is a prose work in Khwarezmian Turkish that draws upon older works on the prophets composed
in Arabic (al-Thaclabi) and Persian (al-Nishapuri) as well as oral tales and poetry. The author al-Rabghuzi was born in Transoxiana around 1250–1300
and later served as a judge or qadi (al-Rabghuzi, The Stories of the Prophets, xiii–xvii).
54 The Nahj al-Faradis (Pathway to the Heavens) was composed by al-Sara’i in the Volga region. The text is available in Turkish transliteration and Arabic
transcription in Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis.
55 Köprülü, “Çagatay Edebiyatı,” 290–292.
56 Only Islamic manuscripts in Uighur script most relevant to the Timurid Micrajnama are discussed here; all others copied between 1069 and 1481 are
described in Sertkaya, Islâmî Devrenin Uygur Harfli Eserlerine Toplu Bir Bakıs.
57 The latter work is Mir Haydar’s Chaghatay version of Nizami’s Persian-language Makhzan al-Asrar. The scribe Zayn al-cAbidin transcribed several works
in Samarqand in 1444, and therefore was probably a court scribe during Ulugh Beg’s governorship. For a discussion of manuscripts copied by Zayn al-
cAbidin, see Sertkaya, Islâmî Devrenin Uygur Harfli Eserlerine Toplu Bir Bakıs, 14–15.
268
Within the context of Timurid international missionary him for his “submission.” Infuriated by the letter intimating
work and Timurid-Ming diplomatic contacts and tribute his vassal status, the Timurid sovereign detained the
legations, Chaghatay works could have reached a broader Chinese delegates and seized their caravan of eight
audience of Turkish-speaking populations in Central Asia, hundred camels for seven years. After ordering the hanging
especially diplomatic emissaries from Turfan and Hami of the Chinese emissaries and publicly insulting the Ming
who visited Timurid lands throughout the duration of ruler, Timur set out to invade China. His military campaign,
the fifteenth century. These works provided the potential however, came to a sudden and unsuccessful end with
for gaining Muslim converts and possibly had as their his death in 1405.60 As attested by these early Timurid-
goal the expansion of the linguistic, perhaps even political, Ming contacts, pan-Asian exchanges were all but amicable
reach of the Timurid polity further to the north and east, and untroubled at this time.
inching its sphere of influence closer to China.
The first three decades of the fifteenth century, on the
Uighur script was originally used in manuscripts made other hand, witnessed an unprecedented expansion of
in Turfan ca. 850–1250, Mongolian documents from the time missions from China to Timurid lands, and vice versa,
of Chinghiz Khan,58 and records produced by the Mongol heralding about six decades of continuous commercial
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), at which time many Uighurs exchange. Both Shahrukh and Yongle were keenly
acted as court scribes.59 By sponsoring the application of interested in learning about (and potentially acquring)
this non-Arabic script to works in Chaghatay Turkish–as well each other’s domains and precious goods. By far and
as employing scribes proficient in Turkish, such as Malik large, their diplomatic missions tended to be friendly,
Bakhshi and Mansur Bakhshi–Shahrukh effectively sought and provided the principal mechanism by which they
to expand the parameters of his cultural, political, and religious traded precious materials such as jade, ceramics, and
supremacy. During this period of intense inter-Asian contact, silks or useful animals such as horses (Fig. 1.3).
therefore, both the language and the script employed in the
Timurid Micrajnama carry significant implications. Indeed, Yongle exhibited a passion for the visual arts61 and
the use of Chaghatay allowed Shahrukh to preserve and aspirations for universal knowledge, both of which
expand Islamic literature, while advancing this Turkic language contributed to his image as a powerful player in the arena
as a new lingua franca of the Timurid realms. Furthermore, of international politics. In 1405, he sent his first sea-
Shahrukh’s selection of Uighur script as the vehicle of such going exploration under the command of Zheng He,
works facilitated the availability of Islamic texts to an intellectual China’s greatest admiral. This exploration, along with six
elite of Turkic extraction. Both the Chaghatay language and others to come, discovered new areas of the world and
Uighur script may be seen as cues for reconstructing the helped the Ming emperor acquire foodstuffs and “exotic”
Micrajnama’s targeted audience(s), which certainly included materials. Likewise, through the international administrative
members of Shahrukh’s immediate entourage and, quite system of tribute missions, he was able to acquire horses
possibly, Central Asian or Chinese ambassadors hosted and and large quantities of jade from western China and
entertained at the Timurid court. Central Asia. In fact, one of the horses he received through
the Timurid mission of 1419–22 reportedly had belonged
to Timur. Much in character with its now deceased owner,
A CASE STUDY: THE TIMURID MISSION TO CHINA, 1419–22 it was brazen enough to fling Yongle to the ground,
causing him to break his arm–a behavior that almost cost
Official embassies were exchanged between the the Timurid emissaries their lives.62
Timurids and the Ming dynasty as early as the 1380s,
when sources record Persian merchants visiting China. Yongle’s most important mission from China to Timurid
In return, Chinese emissaries were sent in 1395 to the lands took place in 1413, when he sent his two
court of Timur, carrying letters from the Ming ruler thanking representatives Chen Cheng and Li Xian from his capital
58 Uighur script was adapted to Mongolian in 1204 by the order of Ghingiz Khan (Esin, “The Bakhshi in the 14th to 16th Centuries,” 282).
59 Mongol passports (paizas) inscribed in Uighur script also date from this period. See for example a Golden Horde paiza from ca. 1362–69 in Carboni and
Komaroff, The Legacy of Genghis Khan, 38, Fig. 34, and cat. no. 154.
60 Fletcher, “China and Central Asia, 1368–1884,” 209–210.
61 See Watt and Patry Leidy, Defining Yongle.
62 Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, “Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking,” 65–66.
269
Nanjing to Herat. Chen Cheng wrote a lively diary, the the mission’s return in 1422, presented his journal to
Xi yu fan guo zhi, which he presented to the Chinese Prince Baysunghur. His diary, entitled “An Account of
monarch upon his return to Nanjing in 1415.63 Although the Envoys Who Went to Khan Baliq,” provides us with
the author describes more than sixteen other towns an incomparable description of the transcontinental routes
(including Samarqand), his longest entry focuses on Herat, the Timurid mission took to and from Khan Baliq, the
where he spent most of his time. He describes, among sites and sights they witnessed, and the imperial Chinese
other topics, Shahrukh’s residence, his imperial garb, banquets, festive events, and ceremonies to which they
how Heratis greet each other, how and what they eat, were made privy.67
houses and buildings, marketplaces, bathhouses, the
taxation system, wine drinking, social and familial Judging from the cities in which the legation
relationships, burial rites, water mills, roads, schools, halted–occasionally for extensive periods of time–Shahrukh’s
local products, and the availability of precious and emissaries took the northernmost Silk Road from Herat
semiprecious stones, fauna, and flora. In Chen Cheng’s to Cathay (Khata’i, or northern China) and then opted
second journal, the Xi yu xing zheng zhi, he also records for the southern route upon their return (Fig. 1.4). After
having seen a large copper vessel in the courtyard of the setting off from Herat, the group passed through Balkh,
congregational mosque (masjid-i jamic) of Herat.64 His Samarqand (where other emissaries joined them), Tashkent,
two documentary accounts provide unparalleled Chinese Sayram, Ashpara, Saclubu, Turfan, Qara Khwaja, Qamul
records of the social, economic, artistic, and cultural (Hami), Qarawul (Jia-yu Guan), Sukju (Suzhou), Qamju
activities in Herat during the peak of Shahrukh’s rule. (Ganzhou), Lanzhou, Jia-ding fu (Zhengding), and, finally,
Significantly for our purposes, they also reveal the Ming Khan Baliq.68 Because Sayram lies north of Tashkent,
emissary’s ability to gain access to royal ceremonies and Ashapara is close to Lake Issyk-Kul in modern Kyrgyzstan,
events held in the Timurid royal palace.65 and Ghiyath al-Din makes no mention of the oasis towns
of Kashgar, Qizil, and Qarashahr (which lie on the northern
Shahrukh returned the favor four years later, when, Taklamakan Desert route), it becomes clear that the
in 1419, he prepared a delegation of emissaries to set Timurid mission opted for the road to China north of the
out from Herat to Khan Baliq (present-day Beijing), which Tian Shan mountain range.
served as Yongle’s imperial residence before becoming
the Ming capital in 1421.66 The Timurid embassy represented This route may well have been chosen for safety reasons,
Shahrukh and his five sons Ulugh Beg (d. 1449), Abu’l- as Ghiyath al-Din notes that, for the return trip, delegates
Fath Ibrahim (d. 1435), Baysunghur (d. 1433), Suyurghatmish selected the desert route (rah-i chul) since “they feared
(d. 1427), and Muhammad Juki (d. 1445), who served as the insecurity and unsafety of the roads.”69 Indeed, just as
governors of various provinces in the Timurid Empire. they avoided the northern Taklamakan Desert route, they
Shahrukh appointed Shadi Khwaja as chief of the mission; also circumvented the southern Taklamakan. When the
Ulugh Beg dispatched Sultan Shah and Malik Bakhshi; Timurid delegation headed back from Khan Baliq to Qamul,
and Prince Baysunghur sent Sultan Ahmad and Ghiyath they arrived in Khotan before heading to Kashgar and
al-Din as his own delegates. Ghiyath al-Din was instructed Andizhan, whence Ulugh Beg’s delegation took the western
to keep detailed notes of their trip from Herat through route back to Samarqand and all other emissaries set out
Central Asia onward to Khan Baliq. He obliged and, upon to Herat via the southern Khurasan road.
63 Rossabi, “A Translation of Ch’en Ch’eng’s Hsi-Yü Fan-Kuo Chi”; and Hecker, “A Fifteenth-Century Chinese Diplomat in Herat.”
64 Frye, “Two Timurid Monuments in Herat,” 211.
65 Kauz, Politik und Handel zwischen Ming und Timuriden, 108.
66 Khan Baliq, literally “The Ruler’s Town,” served as the Mongol capital during Kublai Khan’s rule (1260–94). Marco Polo (1254–1324) spent seventeen
years in Kublai Khan’s service in Khan Baliq, where he wrote a detailed description of the Mongol capital and the ruler’s palace.
67 Ghiyath al-Din’s report of 1422 is cited in a number of Timurid sources, the earliest among which is the text of Hafiz-i Abru’s Zubdat al-Tavarikh (Cream
of Histories) as contained in a manuscript at the Bodleian Library in Oxford (MS. Elliot 422). As Hafiz-i Abru began his universal history in 1423 and died
in 1430, we can assume that the earliest copy of Ghiyath al-Din’s report was executed within a decade of its original composition. Slightly different
versions of Ghiyath al-Din’s report appear in a number of later Timurid histories, including cAbd al-Razzaq al-Samarqandi’s Matlac al-Sacdayn, Mirkhwand’s
Rawzat al-Safa’, and Khwandamir’s Habib al-Siyar. The report as transmitted by Mirkhwand appears in Persian and English translation and is cited as:
Ghiyathuddin Naqqash,“Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking.”
68 Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, “Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking,” 53–59; and Hafiz-i Abru, A Persian Embassy
to China, 6–49. Saclubu remains unidentified.
69 Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, “Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking,” 67; and Hafiz-i Abru, A Persian Embassy to China, 122.
270
The northern and southern Taklamakan desert routes Jia-ding fu (Zhengding), whose Buddhist monasteries,
obviously were not deemed secure in the 1420s. Rebellions temples, paintings, statues, and ritual objects must have
occurred frequently, and marauding robbers were poised been of particular interest to the eyes of the artist-chronicler
to attack merchant caravans and diplomatic missions Ghiyath al-Din. Numerous times, he describes Buddhist
carrying valuable goods. Shahrukh’s delegates, having “idol houses” (put-khana or bayt al-sanam), places of
received silver, silk and other luxury fabrics, horses, and worship (macbadha), gigantic idols (put or sanam), and
weapons from the Chinese emperor Yongle upon their statues of the Buddha. Ghiyath al-Din also lists all of the
departure, took all precautions necessary to ensure the other sites and ceremonial festivities the delegates observed
safe arrival of their assets.70 in China, including the Ming capital Khan Baliq. As a
general rule, then, the Timurid mission’s experience of
The mission probably would have stopped in Qizil, Buddhist artistic forms was cast: it was not just Uighur
Dunhuang, and Miran, three of the most important cultural Tantric Buddhist arts of Central Asia which the envoys
and commercial centers on the Silk Road. Qizil, which experienced but also, just as often, Buddhism in its
includes the sites of Qumtura and Kucha, lies on the contemporary Chinese context.
northern Taklamakan road between Kashgar and Turfan.
Qumtura and Kucha boast stunning cave paintings dating Turfan was first under Chinese domination in the
from ca. 500–900 depicting a variety of Buddhist themes, sixth century. After a brief Tibetan interlude (672–760),
including the Buddha, bodhisattvas, brahmans, Buddhist the Uighur Turks captured the area and made Qocho
ascetics and monks, and donor figures. their capital. Although Manicheanism and Nestorian
Christianity were present, Buddhism dominated from
Qizil and Miran were abandoned by this time. Dunhuang, at least 840 until as late as the fifteenth century. The
on the other hand, was still an inhabited and active city. Flemish Franciscan missionary William of Rubruck
Located southwest of Anxi at the north-south bifurcation visited Turfan in 1252–55 on his way to the court of
of the eastern Silk Road, the city was a typical stopping the fourth Mongol ruler Möngke (r. 1251–59) and
point for Serindian missions. Many of its the famed states in his travel diary (Itinerarium) that he met
temples, relief murals, wall paintings, and sculptures–dating Uighur monks there who were building temples and
from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries–inspired those monasteries as well as painting murals and mandalas.72
who stopped along the way. This nodal city also served In 1420, Ghiyath al-Din likewise states that most
as an important repository and center for the production inhabitants were unbelievers (kafiran) and idolaters
of illustrated manuscripts,71 especially illustrated copies (put-parast) with many large idol temples, some of
of Sino-Buddhist apocryphal texts. Dunhuang materials which were quite old while others only recently
probably influenced Islamic art during the Mongol period, completed. On a platform (suffa) located in one of
when Central Asian artists settled in Iran under the the Turfanese temples, for instance, a large statue
patronage of the Ilkhanids (1256–1353). They also said to represent the Buddha (Shakyamuni) truly
influenced painters, scribes, and official delegates as they impressed the Timurid delegates.73
traveled through Central Asia during the Timurid period.
Three weeks later, the Timurid delegates set foot
The Timurid mission also stopped in the important in Qamul (Hami), located on the northern Silk Road
towns of Turfan, Qamul (Hami), Qamju (Ganzhou), and on the slopes of the Tian Shan mountain range in
70 Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, “Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking,” 64, 66; and Hafiz-i Abru, A Persian Embassy
to China, 98, 112.
71 For a discussion of the manuscripts produced and preserved in Dunhuang from the eighth to the twelfth centuries, see Akira Fujieda, “Une reconstruction
de la ‘bibliothèque’ de Touen-Houang”; and idem, “The Tun-huang Manuscripts.”
72 See his description of three temples in Turfan and the Uighurs’ Buddhist rituals in: De Rubrouck, Voyage dans l’Empire Mongole (1253–1255), 142–144.
Peter Jackson’s English translation of Rubruck’s Itinerarium unfortunately was unavailable to the author at the time of writing (see The Mission of Friar
William of Rubruck: His Journey to the Court of the Great Khan Möngke, 1253–1255 [London: Hakluyt Society, 1990]).
73 Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, “Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking,” 54; and Hafiz-i Abru, A Persian Embassy to
China, 12–13. Citing another source, Esin (“Four Turkish Bakhshis Active in Iranian Lands,” 66, fn 1) notes that the Timurid delegates also stopped north
of Turfan, in a place where a new mosque was built adjacent to a Buddhist monastery. The monastery contained a sculpture of a dharmapala, or a
wrathful deity typically depicted as a terrifying being with many heads and limbs. The dharmapala is a diety known as the “Protector of the Law” in
Vajrayana (esoteric) Buddhism.
271
Chinese Turkestan, where they noticed a Buddhist particular attention in his report. In the middle of the
temple facing a beautiful mosque and a Sufi convent. large temple complex known as the “Monastery of the
Ghiyath al-Din notes that this particular “idol-house” Lying Buddha,” the legation observed an enormous
contained a large sculpture of a ten-year-old boy statue of the reclining Buddha.77 This great ‘sleeping’
(probably representing the Buddha as a child) made (khaftida) idol of Shakyamuni is described as having
either of copper or gold and a number of smaller idols its hand under his head and the other resting on its
(possibly depicting the thousand Buddhas or thigh in what appears to be the Nirvana position; it also
boddhisattvas). The walls of the Buddhist temple bore is covered in gold and draped with a variety of colored
beautifully executed colored paintings, while the fabrics. Through his eyewitness account, Ghiyath al-
temple’s door included two statues or paintings of Din documents that many “infidels” (kafiran) paid tribute
demons (div) battling one another. 74 Although it is and bowed down to this colossal, highly decorated
unclear in Ghiyath al-Din’s text whether he is describing statue of the Buddha. He also observes the vividly
paintings or sculptures of two fantastic creatures at painted, life-size images of bakhshis (here, Buddhist
the temple’s main gate, he may be referring to the monks) adorning the temple’s walls as well as the
guardian Lions of Buddha–also known as Lions of Fo curtains, chairs, candlesticks, and vessels serving as
or Shishi (“stone lions” in Chinese)–that typically appear ceremonial furnishings.78
at the entrance of Buddhist temples in China so as to
protect sacred Buddhist precincts and ward off evil The embassy’s next, and final, major halt before
spirits. Moreover, the many paintings inside the temple reaching their ultimate destination of Khan Baliq was Jia-
may have resembled the stucco paintings of Uighur ding fu (Zhengding), a lively city in the Hebei province.
Mahayana Buddhist sites in the vicinity of Qamul, in This city was inhabited by a large population and boasted
particular the cella paintings at the Ara-Tam temple many fine buildings during the 1420s.79 The Timurid
dating from the ninth to the twelfth centuries.75 emissaries visited a large Buddhist temple which housed
a celebrated gilt bronze statue–apparently fifty cubits
Moving further eastward, Ghiyath al-Din and his (about twenty-three meters) or eight stories high–known
mates reached the city of Qamju (Ganzhou) in the as “The Thousand-Armed” (hazar dast) because it had
northwestern Chinese province of Gansu.76 They were many arms and hands radiating from its upright body.
received by the town’s governor Wang Daji and then According to one version of Ghiyath al-Din’s report, each
visited a Buddhist temple to which Ghiyath al-Din pays of its palms was covered with the image of an eye
China, 14–15. There are some slight variations between Ghiyath al-Din’s text as reported in Mirkhwand’s Rawzat al-Safa’ and Hafiz-i Abru’s Zubdat al-
Tavarikh. Mirkhwand’s text states that the large sculpture is made of gold and represents a ten-year-old boy, while Hafiz-i Abru reports that there was a
large idol in front of which was a small copper idol of a ten-year-old child. It remains unclear whether the temple housed one or two sculptures and
whether it/they was/were constructed of gold (tazyin) or copper (mass). It may be that there was one large sculpture of the Buddha, in front of which
was placed a statuette made of gilt copper intended to represent the Buddha as a young boy.
75 Stein, Serindia, vol. 3, 1151–1154.
76 For a discussion of the Uighurs of Ganzhou, see Pink, Die Uiguren von Kan-chou in der früheren Sung Zeit, 960–1028.
77 Ghiyath al-Din states that the area of the temple complex is 500 cubits square, while the recumbent statue of the Buddha is 50 cubits tall, 9 cubits wide
at the feet, and 21 cubits in perimeter at the head (see Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, “Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court
at Peking,” 58; and Hafiz-i Abru, A Persian Embassy to China, 38). The cubit (or Persian gaz) is roughly equivalent to the length between a man’s elbow
and the tip of his middle finger, or ca. 45.7 centimeters. According to Ghiyath al-Din’s calculations, therefore, the temple complex was 114,250 meters
square, and the reclining Buddha was 22.83 meters high.
78 Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, “Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking,” 58 (Mirkhwand’s Rawzat al-Safa’ mistakingly
records the statue of the Buddha with one hand under its head and the other on his face, fn 33); and Hafiz-i Abru, A Persian Embassy to China, 38–40.
Outside of this temple complex, ten other Buddhist temples and a fifteen-story-high pagoda decorated with paintings of demons were visited by the
Timurid legation.
China, 46. Wheeler Thackston identifies the site as Lanzhou in Gansu (Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, 59, fn 37), while K. M. Maitra states that the city must be
“Ch’eng Ting Fu” in the district of Pe Che-li (Hafiz-i Abru, 46, fn 1). He Gaoji, in his Chinese translation of Ghiyath al-Din Naqqash’s report as included
in Hafiz-i Abru’s Zubdat al-Tawarikh (Cream of Histories), agrees with Maitra and identifies the city as Zhengding and the temple as the Longxing Temple
(Gaoji, “Shahalu qian shi zhongguo ji,” 97–144). The present author is in agreement with Maitra and Gaoji’s identification of Chia-ting fu as Jia-ding fu,
the older name of the contemporary city of Zhengding, located 260 kilometers south of Beijing in Hebei province. The city boasts the famous Buddhist
Longxing Temple complex, built in 586, which includes a thousand-armed and thousand-eyed Guanyin statue made in 971 (Song Dynasty).
272
(chashmi), while, according to another text, each palm Chinese captives and their many implements of constraint
contained a body.80 Whether the statue held bodies or reveals that the procession of prisoners left a profound
eyes in its palms, it is obvious that the author is describing impression on him and his fellow delegates–an impression
the sculpture of the Chinese “Thousand-Armed” Guanyin which may have influenced, consciously or not, the
boddhisattva (Fig. 1.4), a deity whose possible iconographic depictions of hell and its tortures in Shahrukh’s Micrajnama.
impact on the Timurid Micrajnama is discussed further
in Chapter Four. A number of other plaster-cast, gilt, and After a royal hunt, the bestowing of many lavish gifts,
painted statuettes surrounded this colossal statue, while and several unfortunate incidents–including Yongle’s fall
many paintings on the temple’s walls depicted various from Timur’s horse, as well as the death of one of his
landscapes, monks (bakhshis), priests (rahiban), and favorite wives–the Ming emperor became ill and unable
ascetics or yogis (jugiyan) in postures of meditation. to entertain his distinguished guests. For these many
reasons, it appears, he allowed the Timurid delegation
After coming into contact with numerous “exotic” to leave Khan Baliq. Loaded with their royal presents and
Buddhist sites and wondrous idols and paintings in Turfan, provided with security guards for part of their course, the
Qamul, Qamju, and Jia-ding fu, the Timurid delegates emissaries headed back home. Once in Qamul, they took
finally reached Khan Baliq, where the Ming ruler Yongle the desert route to Khotan and then headed to Kashgar.
received them with the pomp and circumstance dictated It seems that Ghiyath al-Din became fatigued by such a
by royal protocol. Ghiyath al-Din provides the reader long and arduous voyage, as he makes no comment about
with very interesting details about the sumptuous banquets, his experiences in Khotan, Kashgar, or any other oasis
entertaining dances with masks, acrobatic performances, city on his way home. This is quite a pity, since he and
and musical events staged for various occasions, including his colleagues may well have seen a number of sixth- to
the Chinese New Year (sal-i naw) and the Festival of eighth-century Buddhist wall paintings and devotional
Lights (shabb-i charagh).81 Some of the masks worn by objects in the Khotanese towns of Balawaste and Dandan
dancers in Khan Baliq may have resembled the zoomorphic Öilüq.
masks made of pasteboard that the Timurid delegates
saw earlier on their way from Qamul to Qamju.82
TRAVEL AND TRANSFERENCE IN A TIMURID CONTEXT
Ghiyath al-Din also informs us that Chinese guards
paraded a large group of prisoners in front of the Ming Based on Ghiyath al-Din’s narrative of 1419–1422–in
emperor and the Timurid envoys; these criminals wore which Malik Bakhshi took part as Ulugh Beg’s emissary
wooden pillories (dushakha, literally forked sticks) and and is mentioned no fewer than three times84–several
planks (takhta) around their necks, with small openings intriguing facts emerge that have remained overlooked
that allowed their heads to protrude, as well as boards to date. First and foremost, even though the Timurid
hanging around their necks on which their particular “Book of Ascension” represents a creative amalgam of
crimes were inscribed. Besides these wooden yokes, Central Asian pictorial traditions that arrived in Islamic
used to severely limit the prisoners’ movements, felons lands from the Mongol period onward, Malik Bakhshi,
also were bound by chains and their custodians dragged as the manuscript’s calligrapher, and Ghiyath al-Din
them by the hair.83 Ghiyath al-Din’s close attention to the Naqqash, as a leading “painter-traveler,”85 must have
China, 46–48. The author further specifies that about ten thousand donkey-loads (kharvar) of bronze were needed for this statue.
81 Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, “Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking,” 60–64; and Hafiz-i Abru, A Persian Embassy
to China, 66–90, where the “Festival of Lights” is called the “Night of Illumination” (89).
China, 24.
China, 57–58.
84 Ghiyathuddin Naqqash, “Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking,” 54, 64, 66; and Hafiz-i Abru, A Persian
Embassy to China, 8, 64, 97. The first mention of Malik Bakhshi as the emissary of Ulugh Beg is incorrectly transcribed as Muhammad Bakhshi in both
narratives. The second and third times, upon receiving a number of gifts, including silver, robes, hawks, horses, arrows, spears, and currency, he is
mentioned by his correct name (Malik Bakhshi).
85 The term “painter-traveler” is borrowed loosely from Lynne Thornton’s Les Orientalistes: Peintres Voyageurs, 1828–1908 (Paris: ACR Edition, 1983) to
describe a class of European painters who also embarked on travels across the Middle East and North Africa during the nineteenth century.
273
drawn upon their personal experiences in both Central was inflected largely by Chinese Buddhism and its shrines,
Asia and China during their travels to Khan Baliq. statues, ritual furnishings, and paintings principally in
Qamul (Hami), Qamju (Ganzhou), Jia-ding fu (Zhengding),
Although it is not possible to establish whether Ghiyath and Khan Baliq (Beijing). While in these Chinese cities,
al-Din was the artist responsible for conceiving and executing the Timurid author does not make a single mention of
the paintings in the Timurid Micrajnama, he appears Tantric, shamanist, or esoteric practices in his chronicle;
curious about Buddhist sites and, by extension, may have the only possible events with such overtones consist of
been welcoming of a visual language (although considered dances with zoomorphic masks and other acrobatic
“pagan” according to Islamic norms) belonging to an old performances that were part of Chinese official diplomacy
and revered Buddhist culture. This acceptance of foreign and social etiquette, not pseudo-magical performances
forms would especially be facilitated if the painter of the by “schismatic” Muslim mystics in Uighur lands (as has
manuscript had been, like Malik Bakhshi, a painter-traveler been proposed by Emel Esin’s earlier studies of the
of Central Asian Turkic origins. Such individuals may have Micrajnama).86 In other words, Ghiyath al-Din, Malik
formed a kind of bakhshi artistic “sub-culture” not bound Bakhshi, and their companions encountered eastern
by the ruling Timurid aesthetics of the time. By drawing traditions largely defined by Buddhist traditions in a
upon previous and contemporary Central Asian and Chinese Chinese context, and, as the Timurid report strongly
Buddhist holy sites, sculptures, and wall paintings, itinerant intimates, came into little or no contact with Tantric Uighur
painters could create, as they saw most appropriate, a Buddhist or heterodox Islamic practices in Central Asia.
visual language imbued with religious significance–even This fact bears significant implications for the formulation
if the referent was Buddhism rather than Islam. and situation of the Timurid Micrajnama’s iconography,
a subject to which we will return in Chapter Four.
Ghiyath al-Din’s report makes patently clear that his
and his mates’ acquaintance with non-Islamic cultures
86See her articles “Muhammad Siyah Qalam and the Inner Asian Turkish Tradition”; eadem, “The Bakhshi in the 14th to 16th Centuries”; eadem, “Four
Turkish Bashshi active in Iranian Lands”; and eadem, “The Turkish Baksi and the Painter Muhammad Siyah Kalam.”
274
C H A P T E R II
T H E M I CR A J N A M A T E X T : T R A D I T I O N AND
VA R I AT I O N A S E X E M P L U M
subtle ways in which the Micrajnama’s text includes such

J ust as the 1420s and 1430s were ripe with intense
pan-Asian artistic exchange and fusion, the Timurid
Micrajnama’s text also provides a testament to various
new details, it is possible to suggest that we should not
refer to this text as Mir Haydar’s “Book of Ascension,”
procedures of cultural interactions. It blends a variety of but rather as an autonomous micraj section of al-Sara’i’s
literary works despite belonging to the autonomous “Book Nahj al-Faradis, a work in the “Forty Hadith” genre.
of Ascension” genre. The text is indebted especially to Moreover, the illustrated text was used not just for
compendia of Hadith as it relies on al-Baghawi’s (d. 1122 edification and indoctrination, but also for an internal
or 1117) collection of Sayings entitled Masabih al-Sunna strengthening of Shahrukh’s own religious authority and
(The Lanterns of Traditions). In several places, the a bid for political power during the height of Ming-Timurid
Micrajnama text also cites some of the Prophet Muhammad’s relations.
companions, such as Anas b. Malik and Malik b. Sacsaca,
who transmitted narratives of the night journey and NARRATING THEOLOGY: THE TIMURID MICRAJNAMA’S TEXTUAL
ascension. However, it is most especially related to its SOURCES
“base” text, al-Sara’i’s (fl. ca. 1357–60) Nahj al-Faradis
(Pathway to the Heavens). The author of the Timurid Micrajnama text is not shy
about naming his sources. In fact, he states in the preface
The Nahj al-Faradis falls within the “Forty Hadith” to his text that he composed his work by translating into
template and creatively subsumes the “Sayings of the Turkish a book entitled Nahj al-Faradis (Pathway to the
Prophet” into an entertaining novella. Despite anchoring Heavens), itself containing a Saying of the Prophet on
the Micrajnama firmly within the Hadith genre, however, the ascension; this saying is attributed to Anas b. Malik
the author smoothed the arc of his narrative by omitting and preserved in al-Baghawi’s Hadith collection bearing
exegetical digressions and by streamlining the narrative the title Masabih al-Sunna (The Lanterns of Tradition).2
flow through a series of sequential and interlocking While al-Baghawi’s text likely was available to the
narrative clusters. These narremes, in return, link the text Micrajnama’s author in Persian translation, the Nahj al-
again with novelizing “Books of Ascension,” especially Faradis has only survived in Khwarezmian Turkish and
those attributed to Ibn cAbbas.1 may have been excerpted without the need for an
intermediary Persian translation.
This chapter analyzes the Micrajnama’s textual sources
and recurring patterns found in various versions of the The author of the latter work of religious prose,
“Book of Ascension.” It also compares the contents of Mahmud b. cAli al-Sara’i, was originally from the Golden
the Micrajnama to the contents of the Nahj al-Faradis Horde town of Kerder in Khwarezm. He may have
in order to determine where—and, more importantly, completed the Nahj al-Faradis in his hometown or in
why—its “base” text was amended. By highlighting the the city of Saray (on the Volga) sometime between 1325
1 These include ascension texts also attributed to al-Bakri (fl. ca. 1250–1300) and the appearance of the Ibn cAbbas genre in European languages such as
the Liber Scale Machometi (The Book of Muhammad’s Ladder).
2 The text also includes a Hadith attributed to Malik b. Sacsaca, who, along with Anas b. Malik and Ibn cAbbas, is one of the major transmitters of the
Prophet’s Sayings on the ascension.
277
and 1360. One extant manuscript of al-Sara’i’s text written to a broader group of belletristic and doctrinal works
in Khwarezmian Turkish (SK Yeni Cami 879) was that heralded the efflorescence of a vibrant Turkish literary
calligraphed by a certain Muhammad b. Muhammad b. culture over the course of the fourteenth century.8 Although
Khusraw al-Khwarezmi on 6 Jumada I 761/ 25 March many such works were created for educational and
1360. The manuscript provides a terminus ante quem doctrinal purposes, the Nahj al-Faradis stands out for its
of 1360 for the work’s execution.3 Therefore, the Timurid prescriptive, Sunni character and its elaborate description
Micrajnama reiterates a religious treatise in Turkish prose of the punishments of hell. Moreover, its date of ca.
dating from as much as a century prior. 1357–60 raises questions about the social and historical
factors that formed the impetus for its composition. Since
Al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis is not a scholarly theological it was written during the Black Death (1340s–50s) in the
work, although it uses the Hadith as its main structural and “land of Özbeg” (bilad Uzbak),9 and even possibly during
thematic starting place. The author altered Hadith idioms a plague year in the Golden Horde (1358),10 the Nahj al-
into a cohesive tale, using a simple and clear Khwarezmian Faradis belongs to a cross-cultural corpus of literary
Turkish. He understood that, through engaging stories activity that displays increased religiosity in order to
communicated in a local language, he could entertain and promote propriety in all spheres of human activity and
appeal to a public that was undergoing the uncertainties of provide a call for good behavior in order to stave off the
conversion and stresses of Islamization. Indeed, the period wrath of God. These kinds of Turco-Islamic works call
ca. 1300–1360, when he composed his Nahj al-Faradis, was to mind contemporary European vernacular texts, such
marked by a sharp increase in conversion to Islam in Eurasia. as Boccaccio’s (d. 1375) epic poem The Decameron,
For example, Ilkhanid rulers such as Ghazan (r. 1295–1304) which responded to the Black Death. They too aimed to
and Öljeitü (r. 1304–16) embraced Islam for various political instill proper religious mores and thereby placate the ira
purposes;4 Chaghatay rulers such as Esen Burqa (r. 1309–18), Dei.11
Kebek (r. 1318–26), and especially Tarmashirin (r. 1326–34)
promoted themselves as great Islamizers;5 and the khans of Although some Muslim scholars explained the Black
the Golden Horde, particularly Özbeg (r. 1313–41), sought Death in scientific terms or through magical beliefs, a
to turn Islam into a “native religion” through (oftentimes number of thinkers sought religio-moral explanations for
Sufi) conversion tales and missionary activities.6 The Nahj the devastation. For example, Ibn al-Wardi (d. 1348–49)
al-Faradis, which introduces the tenets of Islam by interweaving composed a treatise on the plague in which he considers
them with entertaining stories, must be regarded as a literary the Black Death both a punishment and a form of
work promoting proper religious and social conduct for a martyrdom. While speaking of the plague in Aleppo, he
Turkophone population and, as a result, a product of these offers the petition: “We ask God’s forgiveness for our
decades of intensive religious proselytizing particularly within souls’ bad inclination; the plague is surely part of His
the realms of the Golden Horde. punishment.”12 Similarly, the writer Ibn Abi Hajala, who
died during a plague year in 1375, argues that the ultimate
In a parallel vein, the Nahj al-Faradis, which was cause of the deadly disease was God’s punishment of
written by al-Sara’i possibly around 1357–58,7 belongs his people for social crimes such as adultery, usury,
3 Eckmann, “Die Literatur von Chwarezm und der Goldenen Horde,” 287–290; Köprülü, Türk Edebiyatı Tarihi, 312–314; and Köprülü, “Çagatay Edebiyatı,”
285.
4 See Melville, “Padshah-i Islam”; Amitai-Preiss, “The Conversion of Tegüder Ilkhan to Islam”; idem, “Sufis and Shamans”; and Pfeiffer, “Conversion Versions.”
5 Al-Rabghuzi, The Stories of the Prophets, vol. 2, XVIII; and Biran, “The Chaghadaids and Islam.”
6 DeWeese, Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde; and Golden, “Religion among the Qipcaqs of Medieval Eurasia.”
7 Schamiloglu, “The Islamic High Culture of the Golden Horde,” 213.
8 Schamiloglu, “The Islamic High Culture of the Golden Horde,” 210–211; idem, “Mongol or Not?”; and Eckmann, “Die Literatur von Chwarezm und der
Goldenen Horde.” This “elite” literary culture was formed through the creation of a number of theological and belletristic works in the Turkish language,
such as al-Rabghuzi’s Qisas al-Anbiya’ (Stories of the Prophets) of 1310, Qutb’s Turkish translation of Nizami’s Khusraw va Shirin of ca. 1341–42, and
the Nahj al-Faradis of ca. 1357–60, among many.
9 Schamiloglu, “The Rise of the Ottoman Empire,” 263 (citing Ibn al-Wardi); and idem, “Preliminary Remarks on the Role of Disease in the History of the
Golden Horde,” 448. At this time, the plague struck many cities in the areas of the Golden Horde, such as Saray, Khwarezm, and Astrakhan.
10 Schamiloglu, “The Rise of the Ottoman Empire,” 267; and idem, “Preliminary Remarks on the Role of Disease in the History of the Golden Horde,” 451.
The Nahj al-Faradis was written during the rule of Janibeg (r. 1342–57), Berdibeg (r. 1357–59), or Qulpa (r. 1359–60).
11 See the collection of articles on the subject in William Daniel, ed., The Black Death: The Impact of the Fourteenth-Century Plague, Papers of the Eleventh
Annual Conference of the Center for Medieval & Early Renaissance Studies (Binghamton: Center for Medieval & Early Renaissance Studies, 1982).
12 Cited in Dols, The Black Death in the Middle East, 114.
278
T H E M I CR A J N A M A T E X T : T R A D I T I O N AND VA R I AT I O N AS EXEMPLUM
drinking alcohol, and so forth,13 offenses that also are middle of the fourteenth century. By drawing upon older
emphasized in al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis. Much like their traditions of narrative Hadiths and exegesis written
European counterparts, Muslim writers saw human principally in Persian, or translated into Persian from an
corruption as the root of pestilence and sought to remedy Arabic original, these creative works constitute the ultimate
the situation by writing cautionary works aimed at outcome of several centuries of narrational scholarship.
inculcating proper conduct. Al-Sara’i’s citation of three Hadiths (one of which is said
to have been transmitted in Persian) via al-Baghawi’s
Literary activities during the fourteenth and fifteenth Masabih al-Sunna reveals that the Nahj al-Faradis, itself
centuries responded to catastrophic events and worked structured in the Forty Hadith pattern, was indebted to
effectively alongside the drive to implement a perceived Hadith collections. The selection of al-Baghawi’s collection—
religious orthodoxy. Authors of texts such as the Nahj rather than one of the more “canonical” Hadith manuals
al-Faradis, which contains a description of nine tortures written by al-Bukhari, Muslim, et al.—is noteworthy as
in hell for men and women who engage in improper well, since it is indicative of the author’s predilection for
behavior,14 and the derivative Micrajnama—which expands a particular Hadith manual while writing his Nahj al-
the tortures to a total of sixteen and includes punishments Faradis.
for unlawful activities such as stealing the wealth of
orphans, refusing to give alms, and drinking wine15— Al-Baghawi (d. 1122 or 1117) was originally from the
enlarged the base narratives of their works to provide town of Bagh (also called Baghshur) near Herat.17 Having
clear and detailed expositions of the consequences of trained in Hadith, tafsir, and hagiographical stories under
ungodly deeds. The focus on morbidity and penalty in his famed mentor al-Thaclabi (d. 1035), he chose “fictional”
the immediate aftermath of the Black Death serviced, in narrative as his primary device for religious exposition.18
very powerful allegorical terms, the growth of religious He realized that elucidating points of dogma were conveyed
conversion and indoctrination. Despite belonging to an best through the joint efforts of proselytism and
older genre of Jewish and Christian apocrypha,16 these entertainment, while tales that inspire admiration or
kinds of Islamic apocalypses and narratives describing provoke fear afford a powerful introduction to the religious
hell carried—because of their deeply admonitory and sciences. Likewise, he understood that narratives can
salvific character—contemporary religious and societal reveal the nature of God, reassert moral behavior, and
applicabilities during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. solve ethical problems simply by drawing attention to
Therefore, the Nahj al-Faradis offers a particular literary the Day of Judgement and its consequences.
model for the subtle intersection between religio-legalist
indoctrination and reactionarist proselytization during a Although al-Baghawi considered himself as conforming
period of Islamizing missions and plague eruptions across to the Prophet’s Sunna19 and even acquired epithets
Asia. indicative of his “orthodox” standing,20 he nevertheless
included in his work Hadiths whose chains of transmitters
The Nahj al-Faradis also provides us with further are weak, strange, or even rejected—hence later criticisms
insights into the ways in which integral Hadith-based of his work as somewhat “unorthodox.”21 Despite some
ascension tales in Turkish came to be formed by the scholars’ attacks leveled at his questionable narrative
13 Cited in Dols, The Black Death in the Middle East, 114–115.

14 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 2, 49–50.
15 See BnF Sup Turc 190, folios 53r–67v; Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 280–283; Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-nâmeh, 21–26; and Scherberger, Das
Micrajname, 108–114.
16 See Himmelfarb, Tours of Hell.
17 Al-Baghawi’s full name was Abu Muhammad al-Husayn b. Mascud b. Muhammad al-Farra’ (“the furrier”). The date of his death is unclear, as several
authors provide diverging information. See Robson, “al-Baghawi,” E.I.2, vol. 1, 893.
18 For the term “fictional” in novelizing Hadith and tafsir literatures, see Günther, “Fictional Narration and Imagination within an Authoritative Framework”;
and Riddell, “The Transmission of Narrative-Based Exegesis in Islam,” 61. The term “fictional” here means that these works essentially tell a story composed
of narrative constituents and sequences in order to improve the tale’s “tellability” and thereby grip the reader’s or listener’s attention (Günther, “Fictional
Narration and Imagination within an Authoritative Framework,” 465).
19 Riddell, “The Transmission of Narrative-Based Exegesis in Islam,” 67.
20 These included muhyi al-sunna (“the reviver of prophetic tradition”), rukn al-din (“the pillar of religion), and zahir al-din (“the supporter of religion”).
His other nicknames, i.e., al-muhaddith (“the Hadith transmitter”) and al-mufassir (“the exegete”), point to his professional activities (see Robson, “al-
Baghawi,” E.I.2, vol. 1, 893; and Badahdah, al-Madkhal ila Sharh al-Sunna lil-Imam al-Baghawi, vol. 1, 9).
21 Badahdah, al-Madkhal ila Sharh al-Sunna lil-Imam al-Baghawi, vol. 1, 128 (ghayr al-sunna).
279
theology, al-Baghawi remained tremendously popular Masabih al-Sunna.26 Whether the Hadith collection is
within the field of Hadith studies. From the time of the divided according to the “Forty Hadith” pattern (Nahj al-
composition of his Masabih al-Sunna (ca. 1100) to the Faradis) or by thematic clusters (Masabih al-Sunna), the
illustration of the Timurid Micrajnama (ca. 1436–37), no fact remains that by drawing on Hadith paradigms the
less than twenty commentaries on his Hadith collection Mi crajnama provides a quintessential exposition of
were produced. His text’s commentators were principally doctrine in narrative form. It also introduces Islamic
from Persian lands, in particular from the cities of Ardabil, doctrines and warns of the consequences of going astray,
Firuzabad, Herat, and Kerman.22 It is quite possible, then, thereby preserving and speaking to a cultural milieu
that either a commentary on al-Baghawi’s magnum opus defined by the active proselytizing of Islam through
or its Persian translation was available to the author of judgment and conversion tales, themselves (as in the
the Timurid Micrajnama, a suggestion that is supported case of the Nahj al-Faradis) quite likely to have surfaced
by the text’s inclusion of a Hadith describing heaven and in response to the devastations of the Black Death.
hell as transmitted in Persian from al-Baghawi.23 This
information strongly suggests that, along with his translation All of these works display ingenious narrative approaches
of the Nahj al-Faradis into the “language of the Turks,” to the exposition of theology, deliberately utilizing storyline
the Timurid synthesizer relied on narrative Hadith collections exposition as the operative vehicle for instruction into
composed in, or translated into, Persian. Islamic hagiography, religious tenets, and societal codes.
Theme-bound and dramatizing, as well as interspersed
That the writers of the Nahj al-Faradis and the with cautionary advice and lively dialogues, they recall
Mi crajnama relied on al-Baghawi, a self-proclaimed the oral practices of storytelling in which the finer points
follower of the Prophet’s Sunna, also highlights their own of doctrine are woven into tales intended to engage their
attempts to codify the tale of the ascension. A large audiences. They slowly shed the tedious apparatus criticus
number of variant oral narratives about Muhammad’s of Hadith transmission and break out of the frequently
ascension circulated at this time, a cause for grave concern restrictive models of exegesis27 so as to present structured
to authors such as al-Rabghuzi. The latter states in his and streamlined stories instead of simply providing
Qisas al-Anbiya’ (Stories of the Prophets), composed in accurate, though staccato, narrative palimpsests. With
Khwarezmian Turkish in 1310, that there existed numerous regards to the written transmission of the Prophet’s
stories about the prophets and that these were either mi craj—itself a tale that is either vague (Qur’an) or
unsound, derived from local popular culture, or faulty disjointed (Hadith and exegesis)—these compelling
in language.24 For these reasons, authors such as al- narrative practices were developed in al-Baghawi’s Masabih
Baghawi, al-Rabghuzi, and al-Sara’i all attempted to create al-Sunna, perfected in al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis, and
authoritative works promoting Islamic precepts and saw finally coalesced into an almost seamless and perfect
themselves not only as adhering to, but vigorously form in the Timurid Micrajnama.
promoting, an orthodox exposition that could help people
embrace a lifestyle pleasing to God.25
PRESERVING TRADITION: RECURRING NARREMES
The Timurid “Book of Ascension” appears to be an
autonomous tale inspired by the elaboration of the Despite some variations, the Timurid Micrajnama by
Prophet’s micraj as described in narrative Hadith collections and large preserves the structure and narrative episodes
such as al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis and al-Baghawi’s present in the Nahj al-Faradis. An analysis of their similar
22 Badahdah, al-Madkhal ila Sharh al-Sunna lil-Imam al-Baghawi, vol. 1, 144.

23 Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-nâmeh, 16–17; and Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 277.
24 Al-Rabghuzi, The Stories of the Prophets, vol. 2, XIX.
25 Al-Baghawi states in the preface of his Masabih al-Sunna that his purpose for composing his work is to “provide religious people with materials to live
a life pleasing to God” (Robson, “al-Baghawi,” E.I.2, vol. 1, 893).
26 Although the Hadiths on the ascension that al-Baghawi transmits are narrative and entertaining, their structure remains fragmented since they are collated
sequentially, depending on the chain of transmission. As a result, they provide multiple, and sometimes conflicting, storylines. See the section on the
ascension (fasl fi’l-micraj) in the book of tribulations (kitab al-fitan) in al-Baghawi, Masabih al-Sunna, vol. 2, 467–471.
27 In tafsir practices, Walid Saleh has named these procedures of composing coherent tales out of an interpretation of a Qur’anic verse (to which the tales
otherwise bear no direct relevance) “fictive narrative” exegesis (Saleh, The Formation of the Classical Tafsir Tradition, 161–166). In this case, both Hadith
and tafsir practices extrapolate information from a base text and use the novelizing mode to explicate the Sayings of the Prophet and ayas from the
Qur’an.
280
structure is necessary in order to gauge their symbolic The parts of the Nahj al-Faradis equivalent to the text
correspondences. Moreover, their major narremes are of the Timurid Micrajnama are sections seven and eight
especially linked to the versions of “Book of Ascension” of chapter one. Section seven describes the Prophet’s
attributed to Ibn cAbbas, the Liber Scale Machometi (The ascension, and section eight narrates his visits to heaven
Book of Muhammad’s Ladder), and other micraj texts. and hell.29 The two-part narrative pattern in the Nahj al-
Faradis is also found in the Timurid Micrajnama. For
The Nahj al-Faradis consists of four chapters (bab), instance, the Prophet’s ascension through the seven
each divided into ten sections (fasl). The first chapter heavens appears as a set narrative (section seven) before
describes the life and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, the text comes to a close and begins a new narrative
including the beginnings of revelation, the opposition to (section eight) that describes Muhammad’s visits to heaven
his message during the first years of Islam, his hijra from and hell. This “dissection” of the ascension tale provides
Mecca to Medina, his miracles, his return to Mecca, his a strong indication of its thematically driven, Hadith-
ascension, his visits to heaven and hell, the battle of based template and, once again, reveals that the streamlining
Hunayn, and his death. The second chapter describes of its narrative details was an ongoing and uneven process.
events after the Prophet’s death, as well as the deeds and
actions of the first four caliphs (al-rashidun) and the The beginning of section seven in the Nahj al-Faradis’
four founders of Islam’s legal schools (madhahib). The first chapter is launched by a Hadith on the Prophet’s
third chapter contains prescriptions typical of Hadith ascension attributed to Anas b. Malik, as included in al-
works, such as the virtues of prayer, almsgiving, fasting, Baghawi’s Masabih al-Sunna.30 Section eight also begins
performing the pilgrimage, and eating ritually clean food. with a Hadith reported on the authority of Anas b. Malik
The fourth, and final, chapter warns of sins that must not and cited from al-Baghawi’s work. In the Nahj al-Faradis,
be committed: these include drinking wine, lying, deceiving, this Arabic-language Hadith is transcribed (in full) as,
hatred, envy, pride, and the pursuit of worldly goods.28 “Paradise is surrounded by hardships and hell-fire is
surrounded by temptations.”31 The Timurid Micrajnama
The format of the Nahj al-Faradis follows the pattern mentions this Hadith as being in Persian (not Arabic)
set by the collection of the Prophet’s Sayings known as and, probably due to a scribal error, omits its transcription.
the “Forty Hadith.” These sayings were originally compiled Descriptions of heaven, its inhabitants, and its buildings,
in Arabic (Kitab al-Arbacin) by authors such as al-Nawawi as well as hell and its tortures—similar in both works—
(d. 1277), and a series of Persian (Chihil Hadith) and follow the Hadith. In other words, both principal
Turkish (Kırk Hadis) translations followed soon thereafter. subdivisions of the Nahj al-Faradis and the Timurid
Every section of the Nahj al-Faradis begins with an Arabic Micrajnama are initiated by exactly the same two Hadiths,
Saying of the Prophet (often transmitted by Anas b. Malik), which either describe the very beginning of the ascension
from which a larger Turkish-language narrative emerges narrative (that is, al-Buraq’s arrival in Mecca and its initial
interspersed with a number of Arabic prayers. This structure recalcitrance) or the launch of the Prophet’s visits to
explains why the book is divided into four chapters with heaven and hell.
ten sections each, as it yields forty thematic entries that
elaborate upon each one of forty particular Hadiths. The The similarities between the Nahj al-Faradis and the
text blatantly uses a “Forty Hadith” template, but digresses Timurid Micrajnama go beyond their shared, bisected
into a variety of biographical narratives more typical of structure to include the promotion of active participation
texts and tales in the qisas al-anbiya’ (stories of the in prayer. This is achieved primarily through the inclusion
prophets) genre. of Qur’anic citations and pious invocations in Arabic,
28 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1: X–XI.

29 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 38–50.
30 It is transcribed in Arabic in Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 38, and also is included in the Micrajnama (see Pavet de Courteille, Mi’râdj-nâmeh, 2;
and Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 266). The Hadith is written in Arabic script in red ink on folios 1v–2r of the Timurid Micrajnama (BnF Sup Turc
190). It reads: “On the authority of Anas b. Malik, may [God] be pleased with him, from the Prophet, peace and prayers upon him: ‘On the night I was
taken on the night journey, al-Buraq was bridled and saddled, but it recoiled. Gabriel said to it: ‘How can you do this to Muhammad? You have never
been ridden by anybody more privileged by God.’ Then it [al-Buraq] broke out into a sweat.”
31 This Saying, attributed to Anas b. Malik, which appears in al-Baghawi’s Masabih al-Sunna, oftentimes is included in the canonical Hadith collections (see
Muslim’s Sahih, “The Book Pertaining to Paradise, its Description, its Bounties, and its Inhabitants” Chapter 1, Book 040, Number 6778.
281
used as a means of dialogue between the Prophet Turkish translation and commentary, the Nahj al-Faradis
Muhammad and other prophets, angels, and God. For and the Timurid Micrajnama provide powerful tools for
instance, the Nahj al-Faradis describes various angels in learning how to convey Arabic prayers and greetings for
prayer (duca qıldılar)32 throughout the seven heavens. an audience more comfortable with Khwarezmian or
Once Gabriel and Muhammad reach the “station of Chaghatay Turkish.
proximity” (qurbat maqamı)33 and Gabriel returns to his
primordial form (öz suratı), God calls upon the Prophet In the Timurid Micrajnama, various angels engage in
with a very symbolic Qur’anic citation: “The Prophet’s prayer much like those in the Nahj al-Faradis. For instance,
mind and heart in no way falsified what he saw!”34 The the heavenly rooster recites the tasbih, as does the angel
Prophet answers with an Arabic prayer of salutation to of half-fire and half-snow, the polycephalous angel of
the Lord as typically recited during ritual prayer,35 which prayer,39 and many other polycephalous angels in the
the Nahj al-Faradis explains as a necessary component celestial spheres. Once Muhammad reaches God, the
of religious observances (cibadat). The text also adds angels proclaim the shahada.40 As both texts demonstrate,
that such observances include the praise of God, as well the narrative of the Prophet’s ascension serves as an
as the proclamations “Praise be to God” (tasbih) and elaborate way to enliven—to breathe life, enthusiasm,
“There is no God but God” (tahlil),36 thereby providing and energy into—a collection of Arabic prayer prescriptions
a pattern of Arabic-language prayer formulas readily and excerpted Qur’anic citations. The narrativization of
learned by a reader as he is drawn into the unfolding doctrine through such an awe-inspiring and fantastic
dialogue. story as the Prophet’s micraj not only reveals the ways
in which oral practices permeated texts and images at
Similarly, the exchange between God and Muhammad the time, but also how texts themselves could function
as present in both the Nahj al-Faradis and the Timurid as effective tools for teaching Islamic practices and
Micrajnama offers a tutorial on conveying Arabic-language doctrines.41
greetings within a ritual context. For example, God
welcomes the Prophet into His domain with the expression: In addition to preserving the Nahj al-Faradis’ structure
“Peace be upon you, oh Messenger, and may God’s mercy and the prayer formulas that are woven into its text, the
and blessing be upon you,” 37 to which Muhammad Timurid Micrajnama borrows some of its most basic
responds in turn: “Peace be upon us and upon God’s elements of narrative exposition. Both texts are told
good servants.” 38 Both texts not only include these primarily in the first person singular, with the Prophet
declarations in Arabic but offer Turkish translations and Muhammad describing the events he witnesses and the
explanations of their meanings in order to ensure that characters he encounters, at times interspersed with the
their significance is not lost upon the reader. By offering authors’ own clarifications or translations of Arabic
these Arabic ritual greetings alongside parenthetical expressions into Chaghatay Turkish. The angel Gabriel
32 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 41.

33 The expression “station of proximity” (Arabic, maqam al-qurba) is indicative of the location where Muhammad encounters God and is typical of Sufi
ascent poetry in that it denotes the mystic’s proximity (qurba), encounter (liqa’), or even vision (ru’ya) of the Lord (see Affifi, “The Story of the Prophet’s
Ascent (Mi’raj) in Sufi Thought and Literature”; el-Azma, al-Micraj wa’l-Ramz al-Sufi; and al-Samarrai, The Theme of Ascension in Mystical Writings).
34 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 42; and Qur’an 53:11. This Qur’anic verse has been chosen here to argue for the Prophet’s vision of God at the highest
heaven, a vision that is of “the mind and heart” rather than of the eye. This verse, along with other verses from Surat al-Najm/The Star (53) such as 53:13
(“indeed he saw Him”) and 53:18 (“indeed he saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord”), was interpreted by some exegetes as Muhammad’s vision of
God or Gabriel with the heart or mind, not the eye (see Van Ess, “Le micraj et la vision de Dieu dans les premières spéculations théologiques en Islam”;
and Böwering, “From the Word of God to the Vision of God”).
35 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 42: “Salutations, prayers, and good deeds are to God” (al-tahiyyatu lillahi wa’l-salawatu wa’l-tayyibatu). The Timurid
Micrajnama also includes the same Arabic expressions, and explains that such prayers and good deeds, including almsgiving and sacrifice, are all for the
sake of God (Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 274; Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-nâmeh, 12; and BnF Sup Turc 190, folio 38r).
36 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 42.
37 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 42; and Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 274.
39 Pavet de Courteille (1975), 5; and Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 269. The Nahj al-Faradis, however, omits the rooster angel, the angel of half-fire
and half-snow, and the polycephalous angel of prayer in the first heaven.
41 This pattern of prayer dialogues between Muhammad and various angels and prophets appears in many ascension texts, including those attributed to
Ibn cAbbas and al-Bakri. In the anonymous Ilkhanid Micrajnama text (SK Ayasofya 3441), there are so many prayer-dialogues that the ascension tale
virtually turns into a kind of book of supplicatory prayers (ducanama).
282
guides the Prophet all the while, serving as an omniscient of Ascension.” These include, most prominently: the
explainer of events or places and introducer to the tale’s Prophet Muhammad’s arrival in Jerusalem and his leading
protagonists. A protector, a guide, and an all-knowing of prophets in prayer; his encounter with Adam in the
character, the angel Gabriel provides the single most first heaven and numerous other prophets such as Jacob,
important warp thread around which the micraj tale is Joseph, Jesus, Enoch, Aaron, Isaac, Lot, Ishmael, Moses,
deftly spun. Conversations between Muhammad, angels, and Abraham in subsequent heavens; his dialogue with
and other prophets also tend to be kept to a bare minimum: hosts of angels, including the four major angelic figures
they largely consist of extending a warm welcome to the (the rooster angel, the angel of half-fire and half-snow,
ascending hero, whose presence provides a much the polycephalous angel of prayer, and the angel of
appreciated blessing on this momentous occasion. The sustenance);46 his testing by the cups, at which time he
greetings extended to the Prophet Muhammad found in drinks the cup of milk, a decision that marks his choice
the Nahj al-Faradis42 and the Timurid Micrajnama43 also of the right path (al-fitra); his arrival at the highest possible
echo those found in older “Books of Ascension,” such point, typically called the “station of proximity” (maqam
Ibn c Abbas’s Kitab al-Mi c raj 44 and the Liber Scale al-qurba), where he speaks to God and receives a number
Machometi.45 of decrees and favors; his bargaining for a reduction
(takhfif) of the requisite daily prayers from fifty to five
The Nahj al-Faradis and the Timurid Micrajnama also via the intervention of Moses; his tour of paradise, its
share an array of analogous narrative clusters. For example, inhabitants, special pavilions, and huris,47 as well as his
at their very incipit, both texts cite a Saying of the Prophet— witnessing of the Lote Tree of the Limit (sidrat al-muntaha),
included in al-Baghawi’s Masabih al-Sunna—which the four rivers at its base, and the Kawthar Basin; and
describes the arrival and appearance of al-Buraq on the finally his visit to hell, where he observes groups of
night of the micraj. Similarly, both texts launch the second sinners and their punishments.48
part of their narratives describing heaven and hell with
another Hadith that warns of the hardships encircling These major narremes in the Nahj al-Faradis and the
heaven and the sins which encircle hell. The authors’ Timurid Micrajnama reveal that the ascension narrative
strategic decision to include Hadiths at the start and acquired a more or less crystallized form by the fourteenth
middle of these two ascension narratives lends an aura and fifteenth centuries, a literary result stemming from
of legitimacy to a tale whose descriptions quite often flirt centuries of oral storytelling, historical writing, and
with the fanciful. exegetical traditions. This gradual process of textual
collation could offer a sweeping picture of the layout
A great many of the narremes found in the Nahj al- and hierarchy of the heavens, as well as its angels and
Faradis and the Timurid Micrajnama also share close prophets, and move the reader into the vast realms of
affinities with the narrative details present in micraj tales the unknown. Texts such as these functioned as descriptive
included in Hadith collections, biographies, exegetical handbooks of the eschaton, with all of its constituent
works, universal histories, and other autonomous “Books elements and characters brought under the fold of one
42 In the Nahj al-Faradis, the prophets greet Muhammad with the Khwarezmian expression for “Welcome” (“hosluq bolsun”).
43 In the Timurid Micrajnama, the Prophet Muhammad is welcomed by Prophets with the Chaghatay expression for “Welcome” (“hos kelding”).
44 Prophets salute Muhammad with the Arabic phrase “Greetings to you” (“marhaban bika”).
45 In the Liber Scale Machometi, the Prophet Muhammad says that every prophet “saluted me” (“salutauit me”) once his identity was confirmed, a trope
found in most “Books of Ascension.”
46 These major angelic figures are discussed in Colby, Narrating Muhammad’s Night Journey, 38. The Timurid Micrajnama also makes a clear distinction
between angels (feriste) and major angelic figures (sarhang feriste). Two other prominent angels which appear in the seventh heaven of the Timurid
Micrajnama but not the Nahj al-Faradis are the angel of regeneration and the tetramorphic angel. The angel of regeneration, in a manner reminiscent
of Jewish texts, swims in a sea and creates angels from the drops of water that trickle off of his wings. The tetramorphic angel has the heads of a man,
lion, eagle (or phoenix), and bull (or ox). The figure resembles the four-headed angel described in Ezekiel I:5–6, 10, 26 and Christianized into four
separate beings symbolizing the four Evangelists (Revelation 4:7–9). These creatures, who sing the praise of God and intervene on man’s behalf, appear
frequently in Byzantine book illustrations and Coptic wall paintings (see Werner, “On the Origin of Zooanthropomorphic Evangelist Symbols: the Early
Christian Background,” Studies in Iconography 10 [1984–86], 1-47; and Van Moorsel “The Coptic Apse-Composition and its Living Creatures,” Études
Nubiennes 77 [1978], 325–333, and in particular pls. LXI and LXII).
47 The huris are the pure beings of paradise as mentioned in Qur’an 55:56 and 44:51–54. In Islamic thought, they are considered the angelic companions
of believers in paradise.
48 Although hell appears at the end of both texts, it is described in some other ascension narratives as being located in the fifth heaven (see, for example,
Anonymous, Micrajnama, folios 28v–34v).
283
single, unbroken narrative line. By preserving details Certain departures from the Nahj al-Faradis do not
found in older religious texts, the Timurid Micrajnama affect the pitch of the Micrajnama text as much as they
essentially presents a revised edition of the ascension strengthen its narrative potency. For example, the Timurid
tale contained in sections seven and eight of the Nahj “Book of Ascension” specifies that each heaven is made
al-Faradis, itself a narrative guidebook firmly ensconced or created (yaratılmıs) by a specific substance. The first
in the Hadith genre. As a result, this Timurid “Book of heaven is made of turquoise-colored enamel; the second
Ascension” illustrates the process through which the of white pearls; the third of ruby; the fifth of gold;49 the
fragmented micraj tale almost organically mutated into sixth of pearl; and the seventh of light. These details are
a freestanding edition, receptive to revision as dictated entirely absent from the Nahj al-Faradis, which lists the
by authorial choice or as reflected by socio-historical and heavens without mentioning the constituent matter of
religious factors. each. The Micrajnama’s author supplements his base
text with features culled and adapted from ascension
texts attributed to Ibn cAbbas, in which each heaven not
THE IDEOLOGY OF VARIATION: TEXTUAL DEVIATIONS only is made of a particular substance but also bears a
specific name.50 Although the Timurid “Book of Ascension”
Although the Timurid Micrajnama preserves the basic does not offer names for each heaven, it is nonetheless
structure of the Nahj al-Faradis, it both omits certain clear that its inventory of heavenly materials springs from
details of the latter text and enhances the narrative with written and/or oral narratives operating within the Ibn
new and unusual motifs. These discrepancies are particularly c Abbas genre and thus supplements the bare-bones
intriguing because they suggest that the author of this description of the heavens as offered in the Nahj al-
“Book of Ascension” did not merely copy what might be Faradis.
seen as a Ur-text, but also drew freely from a range of
sources—most notably ascension narratives attributed to The Micrajnama is indebted primarily to tales attributed
cIbn Abbas—to vary and expand select features of his to Ibn cAbbas, whose many details form an elaborate
redrafted composition. exposé of Islamic angelology. In fact, all major angelic
figures (sarhang feriste) in the Timurid “Book of
As a general rule, the author preferred to introduce Ascension”—such as the rooster angel and the angel of
new details into his text rather than to suppress elements half-fire and half-snow in the first heaven, the angel who
found in the Nahj al-Faradis, molding his work, as it provides daily sustenance in the second heaven, the
were, as a sculptor working in the additive rather than polycephalous angel of prayer, the angel multiplying by
the subtractive method. However, on the rare occasion water drops, and the tetracephalous angel beyond the
when the Micrajnama does not incorporate elements seventh heaven—are entirely absent from the Nahj al-
found in the Nahj al-Faradis—most particularly in its Faradis. A number of these angelic figures duplicate
discussion of the figures and pavilions present in heaven— those found in Ibn cAbbas tales,51 while others are quite
we must ask whether the author’s textual omission was innovative. Particularly noteworthy in the Timurid
intentional rather than a momentary oversight. Based on Micrajnama is the angel that provides daily sustenance
historical factors, it is argued here that the major narrative in the second heaven, especially when compounded with
features in the Nahj al-Faradis that are absent from the the highly unusual Sea of Creatures (Bahr al-Hayavan)
Micrajnama were expunged on purpose because they in the first heaven. These two specific motifs, absent from
were no longer relevant during Shahrukh’s reign and the Nahj al-Faradis, may have catered to interests specific
because the text’s primary audience had changed. to Shahrukh, whose charitable endowments show his
49 The section describing the fourth heaven is absent in the manuscript, as a folio is missing between folios 19v and 22r (folios 20 and 21 are Ottoman
inserted pages).
50 Each heaven’s name and substance varies from text to text. In the earliest extant recension of a micraj text attributed to Ibn cAbbas, the heavens are as
follows: the first is named al-Rafica and is made of black smoke; the second is named Qaydum and is made of gleaming iron; the third is named Makun
and is made of copper; the fourth is named al-Zahira and is made of white silver; the fifth is called al-Muzayyina and is made of bright light; the sixth
is named al-Khalisa and is made of gems gleaming with light; and the seventh is named al-Damica and is made of white pearl (Colby, Narrating
Muhammad’s Night Journey, Appendix B). These heavens’ names and substances are recorded in a slightly different fashion in Ibn cAbbas, “al-Isra’ wa’l-
Micraj,” 12–22.
51 The majority of ascension tales attributed to Ibn cAbbas include the following major angelic figures: the angel of death (malik al-mawt or cAzra’il), the
heavenly rooster, the angel of half-fire and half-snow, and the guardian of hell (Malik).
284
concern with providing food and caring for the sick.52 seamless and comprehensive tale. He achieved a unified
The text’s sheer variety of angelic figures adds to Shahrukh’s text not only through the use of engaging dialogues
Micrajnama a level of creativity rarely found outside the between the story’s dramatis personae and a series of
Ibn cAbbas genre and which, indubitably, lent the narrative elaborate descriptions of the heavens and their inhabitants,
its potential for expressive illustration. but also through the suppression of theological disquisitions
about some of the more contentious aspects of the
Other textual alterations set the Timurid Micrajnama Prophet’s ascension. For example, after the description
apart from al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis. For example, the of heaven and immediately before Muhammad’s visit to
former specifies that Muhammad meets the prophets hell—that is, at the conclusion of section seven and
Abraham, Moses, and Jesus in Jerusalem, at which time immediately before the launching of section eight in the
Abraham asks Muhammad to lead prayer before a ladder Nahj al-Faradis—an entire disquisition about God’s shape
is brought down to facilitate the Prophet’s ascension. (surat) and how scholars (culama’) have interpreted it
These three motifs—the prophets whom Muhammad based on the Qur’an and the Hadith has been completely
encounters, his appointment as prayer leader, and the omitted from the Micrajnama.
offering of a ladder—are altogether absent from the Nahj
al-Faradis. It would be difficult to uncover in this omission The Timurid “Book of Ascension” decidedly ignores
any particular ideological thrust, since Old Testament this doctrinal debate, long-standing in the majority of
prophets such as Aaron (Harun) and Moses (Musa) and Islamic interpretative texts that explain the Prophet’s
New Testament prophets such as John the Baptist (Yahya) vision of God as a “vision of his heart” rather than a
and Jesus (cIsa), to name just a few, appear throughout “vision of the eye.” More concerned with narrative
the heavens in both the Timurid Micrajnama and the continuity than the finer points of theological exegesis,
Nahj al-Faradis. In this particular case, therefore, the the writer instead ends his section on paradise by describing
many details serve more to enlarge the narrative by drawing the Prophet’s ascent to the throne of God, upon which
on a particular pattern that establishes Muhammad’s he is allowed to climb wearing his sandals so that the
supremacy among, and his selection by, the biblical blessing (barakat) of his footwear may imbue the Lord’s
prophets who assemble in Jerusalem on this consecrated cathedra (carsh).53 At this time, God enumerates the many
occasion. This enhancement of the text is only one of the gifts granted to His messenger, which include: his most
many ways in which the author-synthesizer of the Timurid high rank among all prophets, the proximity of his
“Book of Ascension” aimed to craft an integral narrative. community to the Lord, and the granting of His mercy.
The sandals motif and the inventory of God’s gifts to
Muhammad are both derived from ascension narratives
A.
S TREAMLINING THE N ARRATIVE : T HE R EMOVAL OF attributed to Ibn cAbbas, whether in later redrafted texts
THEOLOGICAL EXCURSES by al-Izniqi (d. 838/1434)54 or transmitted via al-Bakri (fl.
ca. 1250–1300). 55 In other words, the author of the
Micrajnama veers away from the Nahj al-Faradis not by
Although the Micrajnama’s author was interested in accident but by intent. An accomplished dramatist, he
explaining some of the finer points of the ascension prefers to construct a seamless whole by supplanting a
narrative, he seems more concerned with creating a doctrinal discussion with a narrative episode drawn from
52 See Subtelny, “The Sunni Revival under Shah-Rukh and its Promoters”; and eadem and Khalidov, “The Curriculum of Islamic Higher Learning in Timurid
Iran in the Light of the Sunni Revival under Shah-Rukh.”
53 Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 276–277; and Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-Nâmeh, 12.
54 Al-Izniqi’s Kitab al-Micraj (Book of Ascension) was composed sometime before his death in 1434 (on the date of his death, his life in western Anatolia,
and his works in Arabic and Anatolian Turkish, see Özdemir, “Musa b. Hacı Hüseyin el-Izniki: Hayat ve Eserleri,” 21). For his “Book of Ascension”
translated into modern Turkish, see el-Izniki, Mi’rac, and for a sample manuscript of his ascension text in Arabic transcribed in 1095/1684, see al-Izniqi,
“Kitab al-Micraj.”
55 Colby, Narrating Muhammad’s Night Journey, 208; and idem, “Constructing an Islamic Ascension Narrative,” 313–314 , 431–432. This forms part of the
narreme Colby calls the “Favors of the Prophet” narreme. It is often utilized to construct a contrast between Muhammad’s high rank and the gifts granted
by God to other prophets. For example, the Timurid Micrajnama text lists Solomon’s kingdom, Moses’s staff, and Jesus’s power to raise the dead. In
other ascension narratives, the virtues or special gifts (fada’il) of other prophets, such as Abraham, Enoch, and David, are mentioned as well. This narrative
motif not only draws from the qisas al-anbiya’ genre, but also serves as a fitting climax to Muhammad’s encounter with the prophets as he rises through
the seven heavens.
285
Ibn cAbbas and al-Bakri, the two most popular writers B. REVIVAL THROUGH METAPHOR: THE CHAMPIONS OF THE
in the novelizing micraj genre. SUNNA
The author of the Timurid “Book of Ascension,” The Timurid Mi c rajnama demonstrates that the
however, inserted one noteworthy element into the cycle of textual cross-pollination can come full circle,
“Favors of the Prophet” narreme which is neither found as the text is tinted with a very discreet reference to
in the Nahj al-Faradis nor in any other extant micraj Sufism within a rather doctrinaire framework—primarily
text. He states that God shares information with the in the cycles of heaven and hell—concerned with
Prophet on sharicat (the revealed law), tariqat (the way exposing proper social codes and mores. As a ruler
or tradition of the Prophet), and haqiqat (the reality or with a sustained interest in reviving the Prophet’s
truth). The tariqat may be revealed to anyone Muhammad Sunna, Shahrukh certainly must have deemed the
wishes, but the haqiqat must remain secret.56 The three legalizing lessons in the “Book of Ascension” appropriate
terms shari cat, tariqat, and haqiqat are noteworthy to his endeavors. However, as suggested by the brief
because they bear the distinct overtones of mystical mystical allusions in the text, a Sunni message was
terminology. not necessarily contrary to Sufi thought, a kind of
synthesis that finds an echo in Shahrukh’s architectural
On their quest for perfect self-knowledge and patronage as well. He and/or his wife Gawharshad
communion with the godhead, Sufis often describe are well known for having constructed, in 1425–29,
themselves as embarking on a path (tariqat) toward the enclosure to the shrine complex of the early Sufi
the highest plane of consciousness, itself termed either mystic cAbdullah Ansari (d. 1088) at Gazurgah, near
the “Truth” (haqiqat) or gnosis (macrifat).57 Some Sufi Herat.61 As attested to by the Micrajnama’s restrained
writers who composed their own versions of the “Book terminology and Shahrukh’s patronage of cAbdullah
of Ascension,” such as Abu Yazid al-Bistami (d. ca. Ansari’s shrine, as long as the presence of mysticism
878),58 al-Sulami (d. 1021),59 and al-Qushayri (d. 1073),60 was compatible with, and subsumed by, a larger Sunni
embraced the template of the Prophet’s corporeal micraj program—as was Ansari’s mystical movement, which
to describe their own spiritual ascensions. In doing so, was firmly anchored in Hanbali Sunnism—and not
they adopted the graduated pattern of the seven heavens messianic or cabalistic, 62 then Sufism and Sunnism
as cosmological equivalents to the psychological stages could indeed concur and coexist during the middle
(maqamat or ahwal) they had to traverse in order to Timurid period.
attain true knowledge (yaqin or ma c rifa) of God.
However, while this model of the Prophet’s ascent In the Mi c rajnama, the emphasis on the Sunni
informs Sufi texts, only very rarely do we witness a community, the Prophet Muhammad’s mission, and the
reversal of this trend—that is, a situation in which terms formative periods of Islam further supports the scholarly
drawn from the Sufi lexicon instead migrate back to a opinion that Shahrukh wished to restore the Prophet’s
non-Sufi, autonomous “Book of Ascension” like the Sunna. In the case of the Timurid “Book of Ascension,”
Timurid Micrajnama. the principal mechanism through which the text aims to
56 Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 276; and Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-Nâmeh, 16.
57 Nicholson, The Mystics of Islam, 28–29. This path toward gnostic knowledge is often described as a progression through a number of psychological stages
or states (ahwal). These states include meditation, nearness to God, love, fear, hope, longing, intimacy, tranquility, contemplation, and certainty (of
knowledge).
58 Nicholson, “An Early Arabic Version of the Mi’raj of Abu Yazid al-Bistami”; and Sells, Early Islamic Mysticism, 242–250
59 Al-Sulami, The Subtleties of the Ascension; and Colby, “The Subtleties of the Ascension.”
60 For al-Qushayri’s discussion of spiritual ascensions, mental states (ahwal), and true knowledge (yaqin or macrifa), see the chapter (bab) entitled “On
What the Sufi Shaykhs Say about This [The Micraj],” in his Kitab al-Micraj, 69–76; and idem, “Kitab al-Micraj,” 175–182.
61 Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 84, 88, citing Lisa Golombek, The Timurid Shrine at Gazur Gah, Art and Archaeology Occasional Papers
15 (Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1969).
62 Shahrukh was not as sympathetic toward other Sufi groups. For example, he suppressed the messianic Nurbakhshiyya movement and executed a number
of cabalistic Hurufi mystics found guilty of plotting his assassination (Forbes Manz, “Shah Rukh,” E.I.2, vol. 9, 198). At times, these boundaries of “permissible”
Sufism appear less related to religious practices than struggles for political supremacy.
286
glorify the Sunni community is the description of historical people died every day in the Crimea.67 The text’s specific
individuals from Muhammad’s family and community, emphasis on the passing away of young children—and
who are placed in paradise. For example, cAbdullah, their continued existence in paradise under Abraham’s
Muhammad’s deceased son through his wife Khadija,63 guardianship—must have appealed to an audience seeking
dwells in the heavenly realm in both the Nahj al-Faradis reassurance in the wake of such a traumatic ordeal. The
and Shahrukh’s Micrajnama. cAbdullah died in infancy, Nahj al-Faradis provides a clear rejoinder to an
which caused Muhammad to remain without a male unfathomable tragedy, which spared neither old nor
offspring and thus abtar—that is, pitiable, without extension, young. Therefore, inasmuch as fourteenth-century works
cut off, defective, and forgettable.64 In both texts, the in Turkish grew as creative responses—and even perceived
rather lengthy discussion of cAbdullah’s premature death antidotes—to the Black Death, such works also incorporated
serves to refute insults against the Prophet as lacking a very specific elements that spoke directly to anxieties
full-grown male progeny as a means to remember him. prompted by this particular situation, namely death en
Instead, the term abtar explains Surat al-Kawthar (Qur’an masse and the staunch hope of eternal life as promised
108),65 in which the Kawthar Basin in paradise is bestowed in return for the Sunni community’s compliance with
upon Muhammad as an honor more celebrated and established social codes and religious doctrines.68
everlasting than begetting a son.
The author of Shahrukh’s Micrajnama may have chosen
The discussion of the term abtar and its relationship to remove from his text the discussion of Abraham’s
to the Kawthar Basin is singular to the ascension tales pavilion and the deceased children because by the turn
found in the Timurid Micrajnama and the Nahj al-Faradis; of the fifteenth century this theme did not bear direct
therefore, one must ask why it was included and what relevance to a now plague-free Iran and Central Asia.
historical applications it may have had. The stress on Moreover, by removing the mention of Abraham, he was
premature death appears in both texts but is especially able to link seamlessly his discussion of Muhammad’s
strong in the Nahj al-Faradis, in which the discussion of family, as figured by cAbdullah, to Muhammad’s community
cAbdullah’s death is quickly followed by a description of followers. The text names two figures in particular:
of Abraham’s pavilion (saray), which serves as an eternal cUmar b. al-Khattab (d. 644), Muhammad’s close companion
dwelling place for Muslim children who died in infancy.66 and the second caliph,69 and Rumaysa’, one of the first
converts to Islam, who became a leading figure among
Abraham’s pavilion and his nurturing of deceased the Prophet’s female companions (Fig. 2.1).
youngsters is omitted, however, from the Timurid “Book
of Ascension,” and the most likely reason for this omission As a member of the first four rightly guided caliphs,
can be found in both texts’ historical circumstances. As cUmar is best known for his unmatched political and
mentioned earlier, the Nahj al-Faradis was written ca. military skills, for securing the submission of Jerusalem,
1357–60, at which time the Black Death had reached for solidifying and standardizing Islam’s religious structures,
areas under the rule of the Golden Horde. During the and for being a champion of Sunni orthodoxy by promoting
plague of 1358, quite possibly the very same year as the the Prophet’s Sunna and (initially) thwarting cAli’s rule.70
Nahj al-Faradis was composed, up to one thousand In Sunni texts, he is represented as a defender of the
63 At least five children were born to Muhammad and Khadija: four girls (Zaynab, Umm Kulthum, Fatima, and Rukayya) and one or possibly two boys (al-
Qasim and cAbdullah, although these may be the same person). See Wensinck, “Khadidja,” E.I.2, vol. 4, 898.
64 Eckman, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 46; and Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 278–279 (who translates the term songsuz as “without tail” rather than “without
extension”).
65 Surat al-Kawthar (Qur’an 108) consists of three verses, reading: “Surely We have given you al-Kawthar, so serve your Lord with dedication and sacrifice.
Surely your enemy is he who is abtar” (adapted from Ali, Al-Qur’an, 555).
66 Eckman, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 48; and see Fig. 5.2 in the present study.
67 Schamiloglu, “The Rise of the Ottoman Empire,” 263, citing the Ta’rikh (History) of Ibn al-Wardi (d. 1348–49).
68 For a discussion of fourteenth-century works in Turkish and their relationship to Muslim religiosity, see Schamiloglu, “The Islamic High Culture of the
Golden Horde,” 210–211.
69 cUmar’s pavilion is depicted in the Micrajnama (Séguy, The Miraculous Journey of Mahomet, pl. 43; and BnF Sup Turc 190, folio 51r). The crowned female
figure in a blue robe to whom the huris, Gabriel, and the Prophet point can be identified as Rumaysa’.
70 cUmar’s nickname was “al-Faruq,” which means “he who distinguishes truth from falsehood.”
287
Islamic community and its basic religious tenets while, is recorded as stating: “I saw myself entering paradise,
in Shici eyes, he is an oppressor of the members of the and behold! I saw al-Rumaysa’, Abu Talha’s wife. I heard
Prophet Muhammad’s household (ahl al-bayt).71 When footsteps. I asked: ‘Who is it?’ Somebody said: ‘It is Bilal.’74
leafing through his Micrajnama, Shahrukh may have Then I saw a palace and a lady sitting in its courtyard. I
found in the heaven-dwelling cUmar a fitting analogy for asked: ‘For whom is this palace?’ Somebody replied: ‘It
his own public persona. He, too, was a formidable ruler, is for cUmar.”75 This Saying describes the Prophet’s vision
who, on one hand, engaged in warfare against enemies of paradise, in which his most faithful companions and
within his borders and, on the other, exhibited an interest earliest converts to Islam—Rumaysa’, Bilal, and cUmar—
in international expansion. Shahrukh portrayed himself have found a perpetual abode and ample rewards for
as a systematizer and restorer of Sunni doctrine and, their constancy and faithfulness.
through the implementation of his socio-religious programs,
positioned himself against all forms of Islam that he saw Although the Micrajnama text explicitly draws upon
as schismatic or heretical. The Timurid ruler may have this Hadith, it does not record the source. This omission
seized onto the potential of this “cUmar metaphor” to is quite revealing, as it demonstrates the author’s primary
advance any number of political or religious assertions.72 concern for continuous narration rather than accurate,
but disjointed, citation. The inclusion of this particular
Rumaysa’ is described as a woman of strong will and episode, and its naturalization to the ascension narrative,
an independent mind. She was the mother of Anas b. serves to reinforce the close connection between the text
Malik, one of the Prophet’s companions, whose report and Hadith literature, while also promoting steadfastness
on the ascension is quoted at the very beginning of a and conversion to Islam as embodied by the early Sunni
number of ascension tales (including the Timurid figures of cUmar and Rumaysa’.
Micrajnama). She was first married to Malik b. al-Nasr,
at which time she converted to Islam. He refused to The inclusion of Rumaysa’ in particular serves to
convert and left for the province of Syria (al-sham), where applaud, in an explicitly gendered fashion, women who
he died. She then was offered in marriage to Talha,73 a embrace and promote Islam despite external pressures,
prominent companion of the Prophet who agreed to who are determined and influential, and who uphold
convert to Islam prior to marrying her. She was one of the Prophetic tradition. Much like Rumaysa’ boosted
the first women to convert to Islam, and was counted Talha’s reputation through a marriage that hastened his
among the virtuous female companions (sahabiyat) of conversion to Islam, Shahrukh’s own wife Gawharshad
the Prophet. improved the Timurid monarch’s status through her
Chaghatayid-Chingizid lineage.76 Gawharshad is celebrated
The presence of Rumaysa’ in paradise is reported in equally for her brilliant political mind, her ability to
Hadith literature, such as in al-Bukhari’s (d. 870) Sahih influence political decisions, and her patronage of
(The Sound [Traditions]), in which the Prophet Muhammad architecture. As a result, it is possible to suggest that—
71 As a Shici antithesis, the inclusion of cUmar in paradise in the Timurid Micrajnama may be interpreted as a Sunni response to both written and oral Shici
micraj narratives, in which cAli forms the subject of God’s revelation, while the ahl al-bayt and the imams inhabit heaven.
72 Marianna Shreve Simpson has noted that metaphors similar to this one could occur in Islamic illustrated texts. For example, the Safavid prince Ibrahim
Mirza commissioned a lavishly illustrated manuscript of Jami’s Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) for his library (Freer 46.12). It was transcribed by five
calligraphers over the course of nine years (1556–65) in three different cities (Herat, Mashhad, and Qazvin). One of its paintings (folio 132r) depicts the
banquet held for Yusuf the night before his wedding to Zulaykha: above Yusuf appears an inscription bearing Ibrahim Mirza’s name with no modifiers.
Simpson suggests that this may be a direct allusion to the Safavid prince’s own marriage as well as a portrait of himself using, in this case, a “Yusuf
metaphor” (Simpson, “The Production and Patronage of the Haft Awrang in the Freer Gallery of Art,” 100; and, on the Haft Awrang more generally, see
eadem, Sultan Ibrahim Mirza’s Haft Awrang: a Princely Manuscript from Sixteenth-Century Iran [Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art; and New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1997]).
73 Talha b. cUbaydullah was among the first eight converts to Islam and ten mubashshara, or those to whom the Prophet promised paradise. He was killed
by cUthman’s cousin Marwan b. al-Hakam in the Battle of the Camel in 656 (Madelung, “Talha b. cUbayd Allah,” E.I.2, vol. 10, 161–162).
74 Bilal was a freed Ethiopian slave who served as Muhammad’s first caller to prayer (mu’adhdhin).
75 Al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari, volume 5, 21–22, Book 57, Chapter 7, no. 28.
76 This practice was initiated by the dynasty’s founder Timur, who assumed the honorific title “Gurgan” (Persian) or “Kürügan” (Mongolian), meaning “son-
in-law,” as a result of his marriage to Saray Mulk Khanum, the daughter of the Chaghatayid ruler Qazan who ruled until 1346. Shahrukh’s wife Gawharshad
was the daugher of Ghiyath al-Din Tarkhan, a high-ranking emir under Timur. For a discussion of Saray Mulk Khanum, Gawharshad, and other powerful
Timurid women, see Marefat, “Timurid Women”; and Soucek, “Timurid Women.”
288
just as Shahrukh could draw on a potential “ cUmar Micraj.” 79 The narreme in this text, however, occurs prior
metaphor”—the figure of Rumaysa’ may have functioned to the work’s more normative Mecca-centered conclusion.
as a similar analogy for Gawharshad. This premise is
further supported by the fact that Rumaysa’ never appears Mount Qaf appears in a number of Islamic sources,
in any ascension tale besides the Timurid Micrajnama; including a chapter in the Qur’an (50) bearing its name
this exclusive reference compels a historically contigent and a number of subsequent historical and geographical
interpretation. In other words, the very inclusion of cUmar works.80 These many sources typically describe Mount
and Rumaysa’ in paradise appears to serve as an ideological Qaf as a peak of cosmic proportions surrounding the
updating to an earlier ascension narrative (i.e., the Nahj entire terrestrial world. Variant versions of the qisas al-
al-Faradis) in order to elevate Shahrukh and Gawharshad anbiya’ record God creating it of green chrysolith (or
through a process of symbolic correlation. emerald) at the beginning of time, as well as its role in
dividing the edge of the world from the opening of hell.81
Likewise, several qisas al-anbiya’ compendia also narrate
C. TOWARD CHINA?: THE TEXT’S INFLECTED CONCLUSION Alexander the Great’s (a.k.a. Dhu’l-Qarnayn) and Buluqiyya’s
travel to the world’s easternmost lands, marked by Mount
The last and most noticeable variation in the Timurid Qaf.82 In some cases, Alexander enters into discussion
Micrajnama is its conclusion, which describes the Prophet with the mythical mount, at which times the mountain
Muhammad’s visit to the mythical Mount Qaf and the describes itself as being attached by “veins” to other
twin cities of Jabalsa and Jabalqa, inhabited by “Moses’s mountains in the world and, when God orders it to shake
communities,” the members of which become believers the land, it obeys His command and causes the earth to
in the Prophet Muhammad upon receiving his command shake.83
to be obedient and not prideful.77 The climax of this
ascension story is never found at the very end of other By the fifteenth century, these many tales associated
ascension narratives, all of which conclude instead with with Mount Qaf were assimilated into Islamic cosmological
an account of Muhammad’s return to Mecca, his vision thought and writing, and the mountain’s location at the
of Jerusalem, his disputation with Abu Jahl, the confirmation edge of the world also is recorded in the Timurid
of Abu Bakr, and the conversion of the Quraysh tribesmen Mi crajnama. 84 Moreover, the motif of conversion to
to Islam.78 The only other recorded “Book of Ascension” Islam—in this case, that of Moses’s community rather
which includes an account of the Jews of Jabalsa and than members of the Quraysh tribe—functions as its
Jabalqa accepting Muhammad’s prophetic mission on grand finale. Although it is possible to see in this conclusion
Mount Qaf is found in al-Izniqi’s (d. 1434) “Kitab al- the remnants of a “positive argument” for Jewish conversion
77 Thakston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 284–285. The term “Moses’s communities” (Musa ummatların) is utilized instead of the term for Jews (yahudi), and
their conversion is described by Muhammad simply as: “They all believed in me” (alar barı iman keltürdiler). It should be stressed here that members
of the Jewish community are already on a “right path” and are willing to embrace an original message, as propounded by the Prophet Muhammad. In
this sense, this conclusion is less about conversion from one religion to another than a rectifying of a shared “right path.”
78 Mount Qaf never appears as the final narreme in other ascension texts, even when these include the narreme of the “righteous Jews” in easternmost
lands. However, Mount Qaf is mentioned sometimes in connection with the celestial white rooster, whose head is described as touching the throne of
God and whose feet touch the highest point of the earth, i.e., Mount Qaf. In such cases, Mount Qaf is not associated with Jabalsa and Jabalqa and the
conversion of the Jews but rather with the ends of the earth. For a description of Mount Qaf as a large mountain sprouting branches that uphold the
heavens, see Liber Scale Machometi, 286–289.
79 Al-Izniqi was proficient in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, and translated a number of texts into Anatolian Turkish, including al-Thaclabi’s Qisas al-Anbiya’.
The correspondences between his “Book of Ascension” and the Timurid Micrajnama deserve further study.
80 The name of the chapter, Surat Qaf, is also possibly based on the first freestanding letter, “qaf,” which initiates the sura. On Mount Qaf, see (inter alia)
M. Streck (and A. Miquel), “Kaf,” E.I.2, vol. 4, 400–402, which explains its origins in pre-Islamic Iranian cosmological ideas.
81 Al-Kisa’i, The Tales of the Prophet of al-Kisa’i, 8, 338, fn. 6; and Al-Thaclabi, cAra’is al-Majalis fi Qisas al-Anbiya’, 9 Al-Thaclabi.
82 The figure of Buluqiyya, which recently has been studied by Maria Subtelny (in her “The Islamic Ascent Narrative as Missionary Text”), dates back to the
ninth century and is developed in greater detail in later prophetic legends, especially by al-Thaclabi. For his extensive description of the tale of Buluqiyya,
which immediately precedes the tale of Alexander the Great, see al-Thaclabi, cAra’is al-Majalis fi Qisas al-Anbiya’, 593–604.
83 Al-Thaclabi, cAra’is al-Majalis fi Qisas al-Anbiya’, 9.
84 Mount Qaf, Jabalqa, and Jabalsa were associated with a number of Islamic tales by the Timurid period. For example, Alexander the Great visits Mount
Qaf and Jabalqa in the Iskandarnama (Book of Alexander the Great), as included in Firdawsi’s Shahnama (Book of Kings) and Jami’s Khiradnama-yi
Iskandari (Book of Alexander the Great’s Wisdom). Alexander the Great’s journey to the end of the world was linked symbolically with the Prophet
Muhammad’s own ascension, at which time he also visits the edge of the world after his dialogue with God (Wheeler, Moses in the Quran and Islamic
Exegesis, 94–101).
289
to Islam,85 it must be noted that it is very difficult to the text stresses a community in a very remote land accepting
identify a particular Jewish audience in Timurid Herat to Muhammad’s mission rather than a community on the
whom this message would have been directed in the homefront accepting the ascension as a miracle and, by
1430s. Furthermore, the Mount Qaf narreme is nonexistent extension, Muhammad’s prophetic mission. The focus and
in the Nahj al-Faradis of ca. 1357–60, the conclusion of energy of the narrative is thus redirected from the Quraysh
which describes the tortures of hell followed immediately to a people capable of accepting the “right path” even
by the Prophet Muhammad’s prayer to God. So it is though they inhabit a faraway land. In other words, the
difficult to posit that this narreme preserves a concern message of the triumph of Islam and Muhammad’s unequaled
with Jewish conversion within the territories of the Golden status as the “seal of prophets,” as typically found in micraj
Horde from a century prior. narratives, is witnessed not by a local citizenry but an
isolated community at the end of the world.
Rather, the Timurid Micrajnama relies upon a particular
narrative episode, recorded most prominently in al-Izniqi’s The second point of interest which works in unison
Arabic-language “Kitab al-Micraj.” The Prophet encounters with this first, revolves around the geographic specificity
Moses’s people (qawm Musa), with whom he enters into of Moses’s people as described in al-Izniqi’s “Kitab al-Micraj.”
an extended dialogue, immediately after Moses’s intervening The text mentions—on two occasions—that this community
to help him bargain for a reduction (takhfif) of daily inhabits a land “beyond China,” which is so far away that
prayers from fifty to five.86 Moses’s people are described it takes more than half a year to reach by foot. That al-
as having “walked for half a year until they reached an Izniqi describes the furthermost land in relationship to
area beyond China that was a clean and beautiful China reveals a basic knowledge of world geography in
place.”87After speaking about their houses, death, sin, Islamic lands by ca. 1400. More significantly, it also hints
and other matters, Moses’s people beseech Muhammad that the Timurid Micrajnama’s conclusion—which resembles
to teach them God’s commands and laws. Of these, they the close of al-Izniqi’s text more than that of any other
note, the pilgrimage (hajj) is most difficult for them to ascension tale—may have drawn subtly on the symbolic
carry out, since their homeland is so far that it is “beyond correspondence between Moses’s people as being far away
China” (wara’ al-sin).88 Only after these interactions with and the contemporaneous inhabitants of “eastern lands.”
the Jews “beyond China” does the Prophet journey further
and reach Mount Qaf and the cities of Jabalqa and Jabalsa This second analogy creates a reasonably disguised
before his return to Mecca and his final disputation with correlation between members of Moses’s community who
Abu Jahl.89 accept Muhammad and the communities “beyond China”
who are represented as having an innate potential to
Two basic points of interest emerge when comparing embrace Islam, as well. The Micrajnama’s reader, listener,
this section of al-Izniqi’s “Kitab al-Micraj” with the Mount or interpreter could have applied this conclusion to
Qaf/Jabalqa-Jabalsa narreme that concludes the Timurid contemporary circumstances specific to the rule of Shahrukh,
Micrajnama, which can help us examine some of the a period which witnessed a wider acquaintance, if not a
possible implications of the manuscript’s function specifically fixation, with China. Within this religio-cultural context,
within the context of Ming-Timurid relations. the text’s conclusion can be seen as an implied call for all
peoples, both near and far, to accept Muhammad’s prophecy,
First, the Micrajnama’s climax has collapsed al-Izniqi’s a request that finds a very close parallel in Shahrukh’s letters
two narremes of Moses’s people and the visit to Mount to the Ming emperor, in which he states explicitly: “All
Qaf into one single episode, effectively truncating the men—emir, sultan, vizier, rich, poor, small and large—must
conclusion into a form that is not attested to in any other follow [Muhammad’s] religious laws and deeds, and the
surviving ascension narrative. Thus, the grand finale of Turkish peoples must abandon their past religious laws.”90
85 Subtelny, “The Islamic Ascent Narrative as Missionary Text.”

86 el-Izniki, Mi’rac, 149–155; and al-Izniqi, “Kitab al-Micraj,” folios 25r–26v. This episode is prompted by Ibn cAbbas reporting the Prophet’s revelation to
Moses’s community: “Of the people of Moses, there is a section who guide and do justice in the light of truth” (Qur’an 7:159).
87 el-Izniki, Mi’rac, 149; and al-Izniqi, “Kitab al-Micraj,” folio 25v.
88 el-Izniki, Mi’rac, 154; and al-Izniqi, “Kitab al-Micraj,” folio 26r.
89 el-Izniki, Mi’rac, 155–162; and al-Izniqi, “Kitab al-Micraj,” folios 27r–28r.
90 Kauz, Politik und Handel zwischen Ming und Timuriden, 102; Nava’i, Asnad va mukatabat-i ta’rikh-i iran az Taymur ta Shah Ismacil, 133. This letter of
Shahrukh to the Ming emperor Yongle was given to the Chinese envoy Chen Cheng. The latter had brought Shahrukh a number of letters (written in
three languages: Persian, Turkish/Uighur, and Chinese) from the Ming ruler, along with precious fabrics, especially silk.
290
TEXT AS EXEMPLUM Muslims would have grasped the larger implications of

its very specific conclusion. Could the work’s Muslim
The Micrajnama’s text could convey many possible audience have seen in Moses’s people living in a faraway
religious and political overtones. Much like medieval land an analogy for the Chinese? Could they have seen
Christian writings in the “exemplum” genre,91 it presents in the figures of cUmar and Rumaysa’ in paradise a
a story capable of edifying and encouraging an audience reflection of the “renewer” of Islam, Shahrukh, and his
to accept the story of the Prophet’s ascension as historical esteemed wife Gawharshad? Conversely, could a Chinese
truth and to conform to a behavior described as exemplary. envoy in Herat have attended a ceremonial reading of
It also heralds the ultimate salvation of believers and the the Micrajnama’s text and therefore understood this final
damnation of sinners. With eschatological overtones, a message? Could he have associated Mount Qaf, the
moralizing ending, and persuasive rhetorical devices, this mythical mountain located at the easternmost edge of
kind of exemplary tale, along with its contemporary the world, with Mount Tai, the most venerated of the
inflections, can be best characterized as a “récit-argument”92 five sacred mountains of China?95 In sum, could a Muslim
or “tale-argument”—a kind of two-pronged work that is and possibly non-Muslim audience have read between
one part entertaining and one part edifying. the lines and appreciated the Micrajnama’s inflected
conclusion and its potential application to the inter-
By stressing the veracity and historicity of Muhammad’s religious and political polemics of the day?
ascension, and by collating narrative elements with
religious and political overtones particular to the day, Although it is impossible to answer these many questions
the Timurid Micrajnama brings together the concerns of with certainty at the present time, the Timurid Micrajnama’s
past and present history. It entertains and educates, but overt alterations of the Nahj al-Faradis, particularly the
also attempts to persuade its audience (especially through addition of the pavilions of cUmar and Rumaysa’ in
the hell series) to live by certain rules, or exempla vivendi.93 paradise, and its co-optation of the Mount Qaf narreme
Similarly, it exposes an orthodox credal system through found in al-Izniqi’s “Kitab al-Micraj” must have been
the double pattern of “divertissement” (entertainment) noticeable to a Muslim audience familiar with Hadiths
and “avertissement” (warning), and it cleverly shifts from and oral stories about the ascension. Oral tales in particular
purely biographical and exegetical recounting to exhortative would have provided a mechanism for politicizing the
and nuanced storytelling, all the while drawing on canonical many salient themes included in this particular “Book of
works like the Hadith and Qur’an as legitimizing and Ascension.” Such metatextual stories, which unfortunately
indisputable sources of information. have not come down to us, could have been woven out
of the text to promote Shahrukh as a modern-day cUmar
Shahrukh’s Micrajnama would have needed an audience and to draw a parallel between Mount Qaf and China.
because these kinds of “example Hadiths” function on By allegory and allusion, these motifs thus could endorse
three dimensions: they transmit by narration, narrate by Shahrukh’s domestic religious program and legitimize
fictionalisation, and fictionalise by provoking imagination his foreign political agenda.
in an audience.94 Supposing that it was read aloud and
its pictures shown at a select gathering of Timurid officials
and Chinese envoys in Herat, both Muslims and non-
91 Van Damme, “Rabghuzi’s Qisas al-Anbiya’ Reconsidered in the Light of Western Medieval Studies.” Medieval Christian exempla are comparable in function
to Islamic qisas al-anbiya’, in which the Prophet and his micraj are described. Their functions share many similarities: they are considered as belonging
to an orthodox theology; they are moralizing and eschatological in character; and they are used for reasons of persuasion, pedagogy, and doctrine.
92 Van Damme, “Rabghuzi’s Qisas al-Anbiya’ Reconsidered in the Light of Western Medieval Studies,” 27.
94 Günther, “Fictional Narration and Imagination within an Authoritative Framework,” 470–471.
95 Mount Tai, located in the Shandong province, is 1,545 meters above sea level. It was the most venerated of the five sacred mountains and was frequently
visited by pilgrims. See Werner, “Wu Yo,” A Dictionary of Chinese Mythology, 578–580.
291
C H A P T E R III
T H E M I CR A J N A M A ’ S F O R M AND ICONOGRAPHY
of royal manuscripts, or do they define a “mature” style?

W ithin the context of Timurid art, Shahrukh’s
illustrated Micrajnama has held a steady but
uneasy place: steady because the manuscript is so striking
If the latter, how can one define this “artistic yardstick”3
by which all later Islamic painting has been judged? And
that it appears in many important surveys of Islamic in what ways is it useful or detrimental to do so, especially
painting,1 and uneasy because it does not fit well into in analyzing Shahrukh’s Micrajnama?
the paradigms that have been devised to order and explain
the history of Islamic painting. Due to its uncommon Timurid painting has been defined as “classical” based
subject and strikingly “syncretistic” pictorial forms, it on a number of criteria. For some scholars, it is “classical”
certainly has not suffered from lack of attention. However, because it evinces a full-fledged state-sponsored artistic
brief mentions of the manuscript have remained in indirect program, primarily based in the city of Herat from the
proportion to a detailed analysis of its formal vocabulary time of prince Baysunghur (1420s) to the end of Sultan
and, by extension, its position within Timurid book arts Husayn’s rule (d. 1506).4 At this time, artists in the Timurid
more broadly. royal and princely book ateliers (kitabkhanas) came
together from the major artistic centers of Baghdad, Shiraz,
Over the course of the past few decades, scholars and Tabriz to create illustrated manuscripts of romantic
have approached Islamic painting through the theoretical and epic stories, anthologies of poetic texts, universal
model of rise and decline, and within this construct histories, and a number of other works, including the
Timurid painting has come to represent a “classical” style Micrajnama. By creating a more or less codified visual
that emerged from a period of initial experimentation vocabulary that could be applied to various objects, such
and adaptation in the fourteenth century.2 With Ilkhanid as metalwork, woodwork, ceramics, and textiles, artists
art thus as an incipit to the story of Islamic painting— in different media de facto created a recognizable “canon”
and Qajar popular and Europeanizing arts as its close— for the visual arts in the Timurid period. For scholars,
Timurid (and sometimes Safavid) painting has come to this systematization and dissemination of form signifies
represent a Golden Age of the pictorial arts of Persia. a carefully considered and unified vision for the Timurid
state, itself benefiting from equally centripetal tendencies.
The frequently used terms “classic” or “classical,” Thus, artists active in this “classical” period are interpreted
however, are highly problematic because they are based as responsible for creating visual expressions of princely
on a number of aesthetic presuppositions and other virtues and aspirations, bound by a closely circumscribed
factors. Are these terms representative of a sizeable output system of forms applied across artistic media.5
1 See for example Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 230–231; Grabar, Mostly Miniatures, 91–93; Gray, “The Pictorial Arts of the Timurid
Period”; Robinson, Fifteenth-Century Persian Painting, 3-20; Sims et al, Peerless Images, 136–138, 149–150; Grube with Sims, “The School of Herat from
1400 to 1450,” 159–160; and Roxburgh, “The Timurids and Turkmen,” 199.
2 Gray, “The Pictorial Arts in the Timurid Period,” 843. This methodology also is used in Ernst Grube’s The Classical Style in Islamic Painting, a study of
Timurid painting in Herat and its influence on later Islamic painting.
3 Grube, The Classical Style in Islamic Painting, 20–21. In this case, Grube states that Timurid painting, especially painting produced under Baysunghur’s
patronage, can be considered an “artistic yardstick” since it was imitated and revived under the Safavids.
4 On Baysunghur’s patronage, his commissions, and his interactions with artists, see Grube with Sims, “The School of Herat from 1400 to 1450”; and
Roxburgh, “Baysunghur’s Library.”
5 Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 159–165.
295
In this case, the term “classical” is almost synonymous Another definition of “classical” goes beyond the idea
with institutionalization, or streamlined multimedia of efflorescence (in sheer numerical terms) and the
production. Within the parameters of this definition, a application of form for political objectives to instead
“classical” period only can occur once artists copy older stress the aesthetic qualities of Timurid painting. In this
forms and recast models in order to apply them en masse instance, “classical” denotes the visual or artistic mastery
to a variety of artworks. Artists working under Shahrukh exhibited in certain paintings, achieved by compositional
and later Sultan Husayn—that is, within a state system form and a highly skilled application of pigments. Other
that was much more settled than it had been during the terms used synonymously with this definition of “classical”—
dynasty’s foundation in the late fourteenth century—thus “refined,” “sensitive,” and “metaphorical”—obviously
are viewed as vital purveyors of political propaganda in draw upon and give precedence to Persian poetic
pictorial form. Although artists did experiment with form, expressions typical of the “classical” period (tenth to
creatively adapting and responding to older models,6 fifteenth centuries). Persian poetical expressions at this
they essentially are viewed as forming a body of skilled time tend to be florid, stylized, formulaic, mystical, even
labor subservient to one dominant mode of production at times becoming a “mosaic of worn out clichés.”9 Like
dictated by a desire for standardization and consistency. the painterly arts, Persian poetry of the “classical” period
has strong decorative tendencies, with rhetorical devices
The problems surrounding this particular definition that not only ornament a main theme but become subjects
of “classical” are many, primarily because this paradigm unto themselves.10 A particular theoretical approach to
presumes a multiplication of forms and idioms across Persian poetry thus has provided a significant parallel
media as well as an artistic vision of state decreed from theoretical model for defining “classicism” in the pictorial
above. It omits works with exceptional pictorial language, arts of the Timurid period, one that highlights recurring
like Shahrukh’s Mi crajnama, in favor of those with and standardized patterns, intricate formal qualities, and
recurring motifs. Furthermore, it assumes that patrons a deep potential for allegory.
from the Timurid royal household—such as Baysunghur,
Shahrukh, Abu Sacid, and Husayn Bayqara—were actively This second definition of “classical” painting does have
involved in the process of pictorial selection. Although benefits, as it contributes to a methodological apparatus
some Timurid princes (such as Baysunghur) were gifted for exploring the symbolic implications of pictorial forms,
calligraphers who showed interest in the progress of especially in the case of illustrated poetic texts whose
various art projects7 and greatly patronized the arts,8 paintings tend toward the lyrical and thus may transcend
others do not appear to have interfered much in the inner purely narrative functions. 11 However, by stressing
workings of the kitabkhana. Thus, the Timurid visual nonnarrative, expressive, and redundant lyricism, this
idiom seems to have emerged principally from an internal definition of “classical” Islamic painting fails to explain
collaboration among artists who refined inherited forms, illustrations included in historical, biographical, or scientific
experimented with new ones, and thereby created a new works. In these kinds of Timurid illustrated manuscripts—
artistic canon. Only then did this grand artistic undertaking especially those produced for Shahrukh, like Hafiz-i Abru’s
coalesce and project the state’s unity, strength, and Kulliyat-i Ta’rikh (Compendium of History) of 1415–1612
wealth—and not the other way around. and his Majmac al-Tawarikh (Collection of Histories) of
6 For a discussion of imitative practices in later Timurid pictorial traditions, as well as the problems of defining “authorship” in the context of artists engaged
in such practices, see Roxburgh, “Kamal al-Din Bihzad and Authorship in Persianate Painting.”
7 See, for example, the progress report (carzadasht) of the Timurid atelier presented by Jacfar Tabrizi to Prince Baysunghur (Thackston, Album Prefaces
and Other Documents on the History of Calligraphers and Painters, 43–46). In this report, Jacfar describes the current state of projects undertaken by
Timurid calligraphers, painters, illuminators, binders, tentmakers, and woodworkers.
8 For a discussion of the manuscripts he commissioned, see Roxburgh, “Baysunghur’s Library.”
9 Yarshater, “Some Common Characteristics of Persian Poetry and Art,” 62.
10 Yarshater, “The Development of Iranian Literatures,” 18–19. Yarshater notes that these devices include alliteration, homophony, internal rhyming, double
rhyming, antithesis, refrains, and repetitions and that poems sometimes become, like paintings, exercises in “contrapunctual design.”
11 This approach has been used especially to explain the paintings in the Divan (Compendium of Poems) of Khwaju Kirmani (d. 1352) copied in Baghdad
in 1396 for the Jalayirid Sultan Ahmad (see Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 53; and Klimburg-Salter, “A Sufi Theme in Persian Painting”).
12 For the Kulliyat-i Ta’rikh, see Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 166, 338–339, cat. no. 46 (TKS Bagdat 282).
296
ca. 1425,13 as well as the illustrated Micrajnama of ca. If Shahrukh’s illustrated “Book of Ascension” is neither
1436—paintings do not function as pictorial flights of fancy “classical” nor “historical,” then what is it? Because it
nor do they necessarily carry potential for allegorical was possibly based on the illustrated Micrajnama of the
interpretation. So whether defined by numerical output last Ilkhanid ruler Abu Sacid Khudabanda of ca. 1317–35,
or high levels of pictorial ornamentation, the “classical” then the manuscript (much like Shahrukh’s illustrated
style omits these kinds of works. historical works) represents a reiteration of Ilkhanid
models that were available to artists in the Herat kitabkhana.
Rather than label these sorts of manuscripts “classical” As such, it might be best classified as a revivification of
in style, Richard Ettinghausen devised a subcategory of earlier Perso-Islamic painterly traditions, a pictorial revival
Timurid painting, accepted by a number of later scholars, entirely apt for Shahrukh, who imagined himself a “renewer”
which he labeled “the historical style of Shahrukh.”14 This (mujaddid) of Islamic orthodoxy within a long line of
“historical” style, he argues, is evident in paintings that Muslim rulers. In this case, then, the manuscript betrays
accompany historical texts, such as those by Hafiz-i Abru not a “classical” style, but rather a “neo-classical” one—
(d. 1430), Shahrukh’s court historian, who was responsible that is, a pictorial revivalism prompted by an interest in
for updating and completing the Ilkhanid illustrated returning to a seeming artistic apex that lies not in Timurid
manuscripts of Rashid al-Din’s Jami c al-Tawarikh. 15 artistic traditions but in Ilkhanid ones. This antiquarian
Although based on inherited Ilkhanid models, Shahrukh’s reiteration of the micraj theme finds its closest qualitative
historical manuscripts include paintings that are reduced parallel in the revival of “classical” Greek and Roman art
in form and lacking in animation, display little interest at the same time in Renaissance Italy.
in spatial depth, and employ archaizing forms that tend
to reiterate Mongol prototypes.16 The Ilkhanid Micrajnama, however, was not simply
recovered and reiterated during the Timurid period. Many
Regardless of whether one agrees with established of its paintings depict subjects—like the Prophet Muhammad
definitions of the “classical” style of the Timurid period flying on Gabriel’s shoulders rather than on al-Buraq
or the more specific and separate category called “the over a sea of fire and mountains of snow (Fig. 3.1)18—
historical style of Shahrukh,”17 both stylistic categories that are not included in the Timurid “Book of Ascension.”
patently fail to incorporate a discussion of Shahrukh’s The kind of text that probably accompanied the Ilkhanid
Mi crajnama. As a consequence, this manuscript has paintings was an autonomous Persian-language Micrajnama
remained in a category of its own, an anathema in a in the Ibn cAbbas genre rather than a Turkish-language
larger corpus of “classical” illustrated poetical works and text in the “Forty Hadith” pattern, like the Timurid
“historical” texts. Undefined and unclassified, but ubiquitous manuscript.19 In a seemingly tactical move, Shahrukh
as an interesting and presumed unicum, it thus occupies commissioned an illustrated Micrajnama that revives a
a very tenuous position in studies of Timurid painting. model manuscript but alters its text, removing it from a
genre associated with belletristic literature (adab) and
13 Ettinghausen, “An Illuminated Manuscript of Hafiz-i Abru in Istanbul”; Inal, “Miniatures in Historical Manuscripts from the Time of Shahrukh in the Topkapi
Palace Museum”; and Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 100–101.
14 Ettinghausen, “An Illuminated Manuscript of Hafiz-i Abru in Istanbul,” 42; and Gray, “The Pictorial Arts in the Timurid Period,” 855.
15 See Blair, A Compendium of Chronicles; and Hillenbrand, “The Arts of the Book in Ilkhanid Iran,” 145–150.
16 Ettinghausen, “An Illuminated Manuscript of Hafiz-i Abru in Istanbul, Part I,” 40–43. Thomas Lentz and Glenn Lowry are in agreement with Ettinghausen.
They add that the experimental landscape renditions of the Ilkhanid manuscript have been reduced to flat planes revealing little interest in three-
dimensionality, and that these sorts of illustrations show the conservative nature of historical illustration (Timur and the Princely Vision, 99–100).
17 Ettinghausen’s definition of Shahrukh’s “historical style” remains debatable. For example, the paintings in Hafiz-i Abru’s Kulliyat-i Ta’rikh experiment
with space and ornamentation, and they show a sustained attempt to depict motion and figural interactions (see the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad
conquering Mecca in Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 166).
18 The anonymous Ilkhanid Micrajnama text of 1286 includes a description of this sea of fire filled with mountains of snow, which it calls the “Swollen
Ocean” (al-bahr al-masjur). The expression “al-bahr al-masjur” is mentioned once in the Qur’an (52:6–11) in connection with Doomsday, at which time
God causes the mountains to “fly here and fly there.” In the Ilkhanid “Book of Ascension” text, it is located in the seventh heaven and is described as an
ocean of blazing fire (darya-yi az atash-i suzan) filled with mountains of snow (kuhha-yi barf). The equilibrium between the ocean and the mountains
is such that the “snow does not melt, nor does the fire become extinguished” (SK Aya Sofya, folios 45v–46r). This fire made of opposite elements calls
to mind the angel of half-fire and half-snow (BnF Sup Turc 190, folio 11v).
19 Ettinghausen, in his “Persian Ascension Miniatures of the Fourteenth Century,” was the first to note that the Ilkhanid paintings do not match the texts of
the Timurid “Book of Ascension” and the Liber Scale Machometi. For the kind of text that most likely accompanied the Ilkhanid paintings, see the
anonymous Ilkhanid Micrajnama (SK Ayasofya 3411)
297
transforming it into an expanded, narrativized Hadith, Timurid Micrajnama. It is not a manuscript—like those
second in theological and doctrinal authority only to the considered to be illustrated in a “historical” style—
Qur’an. In this very specific case, the ruler’s “classicizing” supplemented with simplistic, naïve, or crude visual
endeavor appears circumscribed by his religious concerns. vignettes that amount to nothing more than “visual
paraphrases of a pious narration.”22 Nor is it a “classical”
The iconographic and stylistic overlaps between these manuscript, since it does not display the overly refined
two manuscripts are few and far between. The Ilkhanid decorative patterns used in illustrated Persian poems
paintings are conceived on a much grander scale than their produced over the course of the fifteenth century. Instead,
Timurid counterparts, and their size supports not only the through its novel and studious combination of form and
hypothesis that they formed part of a royal commission tone, Shahrukh’s “Book of Ascension” can be considered
but also the supposition that they may have served as a above all “religious” in style, thereby prompting a
pictured chapbook used in a “reading event” during ascension reevaluation and expansion of the stylistic categories
festivities on the night of 27 Rajab. 20 Although their devised for Timurid artistic traditions thus far.
accompanying text is now lost due to remounting, it may
have been placed on the backs of the paintings for a
storyteller to read as he displayed images to an audience PICTURING A RELIGIOUS PLANE: FORMAT AND SCALE
consisting of Abu Saicd Khudabanda and his immediate
entourage.21 Like its Ilkhanid predecessor, the Timurid The Timurid Micrajnama comprises sixty-eight folios.
Micrajnama may have been linked to ceremonial activities, With sixty paintings located on fifty-seven folios23 and
and its paintings also display a preference for large swathes eleven folios containing text only, its rate of illustration—
of color instead of meticulous ornamentation. However, at close to one painting per page—is extremely high.
the reduction of the paintings’ size to fit the codex format Other royal Islamic manuscripts with extensive visual
and their anchoring in a religious work suggest strongly programs have a lower rate of illustration: for example,
that, despite the manuscript’s lavish and extensive visual the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of Kings) most
cycle, text had to be given priority over image. likely produced for the Ilkhanid Sultan Abu Sa c id
Khudabanda ca. 1320–30 contains 280 folios with
Other pictorial elements are combined effectively to 180–200 illustrations, equaling a 1:1.5 painting-per-folio
create a visual system that attempts to convey, through the rate; Shah Tahmasp’s Shahnama of ca. 1550 contains
basic vehicles of form and color, a tone appropriate for a 742 folios with 258 paintings, equaling a 1:3 painting-
religious text. The Micrajnama’s novel iconographic vocabulary per-folio rate; and Sultan Murad III’s Siyer-i Nebi (Life
is embedded with meanings appropriate to the text’s tenor of the Prophet) completed in 1595–96 originally included
and content, and these meanings emerge through expositive about 1,700 folios with eight hundred paintings, equaling
figural representation, the select application of ornament, one painting for every 3–5 folios.24 Thus, with close
and the spectrum of meaning afforded by color symbolism. to a 1:1 painting-per-folio rate of illustration, the Timurid
“Book of Ascension” appears to be the manuscript with
All of these elements are exploited to their fullest the most extensive polycyclic depiction in Islamic
potential in order to construct a sacred formal language pictorial traditions.25
and thus a “religious” iconography particular to the
20 Millie, “The Narrative Potential of Mi’râj.”

21 The practice of storytelling with pictures is attested to in Timurid, Turkman, Ottoman, and Qajar traditions. For large-scale paintings used in storytelling
in the Timurid period, see Lentz and Lowry, Timur and Princely Vision, 58–63; and Atasoy, “Illustrations Prepared for Display during Shahname Recitations.”
For Turkman storytelling with pictures of the Prophet’s ascension, see Gruber, “The Keir Mi’raj”; for Ottoman practices of storytelling with pictures, see
Mahır, “A Group of 17th Century Paintings used for Picture Recitation”; and for Qajar practices, see Chelkowski, “Narrative Painting and Painting Recitation
in Qajar Iran.”
22 Grabar, Mostly Miniatures, 93. In his Persian Painting (81), Basil Gray states that the historical school is not original, not fine, and probably quickly
executed—and therefore hardly ever rises above the “pedestrian.” This opinion echoes Oleg Grabar’s evaluation of the paintings in the Timurid Micrajnama.
23 Three folios (15r, 22v, and 65r) contain two paintings illustrating separate subjects.
24 Blair, “Rewriting the History of the Great Mongol Shahnama,” 37–39; and Garrett Fisher, “A Reconstruction of the Pictorial Cycle of the Siyar-i Nabi of
Murad III,” 75–77.
25 The term polycyclic is borrowed from Kurt Weitzmann’s definition of illustrated religious manuscripts in the eastern Christian tradition, such as Gospel
lectionaries or Psalm books, which contain extensive pictorial programs prompted largely by the book’s narrative contents (Weitzmann, “The Narrative
and Liturgical Gospel illustrations,” 248; and idem, Illustrations in Roll and Codex).
298
Almost every folio is conceived as a freestanding lines. In these two cases, the artist seems to have expanded
composition that combines two registers of texts and one the size of each painting’s frame to allow each depicted
framed image. At the top of each folio, an Arabic-language moment, as it were, to stand on its own. This structural
caption written in gold describes the theme(s) of the technique forces the viewer to halt from reading for a
illustrated scene(s). It is followed by the Micrajnama’s moment, in order to contemplate the Prophet as he
Chaghatay-language text in Uighur script, written in black ascends or prays in God’s presence. The dimensions of
ink and boxed in with a gold and black frame. Below the paintings are exploited in order to alter the manuscript’s
the framed Arabic and Chaghatay texts appears each pictorial tone at given intervals, especially for images
image, varying in size from one-third of the folio’s height worthy of close inspection and meditation. As a result,
to almost a full page. Sometimes the Chaghatay text these two compositions achieve an almost iconic status,
continues below the image; at other times, especially in thus forcing visual cogitation. At carefully selected moments,
the series of paintings representing paradise, no text they rise above the purely illustrative.
appears below the illustration’s lower horizontal edge.
Much as the artist manipulated the frames of paintings
The paintings are essentially of two kinds: contained to create a rhythm of motion and pause across the
in a horizontal register or, when larger in size, forming manuscript’s folios, he also explored the various symbolic
a square or rectangular composition. The use of horizontal meanings that can be attached to the paintings’ frames.
image frames reveals an indebtedness to the Ilkhanid Although most of the compositions are firmly contained
landscape format of paintings included in Rashid al-Din’s by their frames, on a few occasions figures or motifs
Jamic al-Tawarikh, and its Timurid revival, Hafiz-i Abru’s break through into the folios’ margins. Their expansion
Majmac al-Tawarikh. Although such horizontal pictorial onto the plain page is pregnant with meaning, especially
bands nestled between lines of text typify illustrated in the case of two paintings: the representation of the
manuscripts in the “historical” style, they also appear in celestial rooster (Fig. 3.3) and the third polycephalous
the Timurid Micrajnama. For these reasons, the inclusion angel of prayer (Fig. 3.4). In both compositions, the
of horizontal bands of images in illustrated Ilkhanid and angels’ expansion beyond the painting frame reveals that
Timurid manuscripts was deemed an appropriate choice the artist depicted their extrication from spatial restrictions
of format for polycyclic depiction, whether the text was in order to communicate, in pictorial and structural terms,
a universal history or a “Book of Ascension.” The selection their cosmic proportions.
of this format was less the result of adherence to a
particular literary genre than a careful concern for bracketing In the Timurid Micrajnama, the celestial rooster (Fig.
images within their corresponding texts. 3.3) is depicted as a colossal figure, its head touching
the top horizontal frame of the image (symbolic of the
Other paintings in the Timurid Micrajnama are conceived throne of God) and its feet breaking through the text
on a grander scale. They are square or rectangular and frame below to clutch the earth’s highest peak (Mount
come close to filling the majority of the allotted frame. Qaf).26 The white plumes of its tail, albeit partially cut
Paintings rendered in this elongated vertical format tend off due to the folio’s subsequent cropping, delicately fan
not to depict a moment of interaction or dialogue between out into the left margin. Surrounded by golden cloud
the Prophet Muhammad and angels or prophets. Instead, swirls and balls against a lapis blue sky, the Prophet
they focus on a moment when Muhammad is alone and Muhammad points inquisitively toward the rooster as
engaged in contemplation or prayer. For example, the Gabriel responds that the angel’s main duty is crowing
two large paintings of the Prophet’s isra’ from Mecca to during prayer times and reciting prayers (tasbih) in God’s
Jerusalem (folio 5r) and his prostration upon entering in honor, to which earthly roosters respond in unison. 27 In
the realm of God (Fig. 3.2) dominate their respective essence, roosters of both celestial and terrestrial spheres
folios, reducing the Chaghatay text to only three to five are charged with reminding the faithful to praise God.
26 The rooster angel in the first heaven is the only angelic creature that entirely eschews a human form. It is described as a rooster (khurus or horoz), white
rooster (dik al-abyad), or the rooster of [God’s] throne (dik al-carsh) in Islamic literary sources. In his zoological lexicon, al-Damiri (d. 1405–6), states
that the celestial cock is a kind of angel that guides earthly roosters in their crowing and announces the Day of Judgment with a tasbih prayer (al-Damiri,
Hayat al-Hayawan al-Kubra, vol. 1, 477–485; and al-Damîrî, Hayât al-Hayâwân, 800–811). Its body is white because it is considered to be made of snow
(Anonymous, Micrajnama, folio 21r, lines 5–6).
299
The celestial rooster’s unfathomable size—and its existence like role, he observes saved souls on his right and damned
beyond the earthly realm—is expressed by the breaking souls on his left, acting as a prophetic judge whose
of the painting’s frame, whose contained image, by superiority must be matched through pictorial language.
contraposition, denotes intelligible space. In this case, The artist, therefore, depicted Adam as a larger-than-life
the margin becomes a blank slate for the artistic expression human for one of several possible reasons: to intimate
of the limitlessness of the cosmos and God’s ornithological his preexistent state (before his manifestation on earth),
angel. to convey his prophetic authority, or both. The use of
hierarchy of scale, in this particular case, seems determined
The artist applied the same pictorial technique to the by the desire to depict a primal man, his encounter with
polycephalous angel of prayer in the seventh heaven space, and his visual materialization in the eschaton.
(Fig. 3.4), which, along with another large angel standing
at its side, almost entirely exists outside of the painting’s The artist’s hierarchy of scale for symbolic purposes
frame while its tiers of heads fan out into the folio’s left is most heavily exploited in the image of Muhammad
margin.28 The fracturing of the frame, once again, connotes and Gabriel arriving at the “place of proximity,” where
man’s inability to grasp both angels’ enormous sizes. As Gabriel is not allowed to ascend any further (folio 36r).
the accompanying text states, the polycephalous angel While standing at this high level, the Micrajnama text
stands in prayer with seventy heads equal to the size of notes, Gabriel returns to his primal or essential shape30
the world. Next to it stands another angel whose body from which God created him. His size is so immense that
is so large, “that if one were to place all the earth’s seas his six hundred wings spread over the east and west of
on its eye, they would not reach the other eye.”29 Once the world.31 In the painting, Gabriel overshadows the
again, the artist trespassed the frame to express the celestial Prophet Muhammad, who in comparison appears rather
enormity of both angels and the limitations of human diminutive. The archangel’s head grazes the surface of
perception. In both cases, the artist attached deep meaning the top horizontal frame, and his feet rest on the lower
to the margins, a meaning that surfaces from the sharp horizontal band—suggesting that although he is
division between the intelligible world (the picture plane) exponentially large he remains contained in the picture
and the realm of God (the margins), or between human plane and, consequently, is graspable by the human
and divine spaces. This structural dichotomy, further faculties of vision and cognition. The artist depicted
enhanced by the Micrajnama’s religious subject, thus Gabriel as fully visible in the framed dimension, although
creates a clear distinction between mundane and divine his primal size in the “station of proximity” must be
spaces—communicated at the most basic level by the conveyed through a modification of the scale used for
pictorial format chosen by the manuscript’s artist. figural imagery.
In a similar manner, the artist carefully selected the The artist of the Timurid Mi c rajnama combined
relative size of his figures. Muhammad—a human being composition and scale—the two basic constituents of the
responsible for spreading God’s revelations—at times is manuscript’s pictorial syntax—to construct and embed
depicted as dwarfed by his angelic and prophetic meaning into form. The horizontal format of the paintings,
interlocutors. This hierarchy of scale emerges not only interspersed with larger vertical compositions, creates a
in paintings where angels break through the frames but driving visual force, punctuated by intermittent halts that
also in depictions such as Muhammad’s encounter with encourage the viewer to contemplate momentous events
Adam (folio 9v) and Gabriel returning to his primal shape in a more sustained, and less ephemeral, fashion. While
at the “place of proximity” (folio 36r). some paintings in the landscape format might be hurriedly
skimmed over, others offer the viewer a chance to linger
Although Adam’s physical characteristics are not upon select images and ponder their miraculous or
described in the Micrajnama text, his status as a primordial sacramental values. In a similar way, by representing
man and a prototype for all humanity is suggested by some angels as breaching the paintings’ frames, the artist
his prominent size in the illustration. In his Pantocrator- generated a specific formal language to express the chasm
28 The iconography of the polycelphous angel of prayer is discussed in further detail in Chapter Four.
29 Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-Nâmeh, 10–11; and Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 273.
30 shaklahu al-awwal (Arabic caption) and öz suratı (Chaghatay text).
300
between the infinite and the infinitesimal, spacelessness that, to the modern eye, the figures might look as if they
and accidental matter, timelessness and temporality. He are physically stiff and with facial features that are
succeeded in doing so by essentially placing picture caricatured rather than individualistic.
planes in contraposition to marginal spaces. And, finally,
the variation and hierarchy of the figural scale also conveys A. THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
the concepts of primordiality, authority, and sacredness.
These many notions, which are depicted in pictorial form The artist depicted the Prophet Muhammad in such a
but are essentially religious in character, attempt to express way as to reveal his physical characteristics as they are
the gulf between the human and divine realms, thereby described in textual sources,32 while simultaneously paying
proving that the artist of the Micrajnama mastered both tribute to his prophetic status. Muhammad appears with
structure and form to articulate a carefully constructed fully visible facial features: he has large eyes that are set
visual language best suited to the manuscript’s religious apart, crescent-shaped eyebrows, a long and thin nose, a
theme. full and long beard, and two plaited tresses that extend to
his waist. He wears a white turban with an end flap (shamla)
wrapped around his neck and folded over his left shoulder.
BETWEEN NATURAL AND SACRAL: THE MANUSCRIPT’S FIGURAL He also is cloaked in a long, green mantle over a brown
IMAGERY robe, and sometimes his feet are visible as well.
The Timurid “Book of Ascension” includes extensive Although the artist worked within Timurid figural traditions,
figural imagery: the Prophet Muhammad and the angel his choice to display the Prophet’s facial features and
Gabriel appear in almost every painting, and many vestmental attributes must have been prompted by a specific
prophets, angels, and demons are depicted in human genre of popular bio-devotional texts—surely at his disposal—
form as well. Although one angel is in the shape of a dedicated to describing the proofs (dala’il)33 of Muhammad’s
rooster (folio 11r), all others assume human contours. prophecy as well as his physical characteristics and special
Similarly, hell’s demons are red- or black-skinned humans, attributes (shama’il).34 The most important statement
and its arch-demons look like humanoids sporting animal describing the Prophet, which seems to have launched the
masks. Only God does not appear in the manuscript’s genre, is attributed to cAli, the Prophet’s son-in-law and
iconographic program, most certainly due to the artist’s cousin. He describes Muhammad as neither tall nor short,
desire not to pictorially anthropomorphize the Lord. of medium height, with hair neither short nor curly, a round
Instead, His presence is alluded to by the extensive use face, rosy skin, large black eyes, long lashes, strong bones,
of gold and the transformation of the sky from a blue to and broad shoulders.35 Writers of biographies of the Prophet,
a flaming red background (Fig. 3.2). like al-Qadi cIyad b. Musa al-Yahsubi (d. 1149), further
developed cAli’s statement and offered their own evaluations
The predominance of the human form —used for of Muhammad’s physical attributes:
almost all of the story’s protagonists—reveals the artist’s
desire to express the story of the Prophet’s micraj through He had the most radiant coloring, deep black eyes
a readily comprehensible language. Aside from the abstract which were wideset and had a sort of red tint to them,
representation of God’s presence, the artist eschewed long eyelashes, a bright complexion, an aquiline nose,
allegory in favor of a novel brand of realism for the cycle’s a gap between his front teeth. His face was round
figural imagery. Through subtle details, he attempted to with a wide brow and he had a thick beard which
show motion, interaction, and emotion, despite the fact reached his chest.36
32 See Grabar and Natif, “The Story of the Portraits of the Prophet Muhammad.”
33 See, for example, Abu Nucaym al-Isfahani’s (d. 1039) Dala’il al-Nubuwwa (Proofs of Prophecy); and al-Bayhaqi’s (d. 1066) Dala’il al-Nubuwwa (Proofs
of Prophecy).
34 The most important works in the shama’il genre are: al-Tirmidhi’s (d. 880) work, bearing the various titles Al-Shama’il al-Sharif (The Noble Features),
Al-Shama’il al-Muhammadiyya (the Muhammadan Features), Al-Shama’il al-Nabawiyya (The Prophetic Features), Shama’il al-Mustafa (The Features of
the Chosen One), and Shama’il al-Tirmidhi (The Features of al-Tirmidhi); al-Baghawi’s (d. ca. 1117), Al-Anwar fi Shama’il al-Nabi al-Mukhtar (The Lights
of the Features of the Chosen Prophet); and Ibn Kathir’s (d. 1373) Shama’il al-Rasul wa Dala’il Nubuwwatih wa Fada’iluh wa Khasa’isuh (The Prophet’s
Features, the Proofs of his Prophecy, and His Benefits and Special Characteristics).
35 Safwat, The Art of the Pen, 46.
36 Al-Yahsubi, Muhammad, Messenger of Allah, 33–34.
301
Besides elaborately describing Muhammad’s primal of hand motions was certainly known by the artist of the
radiance—a theme to which we shall return later—writers Micrajnama, who selectively applied them to his figures
in the dala’il and shama’il genre especially enjoyed so as to convey certain meanings to an audience well
providing details about the Prophet’s hair and its delicate versed in this culturally defined practice of physical
fragrance. For instance, in his Dala’il al-Nubuwwa (Proofs expression.
of Prophecy), the author Abu Nucaym al-Isfahani (d.
1039) stresses the link between the Prophet’s hair and The Prophet is depicted using four principal gestures
his luminescent properties by stating that Muhammad in the Micrajnama: making a fist, pointing with his index
“used to plait his hair so that his left and right ear appeared finger, lifting his two hands with palms upraised, and
between two locks. His locks pressed against the ear so placing his index finger to his lips. These four gestures
that if one overfocused upon his ears between the black are well recorded in Perso-Turkish traditions, and each
locks, they seemed as the light of glistening stars.”37 Many encodes a specific meaning or connotes a particular
chronicles also record that the Prophet frequently oiled emotion. These precise and calculated gesticulations also
his hair and perfumed his locks and his beard, giving serve to capture the viewer’s attention and to create a
both a heavenly fragrance.38 These textual traditions testify heightened sense of emotion.41
that Muhammad’s hair was an especially important physical
feature.39 When the Prophet Muhammad encounters certain
prophets and angels, such as the angel of half-fire and
The artist of the Micrajnama concentrated most intensely half-snow (folio 11v), he places his right hand to his heart
on those features that are described in detail in textual in a gesture symbolic of affection. In Turkish traditions,
sources, revealing his interest in representing Muhammad’s the fist symbolizes the world and authority and thus,
physical qualities as accurately as possible even while like pointing with one or both index fingers, is a gesture
working within Timurid pictorial conventions. He strictly reserved for the Prophet Muhammad and rulers.42
emphasized Muhammad’s wide-set, almond-shaped eyes, In the Micrajnama, the Prophet’s fist, however, is placed
his aquiline nose, and his luxuriant beard. The long hair upon his heart in response to his witnessing otherwordly
plaits framing his face are especially accentuated, at times peoples and creatures, thereby suggesting that his dominion
painted in a darker (almost black) ink than the Prophet’s is all-inclusive and also deeply affective. This particular
(brownish) beard. The artist’s apparently calculated gesture, therefore, conveys both his prophetic authority
technique of color variation calls the viewer’s attention and his profound emotion on the night of his ascension.
to Muhammad’s locks, a visual emphasis comparable to
textual ones. When Muhammad speaks to Gabriel and inquires
about the identity or nature of certain angels, like the
The artist also used body language and especially rooster angel (Fig. 3.3), he points to the particular angelic
hand gestures to depict Muhammad’s interactions with creature with his right index finger while he looks to
angels and prophets, as well as his emotional responses. Gabriel for an explanation. The pointing of his finger
This referential system, it seems, was deemed a useful forces the viewer to look at the angel or prophet whom
method for depicting the Prophet’s emotions. Moreover, Muhammad encounters, thus reducing Muhammad’s
hand gestures were latent with meaning—perhaps more presence in the painting. However, because he turns his
so than facial expressions—within Persian and Turkish head toward Gabriel, Muhammad is shown as an active
traditions. They formed a clearly articulated system in and inquisitive participant, entering into a question-and-
which particular kinds of gestures carried familiar meanings answer exchange with the omniscient archangel. It is
and were governed by strict limitations.40 This “directory” also possible that the pointing of Muhammad’s index
37 See al-Ghazali, Book XX of al-Ghazali’s Ihya’ cUlum al-Din, 70.

38 Swemer, “The Hairs of the Prophet.”
39 His hair was collected and distributed among his followers to use as a good luck charm in battle. Today, relics of the Prophet’s hair are held in the treasury
of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, as well as in many mosques and private collections (see Aydin, Pavilion of the Sacred Relics, 102–113).
40 Eberhard and Boratay, Typen Türkisher Volksmärchen, 350–351.
41 This corpus of gestures is also invaluable to contemporary scholarship, as it offers a new approach to artistic expression in the visual arts of Islam similar
to that used by Michael Baxandall in his study of religious and profane gestures as represented in Renaissance painting (see Michael Baxandall, Painting
and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988]).
42 Eberhard and Boratay, Typen Türkisher Volksmärchen, 350–351.
302
finger indicates a witnessing of faith (angushti shihadat),43 negative aspects of the Prophet’s surprise. Instead of
as recorded in Persian cultural traditions, or the proclamation conveying emotion by modulating Muhammad’s facial
that there is only one God (tahlil), as described in Turkish expressions, therefore, the artist employed a readily
folktales.44 More than just a gesture directing the gaze, recognizable, culturally established indexical sign for
therefore, the pointing of the index finger is associated shock.
with the principal monotheistic tenet of Islam that there
is “no god but God.” Together, these four hand movements create a pictorial
system for expressing a range of emotions. Because these
When Muhammad approaches prophets and angels, gestures carried culturally generated meanings in Perso-
he also frequently lifts both hands with his palms upraised Turkish traditions, they served as tools for the artist to
in a prayer position known as the “raising of the two convey authority, inquiry, amazement, and dread in a
hands” (rafc al-yadayn). In Islamic communal prayer, readily understandable, and easily modulated, manner.
this gesture is performed at the very opening of prayer, Painted hand movements are easier for the viewer to see
with the initiatory proclamation of the takbir (“God is and to interpret than the minute intricacies of facial
Great”), again when going into genuflection, and for the expression, such as the raising of eyebrows or the furrowing
third time upon standing again.45 The Prophet himself of the brow. So, although the figures in the Micrajnama
practiced the “raising of the two hands,” which was may seem stiff and “primitive” to some, they are far from
witnessed and imitated thereafter by the Muslim community, being so. The artist took advantage of the tools for
thus establishing this custom as “sunna,” or an orthodox expressing emotion at his disposal, and these tools were
practice based on the Prophet’s tradition. The paintings’ drawn largely from a spectrum of gestural—not facial—
viewers are thus encouraged to follow the prophetic expressions.47 In order to understand and appreciate this
Sunna and, in emulation of Muhammad, other prophets system, it is important to consider that such techniques
(Fig. 3.5), and the community of believers (folio 30r), of representing affectivity are culturally defined and thus
lift their hands in prayer. manifest themselves in different fashions within a variety
of pictorial traditions.
Finally, when the Prophet is astonished by the enormity
or severity of what he sees, he places his right index The painter also attempted to convey the Prophet
finger on his lip: such is the case when he encounters Muhammad’s elevated status by representing him with
the polycephalous angel of prayer (folio 15r upper) and either a gold flaming halo around his head or with a
observes the punishment of false witnesses in hell (folio prophetic blaze engulfing his entire body. This detail
65r upper). This particular gesture is common in Persian was by no means a new one: Ilkhanid artists used the
and Turkish cultural practices and frequently appears in same motif in their representations of the Prophet, as did
pictorial traditions to depict a figure’s astonishment. later Safavid, Ottoman, Mughal, and Qajar artists. In a
Known simply as the “finger of amazement” (angushti manner that recalls the halo painted around Christ’s head
tahayyur),46 this gesture signals a moment of witnessing in European paintings, the aureole around the Prophet
something or someone awe-inspiring or terrifying, as in Muhammad’s head indicates his sacred status—here, the
both instances where it is utilized in the Micrajnama. term “sacred” meaning not “divine” (since Muhammad
The polycephalous angel, its cosmic size, and its ability was human) but rather “worthy of devotion” because of
to broadcast prayer elicit wonderment while, on the other his prophetic status and for being derived, as many Islamic
hand, the punishments in hell cause trepidation in texts stipulate, from God’s radiant light.
Muhammad. The angushti tahayyur is a versatile motion
that the artist inserted into the gestural program of his Discussions about the Prophet’s exalted status and his
paintings in order to express both the affirmative and origins from the light of God yielded the well-established
43 Steingass, A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, 114.

44 Eberhard and Boratav, Typen Türkisher Volksmärchen, 350–351.
45 See al-Bukhari, Kitab Rafc al-Yadayn fi’l-Salah, 5, 46, 61, 74, 112–117.
46 It is also called angushti tacajjub, angushti hairan, or angushti hairat (Steingass, A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, 114; and Redhouse, A
Turkish and English Lexicon, 228).
47 Such gestures also are used in large-scale paintings of the ascension used for pictured storytelling (see Fig. 4.15).
303
concept of the “light of Muhammad” (nur Muhammad),48 Muhammad, whose luminescent quality is compared to
elaborated upon in canonical sources such as Hadith a lamp (charagh), must also “give the stars blooms of
manuals and biographies of the Prophet, exegesis, and light.”55 In his Mantiq al-Tayr (Conference of the Birds),
Sufi poems. It is this nur Muhammad, appearing so cAttar also lauds the nur Muhammad with the following
frequently in textual sources, that is conveyed visually words:

through the gold halo that the artist included in the
Micrajnama paintings. The purpose of his light was created beings,
It was the origin of inexistences and existences.
Discussions of the nur Muhammad are ubiquitous. That which appeared from the Invisible of the Invisible
For instance, the famous Hadith compiler al-Bukhari (d. Was his Pure Light without a doubt.
870) states that, “whenever he went in darkness, [the His light since it was the origin of existences,
Prophet] had light shining around him like the moonlight.”49 His essence since it was the bestower of every essence.56
In a similar manner, biographers of the Prophet such as
al-Yahsubi (d. 1149) and the blind Turkish author al-Zarir In cAttar’s exordium, the Prophet Muhammad appears
(fourteenth century) often included eyewitness accounts as Pure Essence (zat-i pak), Light of the World (nur-i
describing the Prophet’s blinding luminosity. Al-Yahsubi calam), Pure Light (nur-i pak), and Majestic Light (nur-
records the Prophet’s companion Abu Hurayra as stating i mucazam). He also glows like the moon (mah), the
that: “I have not seen anything more beautiful than the sun (aftab), or a candle (sham c), and his primordial
Messenger of God. It was as if the sun were shining in luminescence gives birth to all seen and unseen things.
his face. When he laughed, it (his light) reflected off the As expressed in these verses by cAttar, and in so many
wall.”50 In a similar manner, al-Zarir includes an entire other Islamic texts, Muhammad’s radiant and primordial
section on Muhammad’s “prophetic light” (peygamberlik light is a frequent topic of devotion and poetic expression.
nuru) in his Turkish-language Siyer-i Nebi (Life of the
Prophet), in which he states that Muhammad was formed His nur Muhammad is also a recurring subject of
from God’s primordial light (ilkönce nuru), and it is the pictorial illustration, not only as a visual clue to his sacred
nur Muhammad which then created all lights, spirits, status but also as a formal means to set him apart. The
and prophets before the Prophet Muhammad manifested flaming blaze creates an appropriate frame for emphasizing
himself in corpore in the physical world.51 him, an honorific pictorial tool that is effective both in
directing the viewer’s gaze and in stressing Muhammad’s
For mystical writers like al-Tustari (d. 896) and Ibn primordial nature. In the Micrajnama in particular, the
cArabi (d. 1240), Muhammad symbolized the prime matter Prophet, like the angel Gabriel and other prophets, is
(materia prima) of light52 that formed all issuing existent visually demarcated by this luxurious gold motif. By
beings, thus linking pre-existence with post-existence, blending naturalism (Muhammad’s facial features) with
or creation with manifestation.53 Sufi poets like Nizami allegory (the nur Muhammad), the artist reveals a pertinent
(d. 1218) and Farid al-Din cAttar (d. 1230) also delighted process of selection in creating this particular kind of
in poetic verses eulogizing Muhammad and his primordial “prophetic portraiture.” By drawing upon textual descriptions
light. In his Haft Paykar (Seven Thrones), for example, of Muhammad’s facial features and blending them with
Nizami describes Gabriel commanding the Prophet to commonly held beliefs about the nur Muhammad, he
traverse the spheres, “for you’re the moon (mah tu’i),”54 created a kind of hybrid portrait that seeks to communicate
and to illuminate them with his own light. Further, both aspects—the visible and the invisible, the human and
48 Rubin, “Pre-Existence and Light”; and idem, “Nur Muhammadi,” E.I.2, vol. 8, 125. The expression nur Muhammad in its original Arabic formulation is
retained here. The expression also appears as nur Muhammadi (adjectival construct) or nur-i Muhammad (Persian genitive).
49 Rubin, “Pre-Existence and Light,” 62: quoting al-Bukhari, Al-Sahih, IV:229.
50 Al-Yahsubi, Muhammad, Messenger of Allah, 34.
51 Gürtunca, Kitab-ı Siyer-i Nebi, 31–32.
52 Chodkiewicz, Seal of the Saints, 67–68.
53 Böwering, The Mystical Vision of Existence in Classical Islam, 150.
54 Nizami, The Haft Paykar, 6, verse 7; and Ranjabar, Chand Micrajnamah, 47.
55 Nizami, The Haft Paykar, 6, verse 14; and Ranjabar, Chand Micrajnamah, 48.
56 cAttar, Mantiq al-Tayr, 23–25; and idem, The Speech of the Birds, 25–29.
304
the sacred—of the Prophet’s persona. This procedure of and angels in the manuscript, who tend to stand with
pictorial amalgamation is far from being naïve and unstudied. arms and hands crossed at the middle of the waist. Often,
he points one or both of his index fingers to angels in
an explanatory gesture, and sometimes he crosses his
B. ANGELIC BEINGS hands on his chest in deference to prophets (folio 22v
upper). At least once, when he encounters the prophet
The angels in the Mi crajnama are represented as Adam (folio 9v), he also bites his finger in astonishment.
winged human beings who wear long cloaks bound at By combining the Prophet’s and Gabriel’s gestures, the
the waist by a belt sometimes studded with metal plaques artist successfully draws attention to the protagonists’
and gems. Their hair is either parted in the middle or dialogues, which constitute the main bulk of the Micrajnama
tied in two loops at the top of their heads. Although his text, as well as their reactions to the events that unfold
hair is sometimes tied in two loops as well, Gabriel (like on the night of the ascension.
al-Buraq) is often depicted wearing a crown, so as to
mark his special status. The “hairloop” coiffure may have The angels that appear in the Timurid “Book of
been copied from Uighur materials57 in order to offer, Ascension” are not novel—they appear in the Qur’an
for the Timurid painter and/or the manuscript’s audience, and many other Islamic traditions describing heaven and
an oblique and inventive reference to a kind of hairstyle its celestial inhabitants. As the chief angel and the agent
that carried priestly, and thus religious, gravity. responsible for transmitting God’s word to the Prophet
Muhammad, the archangel Jibra’il (Gabriel) holds the
Gabriel wears flowing waist ribbons and sometimes highest place of honor. He is followed by other high-
a breastplate suspended from his shoulders (folio 9r), a ranking angels: Mikha’il (Michael),62 Israfil (the Angel of
detail which may reflect contemporary Timurid armor58 the Trumpet),63 and cAzra’il (the Angel of Death),64 all of
or, alternatively, the princely attire of noblemen represented whom fulfill important eschatological responsibilities.
in Central Asian murals.59 Sometimes Gabriel and the Additional angels carry God’s throne and record men’s
manuscript’s other angels have human legs and feet, but deeds, while a number of anonymous angels (mala’ika)
at other times their lower limbs end in flaming flutters. also populate the heavens and serve as intermediaries
The combination of these many elements—especially between God and humans. In most Islamic textual sources,
the hair loops and floating ribbons (folio 19v)—evokes angels are described as luminous beings, while in Islamic
the vestments of Uighur Buddhist celestial beings pictorial traditions they most frequently are represented
(tengridems)60 or bodhisattvas represented in Buddhist as winged human beings, much as in the Timurid
wall paintings in Xinjiang, China, who wear similar Micrajnama.
chignons and waist ribbons that recall Zoroastrian sacred
waist cords (Fig. 3.6).61 The tendency to anthropomorphize angels is
characteristic of Buddhist thought and practice, as well.
Like the Prophet Muhammad, the angel Gabriel also As in Islamic traditions, many Buddhist angelic beings,
displays a greater range of gestures than the other prophets or devas, are considered light emanations in literary
57 Esin, “Four Turkish Bakhshi Active in Iranian Lands,” 72, fn 30. The Hindu brahman’s hair is described in Uighur texts as drawn into a single, double, or
triple loop. Also see Roxburgh, Turks, 52, cat. no. 6.
58 See Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 106, cat. no. 31.
59 Esin, “Four Turkish Bakhshi Active in Iranian Lands,” 72, fn 30.
60 Esin, “Four Turkish Bakhshi Active in Iranian Lands,” 56, 72, fn 30.
61 MInK III 8377. See Härtel and Yaldiz, Along the Ancient Silk Routes, 126–127, fig. 63; Ghose, In the Footsteps of the Buddha, 261–262, fig. 70; and Roxburgh,
Turks, 55, cat. no. 10. The Zoroastrian sacred cord (kusti) is wound three times around the waist and knotted over a sacred shirt. The kusti’s appearance
in Central Asian painting reveals a clear Sassanian legacy (Bussagli, Central Asian Painting, 35, 61).
62 In some sources, Michael is described as having participated in the opening of the Prophet Muhammad’s breast and the washing of his heart before the
ascension (al-Ghayti, “The Story of the Night Journey and the Ascension by the Imam Najm al-Din al-Ghaiti,” 621). He is also described as the carrier of
the scales of justice (mizan or mawazin) on the Day of Judgment (MacDonald, “Paradise,” 336). The word mizan (singular) is a general term for balance,
whereas mawazin (plural) means scales (of justice) in the Qur’an (7:8–9; 12:47; and 13:102–103).
63 Although not mentioned in the Qur’an, Israfil is ubiquitous in Islamic stories about the Afterlife. As the “Master of the Horn (al-qarn),” his prime responsibility
lies in sounding the trumpet once to arouse men from their graves on the Day of Resurrection and a second time to bring them back to life (Smith and
Haddad, The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection, 70–71).
64 cAzra’il is known as the “Angel of Death” (malak al-mawt) and is responsible for removing men’s souls from their bodies on the Day of Resurrection
(MacDonald, “The Angel of Death in Late Islamic Tradition”).
305
sources but in pictorial materials are depicted as airborne movement by yokes and chains, and the torment caused
humans with special attributes and abilities. Some, like by scorpions and snakes. The artist expressed the sinners’
the Gandharvas, are described as male spirits while pain and anguish pictorially by whitening and increasing
others, like their companions the Apsarases, typically the size of their eyes as well as by depicting their lips
take a female form. These celestial figures belong to a parted, aghast, or screaming for mercy (folio 63r).
class of genies well versed in music, and they appear in
Central Asian wall paintings as haloed, bejeweled figures The demons appear mostly in human form, but their
fluttering in the skies and playing a variety of instruments flesh is either orange-red or charcoal black. Malik, the
as they honor Buddha for having entered Nirvana.65 As guardian of hell, is entirely human, but red-fleshed. He
mediators between the unseen world and human affairs, stands at the gates of hell wearing a gold crown and
and as tribute-bearers to enlightened individuals like holding his mace (folio 53r). All of the other demons
Siddhartha Gautama and the Prophet Muhammad, angels charged with tormenting sinners also are shaped as
play an eminent role in Buddhist and Islamic traditions humans and, like Malik, have ruddy skin. Once, they are
concerned with describing the spiritual realm. depicted with black skin, as tenebrous as hell and as
ominous as the tortures that await offenders (folio 55r).
Some of the composite angels that appear in the These demons in turn are supervised by larger and more
Timurid Micrajnama—such as the rooster angel (folio creatively conceived arch-demons, shaped as human
11r), the angel of half-fire and half-snow (folio 11v), the beings but with facial features that verge toward the
polycephalous angels of prayer (folios 15r upper, 19v, masklike and grotesque (Figs. 4.13 and 4.14). They carry
and 32r), and the four-headed zoomorphic angel (folio maces and wear gold bangles and anklets. At times, they
32v)—appear rather extrinsic to Islamic traditions. Some have flaming hair and eyebrows (folio 55v) and blow
may find their strongest parallels in Buddhist beliefs and fire (folio 63v).
paintings, while others seem indebted to Christian traditions
or Chinese philosophical concepts. Acting primarily as These arch-demons, it has been argued by Emel Esin,
conveyors of prayer between humankind and God, these are linked to Timurid sketches and paintings created by
peculiar angels demonstrate the interconnected nature Muhammad Siyah Qalam (“Muhammad of the Black
of the manuscript’s paintings and demonstrate that the Pen”), an early fifteenth-century artist presumably of
Timurid Micrajnama’s painter drew from a wide variety Central Asian origin and possibly belonging to an esoteric
of preceding or contemporary sources. The angel of half- Muslim sect.66 His sketches include a wide variety of
fire and half-snow and the polycephalous angels of prayer, demons and grotesque figures wearing gold ankle and
in particular, appear to have been inspired by Sino-Central arm bangles (Fig. 3.7), and these designs appear somewhat
Asian Buddhist scriptural arts. Their iconographies and related to the demons torturing sinners in the paintings
potential religious symbolism are a focus of subsequent of hell included in the Micrajnama. Although Muhammad
discussion. Siyah Qalam’s devilish figures do indeed share some
similarities with those in the Timurid “Book of Ascension,”
such figures are not only found in Central Asian (Islamic)
C. DEMONIC CREATURES heterodox compositions but also in Sino-Buddhist paintings
in Central Asia and China, especially those illustrating
The manuscript is noteworthy in the history of Islamic the Scripture of the Ten Kings. It is also in this sutra that
painting for containing the most extensive cycle of images one finds the closest parallels for both the Micrajnama’s
of hell, with demons torturing sinners who committed a depictions of demons and tortures in hell. Since such
number of offenses. These tortures include the cutting similarities are extrinsic to the manuscript’s iconography,
of the tongue, slashing of the neck, spearing, force-feeding they will be discussed in Chapter Four.
putrid or molten liquids, hanging, the limitation of
65 See Gaulier et al., Buddhism in Afghanistan and Central Asia, 34, 46, fig. 86 for a representation of Gandharvas on a wall painting made in Qizil ca.
600–650. As is the case for some of the angels in the Timurid Micrajnama, the Gandharvas’ legs either end with feet (as on a normal human body) or
as waves or flames, while others play what appear to be drums (BnF Sup Turc 190, folio 19v).
66 The expression “siyah qalam” (or black pen) denotes the kind of ink wash technique utilized by the artist. For general information on Muhammad Siyah
Qalam, see Esin, “Muhammad Siyah Qalam and the Inner Asian Turkish Tradition”; eadem, “The Turkish Baksi and the Painter Muhammad Siyah Kalam”;
Karamagaralı, “The Siyah Qalam Paintings and their Relation to Esoteric Muslim Sects”; and the recent collection of articles in Ben Mehmed Siyah Kalem.
306
DECORATIVE PATTERNS: A TIMURID UPDATING The most virtuoso application of illumination and
ornamentation in the manuscript appears in the
The paintings also reveal the artist’s interest in representation of the gates of paradise (Fig. 3.8). Here,
ornamentation and patterning. In the sixteenth century, the artist explored the possibilities of his many skills, all
this “decorative style”67 in Islamic painting was classified the while remaining within the parameters of his knowledge
according to several categories, each with a different of architecture, especially traditions of Timurid structural
character or tone. According to the Safavid royal painter and decorative design. There are three vaulted chambers,
Sadiqi Beg, decorative patterns belonged to one of seven the doors to which are shut with red curtains. The central
groups, including spiral and ivy patterns (islimi), Chinese gate is identified as the most important, since the underside
motifs (khata’i), cloud designs (abri), human-headed of its vault is decorated with geometric tile mosaicwork
trees (waq), lotus (nilufar), Europeanizing (farangi), and rather than painted in plain gold. Above each vault appears
Anatolian knot patterns (band-i rumi).68 In the Timurid an epigraphic band which, reading from right to left
period, these decorative devices were applied to many across all three registers, seems to contain the Shi ci
media, including bookbindings, metalwork, woodwork, proclamation of faith (shahada): “There is no god but
ceramics, textiles, and, last but not least, manuscript God, Muhammad is His Messenger, and cAli is the Friend
illustration. Because artists seemed to work closely together of God.”69 All three vaults are surmounted by domes.
under the auspices of royal patronage, they were able The middle dome is illuminated in gold, while the two
to copy and exchange designs, using them to create a lateral domes appear ribbed and decorated with tile
more or less unified artistic projection of Timurid imperial mosaicwork, as frequently found in Timurid architecture,
authority. such as the dynastic mausoleum complex of the Gur-i
Amir in Samarqand (Fig. 3.9).70
In the Timurid Mi c rajnama, selectively applied
illumination and ornamental patterning increase the To this building, as well as to others represented in
manuscript’s value. Illumination appears in the work’s the Micrajnama, the artist applied decorative motifs
frontispiece (folio 1v), and depictions of buildings are according to the lexicon of Timurid architecture, which
ornamented to depict tile mosaics, brickwork, stucco was readily available to him. Lapis, ocher, and white
designs, and woodwork. For example, in the depiction tiles revet the walls, blue tile mosaicwork creates the
of Gabriel arriving in Mecca and speaking to the Prophet dados, epigraphic bands appear above the vaults, and
immediately prior to his ascension (folio 3v), blue-and- the elongated domes are ribbed and also covered in
white tiles are used in the building’s dados, tile mosaicwork tile mosaicwork. Like other decorative materials
appears above the door, a blue medallion and finial motifs represented in the manuscript—such as the wooden
are painted onto the white-washed wall in the background, doors represented in Mecca (folio 3v)—these elements
the spandrels of the arch (ivan) are filled with gold and find contemporary parallels in Timurid building crafts.
blue vines (islimi), and the wooden doors are enhanced 71 Although such similarities might suggest that the artist
with interlacing geometrical motifs. These patterned copied architectural decoration à la mode at this time,
decorations appear in a number of other illustrations of he also may have attempted to insert the unfolding
buildings in the Micrajnama, such as the mosque in action into the fabric of everyday life. If so, this effort
Jerusalem (folios 5v and 7v) and the Prophet’s encounter would be tantamount to a Timurid stylistic updating of
with Abraham (folios 28v and 30r). micraj images.

68 Sadiqi Beg, “The Canons of Painting by Sadiqi Bek”; and Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 169. In Qadi Ahmad’s Gulistan-i Hunar (Rose
Garden of Art), the seven decorative idioms are listed as: islimi, khata’i, farangi, fisali, abri, akrah, and salami. Akrah may refer to an Indian style (viz.
Agra, India), while the characteristics of fisali and salami remain unknown (Qadi Ahmad, Calligraphers and Painters, 178).
69 Although it may seem curious to find the Shici shahada in a work commissioned by Shahrukh, it is not necessarily problematic. Shahrukh’s wife Gawharshad
patronized architectural projects, including the construction of a mosque and other buildings at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad. Although Shahrukh
certainly proclaimed his obeisance to the Prophet’s Sunna, he and especially Gawharshad nevertheless were conciliatory in their religious politics.
Alternatively, the artist may have copied a building’s inscription, and the shahada was not necessarily intended to proclaim a sectarian message.
70 See Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 37, fig. 7.
71 For the wooden door belonging to the Gur-i Amir in Samarqand, see Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 46, fig. 15; and for Timurid
architectural form and ornament more generally, see Golombek and Wilber, The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan.
307
BETWEEN BEATIFIC AND CHTHONIC: PALETTE DISTINCTION clouds that whirl frantically around the Prophet. As
metonymic motifs representing God’s presence and His
Much like the format, scale, figural imagery, and discourse with Muhammad, they offer a highly charged
ornamentation, the hues used in the Micrajnama were representation of the divine. God, formless and
modulated so as to convey a clear distinction between imperceptible, nevertheless is present in the picture as
the heavenly spheres and infernal regions. Although a sensate and palpable entity, conveyed by the motion
much of the palette is restricted, and variations in tone and “heat” produced by the gold and red pigments.
are mostly absent from the manuscript’s paintings, the
artist’s dichotomous system of color variation was carefully In contrast to the heavy use of lapis blue and gold
planned and executed. By drawing a sharp division for the seven heavens, the artist exploited pastel colors
between the hues employed in paintings of heaven and and more muted tones in the series of images depicting
those used for paintings of hell, and by exploiting the the Garden of Eden (folios 47v–51r). Trees sprout pinkish
affective potential of color symbolism, the artist fostered blossoms, flowering shrubs grow salmon-orange buds,
a twofold pictorial vision of the realms of paradise (the and rose bushes decorate the middle- and backgrounds
beatific) and hell (the chthonic). of the manuscript’s images. In one case, leaflike vegetal
motifs seem almost appliquéd to the background in a
The heavens are painted in lapis blue and decorated playful striated pattern (folio 47v). Moreover, the color
with gold balls and swirling gold or white cloud bands— of the sky has become attenuated—instead of the brilliant
these designs, in fact, might have been described as lapis blue found in the seven heavens, the sky of paradise
“Chinese” or khata’i clouds according to Sadiqi Beg’s is a muted, almost watered down, cerulean. Other
categories of decorative art. The gold balls are particularly illuminated and decorative patterns ornament heaven’s
noteworthy, as they appear only until the seventh heaven gates and pavilions, adding a gemlike quality to its
(folios 5r–28r). Once the Prophet ascends beyond the empyreal edifices. By restricting his palette to pale and
seventh heaven and visits paradise, the gold balls disappear light colors, the artist created an emotive parallel between
(folios 28v–51r). Thus, although at first glance these balls the tone of his paintings and the soothing and restful
appear to be rather crude renditions of stars or a decorative qualities of paradise.
method of patterning the skies, they serve as discreet
indicators of the realm of the seen (the seven heavens) As the illustrations turn to the series of hell images
and buttress the artist’s intention to create a distinction (folios 53r–67v), lapis blue and pastels give way to a
between human and divine spheres—a manipulation deeply discomforting mix of charcoal black, orange-red,
also evident in the paintings’ format and scale. and gold. The background of each painting is pitch black,
somber and ominous; it appears visually interminable,
The color of the heavens is usually lapis blue, but it as if events are unfolding in a bottomless and hopeless
varies at precise moments in accordance with the episodes pit. Each painting is lit with blistering gold flames that
described in the Micrajnama text. For example, when visually convey the infernal, blazing temperature of hell
the Prophet arrives at the seventh heaven, which is made and the anguish of tortured sinners. These flames also
of light (folio 28r), the artist filled the sky entirely with create an antiphonal response to the cold pitch of the
gold swirls so tumultuous that they almost entirely swallow black background. As a final rejoinder to black and gold,
up Muhammad, Gabriel, and al-Buraq. The overwhelming oranges and reds dominate as well: all of the demons
gold patterns echo the awe that the Prophet feels upon (except for those with black skin on folio 55r) have
arriving in this heaven. They thus embody not only radiant carroty-red flesh. A number of arch-demons also have
light but also the divineness and beatitude of the uppermost orange skin: many bear orange-colored flames on their
heavenly sphere. In a similar manner, when the Prophet heads, and some carry red-hot maces. Finally, the coffins
approaches the throne of God, the text states that he in which sinners are tormented by snakes and scorpions
prostrated in prayer (sijda qıldım)72 and offered praise are painted in a hot red, as well (folio 67v). Through a
and tribue to the Lord (Fig. 3.2). In order to depict a careful and restricted chiaroscuro of dark and hot tones,
different, and divine, plane of existence, the artist painted the artist depicted hell as a blistering and dark place of
the heavens in a brilliant red hue, accented by fiery gold perdition.
308
Certain values associated with these many colors cross abound in the manuscript’s depictions of hell, a place of
cultural lines: for example, white is often considered a red-hot pain and brutal punishments.73
symbol of purity and innocence, and black of death and
despair. However, in specific cultural traditions colors
are defined largely by the names assigned to them, the CONCLUDING REMARKS
linguistic derivations of such names, and their symbolic
uses in texts and images. In Islamic cultural contexts, the The visual cycle of the Timurid Mi c rajnama is
names of colors are particularly symbolic because they distinguished by the formal elements of format, scale,
often carry allegorical meanings and, as a result, can figural imagery, ornamentation, and color variation, which
precipitate distinct sensations. In the Timurid Micrajnama, coalesce to form a particular pictorial tenor for an illustrated
therefore, the artist’s primary use of blue, gold, black, work comprising a narrativized, theme-specific Hadith
and red, alongside the manuscript viewer’s perception manual. The manuscript’s formal qualities function in the
of them, must be seen as culturally and linguistically service of tone—a tone that must convey the distinction
conditioned. between visible and invisible spheres and between heaven
and hell. Although past scholarship has considered the
In Persian and Turkish traditions, the color blue-green manuscript’s formal qualities as rather primitive in
is called “sky” (gök), and it often connotes the celestial comparison to the highly ornate, structurally complex
realms. Words associated with the term gök—such as paintings found in Timurid poetic works, its style is both
“agreeable” (gökçe) and “pretty” (gökçen/gökçek)—are quite accomplished and suited to text’s theme. Indeed,
positive. Similarly, turquoise (firuze) recalls the words the Timurid Micrajnama’s iconographic cycle may be
for prosperity (firuzi) and victoriousness (firuzmendlıq). seen as belonging to a separate pictorial genre, bound
The Timurid Micrajnama text describes al-Buraq’s saddle by a different internal system of pictorial regulations.
and the first heaven as made of turquoise or turquoise- And this genre might best classified as revivalist and
colored enamel. The term for gold (altın) is often associated religious.
with the divine and is linked to opulence and luxury.
For instance, the expression “ornamented with gold” The artist explored the symbolism of sacred space by
(altınlı) also means “rich” (as in “richly” decorated). Gold varying the shape of his paintings’ frames and the relative
certainly takes pride of place in the paintings included size of the depicted figures. Horizontal frames carry the
in the “Book of Ascension,” largely based on these cultural narrative forward in a rhythmic fashion, while vertical
connotations as well as the descriptions provided in the frames force the viewer to halt and engage in a prolonged
micraj text itself. contemplation of an image. This combination adds a
dynamism and fluctuating visual tempo to the manuscript.
On the other hand, black (qara) indicates mourning, In a similar way, a cadence of form is achieved through
shame, misery, and misfortune. Its use in Turkish is the artist’s differentiation of figural sizes, through which
profuse, perhaps more so than in any other culture. Of he attempted to convey cosmic magnitude and thus
particular relevance for the color of hell, the black-skinned represent that which is not perceptible.
demons, and the sinners with charred skin in the Timurid
Micrajnama is the expression for men shamed by depraved The artist also distinguished between the human and
acts, who are called “black faced” (qara yüzlü). Finally, sacred aspects of the Prophet Muhammad and angels,
the color red (qızıl) stands for volatility and outburst, thus revealing his judicious engagement with form within
and it can carry both positive and negative connotations. the context of an illustrated religious text. Figures are
In the affirmative it is a color for passion, as used in the comprehensible in their human forms, but their more
painting of Muhammad’s prostration in front of God (Fig. divine attributes, such as blazing halos or feet ending in
3.2), while in the negative it stands for sedition, fury, flaming flutters, must be conveyed as well—gold and
and madness (as in the expression “qızıl deli,” or “raving flames communicate these sacred attributes so that they
mad”). This helps explain why sanguine colors also are visually graspable. Furthermore, although facial features
73 For a discussion of terms and meanings associated with the names of some of these colors in Turkish, see Beffa, “Référence directe et connotation,”
250–252. For color symbolism in Shicism, see Henry Corbin, “The Realism and Symbolism of Colors in Shi’ite Cosmology,” in Color Symbolism: The Eranos
Lectures, eds. Klaus Ottmann and Gershom Scholem (Putnam, Conn.: Spring Publications, 2005), 45–108 (originally published as “Realisme et symbolisme
des couleurs en cosmologie shi’ite,” in The Realms of Colour, eds. Adolf Portmann and Rudolf Ritsema [Leiden: Brill, 1974], 109–176).
309
remain composed, the artist exploited a range of emotional execution of lively, muted, and somber hues creates a
expressions by using a recognizable system of gestural tripartite color system matched by the structure of the
motion. These motions connote inquiry, authority, divinity, manuscript itself (i.e., heavens, paradise, and hell). These
awe, and terror, and they bind the Micrajnama’s protagonists colors perform vital functions in the manuscript’s formal
with each other in a dialectic fashion. As signals of prayer, makeup. Like format, scale, figuration, and ornament,
dialogue, reverence, surprise, or horror, such gestures they are hierarchical, symbolic, and provide the essential
function on the picture plane as powerful, and culturally grammatical elements in an iconographic system particular
circumscribed, descriptors of emotion. to this illustrated religious manuscript.
Similarly, the careful application of illumination and These formal elements—much like the Micrajnama’s
decorative ornamentation endows the manuscript’s text and several key figures and structures discussed in
illustrations with a sense of luxury appropriate to the the following chapter—were used to create a particular
exalted theme of the micraj, while simultaneously adapting tone, and this tone cannot be categorized as “classical”
them to Timurid artistic and architectural traditions. or “historical.” Rather, as suggested at the outset, it is
Decorative patterns especially used on architectural revivalist and religious, anchored in a tradition of
representations, such as tile mosaicwork, brickwork, representing the Prophet Muhammad’s ascension with
woodwork, and epigraphic inscriptions, place the story formal elements that diverge considerably from those
into a contemporary context. These markers, in essence, defining the two aforementioned categories. These
“Timuridify” the illustrations of the Prophet’s ascension. paintings simplify and dichotomize format, scale, and
They update the tale’s visualization, one might hypothesize, tonality, and they tend to abolish superfluous “fineries,”
to make it understandable to a Timurid audience interested such as illumination and decorative patterning. The
in comprehending the story’s relevance to contemporary manuscript’s structure and images have undergone a
concerns. process of reduction, in order to achieve narrative clarity
or perhaps to convey, in an unobstructed fashion, the
Finally, the restricted but highly effective palette used larger religious message embedded within its text. In this
in the Micrajnama also creates a binodal system of the particular case, therefore, the artist approached a polycyclic
heavenly and infernal realms through the potential afforded religious manuscript through a pictorial syntax that,
by color symbolism and its specifically Perso-Turkish although apparently simplistic, is studiously formed and
cultural connotations. The skies are vibrantly hued, filled executed.
with lapis blue and gold; heaven is imbued with soporific
pastels; and the dark abyss of hell sizzles. The careful
310
C H A P T E R IV
THE MICRAJNAMA’S RELATIONSHIP TO SINO-CENTRAL ASIAN

BUDDHIST ART
the artist of the Timurid “Book of Ascension” strategically

T he artist of the Timurid Micrajnama used formal
elements in the manuscript’s paintings to express
the concepts of sacredness and divinity. These internal
co-opted and applied foreign Buddhist forms to an Islamic
manuscript.
structures, patterns, and motifs are indebted both to
previous Islamic pictorial traditions and to the artist’s Like Ghiyath al-Din, the artist responsible for the
idiosyncratic methods. Although Central Asian motifs— paintings in the Micrajnama might have participated in
such as the angels’ ribbons and their looped hairdos— one of the Timurid missions to China and may have been
were brought into the manuscript’s iconographic cycle inspired by Central Asian visual material in situ. Dunhuang,
via the book arts of the Ilkhanids (1256–1353), other in particular, was a major stop-over point that still functioned
motifs have no precedents in Islamic pictorial traditions. as an active center of Buddhist art during the fifteenth
century. If the artist did not travel, on the other hand,
Because the manuscript combines precursor motifs he may have been influenced by Buddhist materials sent
“naturalized” into the Islamic pictorial corpus along with as gifts to the Timurid court in Herat. Moreover, he
new foreign elements, the Micrajnama reveals that traditional certainly must have cooperated with bakhshis under the
and novel motifs could be combined into a highly syncretistic patronage of Shahrukh, in particular the Micrajnama’s
and experimental venture. Its artist could simultaneously scribe, Malik Bakhshi. He thus either interacted with or
combine forms previously absorbed into the corpus of belonged to a bakhshi group of individuals, whose
Islamic art and to draw from visual material external to presence is most perceptibly felt in the illustrated “Book
it. This particular synthesis and reformulation of extrinsic of Ascension” of ca. 1436–37.
forms truly set the manuscript apart from other Islamic
manuscripts with polycyclic illustrations, including Timurid Working from within or close to a Timurid bakhshi
“classical” and “historical” paintings. milieu, the artist of the Micrajnama must have been
familiar with Buddhist arts in one fashion or another via
The most innovative motifs and structures in the firsthand observation, by being a bakhshi himself, or by
manuscript, such as the three polycephalous angels and collaboration with bakhshi artists and scribes. This familiarity
the cycle of hell images, owe much to Buddhist pictorial suggests that specifically Buddhist themes in the
traditions. However, such formal parallels extend well manuscript—e.g., the angel of half-fire and half-snow
beyond indefinable formal similarities or the artist’s “vital (folio 11v), the three polycephalous angels (folios 15r,
impulses”1 to rely on motifs from non-Islamic sources as 19v, and 32r–v), and the cycle of images depicting hell
visual “clutches.” Instead, the artist responsible for the and its tortures (folios 53r–67v)—do not represent merely
Micrajnama’s visual lexicon appears to have purposefully a “misapplication” of Mongol motifs.2 To the contrary,
selected motifs and forms from Sino-Buddhist scriptural the Micrajnama artist must have had some conception
traditions, chief among them images linked to the Scripture of the symbolic connotations of Buddhist forms, revealing
of the Ten Kings. Inspired by the Buddhist deities and that this process of iconographic transference from
the descriptions of hell included in this particular sutra, Buddhist to Islamic pictorial traditions could, in this very

2 Grube, The Classical Style in Islamic Painting, 28. Grube states that Mongol innovations were misapplied to Timurid historical works, such as Hafiz-i
Abru’s Majmac al-Tawarikh, produced during the reign of Shahrukh.
313
specific case, have had as its principal goal the retention hear its tasbih prayers on earth.3 This angel appears to
and reiteration of forms deemed to carry the most have been inspired initially by the narrative of Moses’s
appropriate, and most expressive, symbolic connotations ascension, which describes the Jewish prophet entering
for an illustrated religious tale belonging to Islamic the fifth heaven, where he encounters troops of angels
traditions. made half of fire and half of snow, whose sole purpose
is extolling the glory of God until the end of time.4 As
the perfect union of opposite elements, in which fire
TWO ISLAMIC ANGELS AND TWO BUDDHIST BODHISATTVAS does not melt snow and snow does not extinguish fire,
this particular angel appears in a variety of Islamic
Although many angels in the Timurid Micrajnama are ascension narratives, including “Books of Ascension” in
shaped like human beings with wings, a number also the Ibn cAbbas genre,5 the Latin Liber Scale Machometi,6
take on different animal forms, such as that of a rooster and the Ilkhanid anonymous Micrajnama.7 The angel
(Fig. 3.2), or bare zoomorphic heads (folio 32v). Of came to represent the perfection of God’s creation, as
particular note, however, are the angels of half-fire and well as an eschatological equipoise between the angelic
half-snow and the three polycephalous angels of prayer realms and the world’s elemental forces.8
which appear for the first time in Islamic painting in this
manuscript. Their iconographic sources, it is argued here, Although at first glance the image appears loyal to
derive from paintings of the Scripture of the Ten Kings the text—indeed, the angel is depicted with its right side
found in Central Asian wall paintings, banners, and made of fire and its left side of snow, holding a rosary
manuscripts. The formal parallels not only reveal the in each hand—its position and facial traits indubitably
artist’s reliance on Sino-Central Asian scriptural arts but link it to the iconography of Buddhist artistic traditions
also his appreciation of their religious overtones and present in Central Asia and China. Many murals and book
symbolic parallels. In other words, rather than producing paintings depict the Buddha or monks sitting in the lotus
a simply “syncretistic” whole, the artist exploited various position, with their arms and hands engaged in various
visual material at his disposal to create a pictorial language symbolic gestures (mudras). Twelfth- to thirteenth-century
that best could convey the text’s religious subject. Tantric Uighur Buddhist murals in Qurutqa, Turfan,
represent Buddhist monks, some of whom are seated in
meditation with their hands (holding black rosaries) on
A.
THE ANGEL OF HALF-FIRE AND HALF-SNOW AND THE their laps.9
BODHISATTVA DIZANG
Dunhuang pictorial materials and temple paintings
In the Timurid “Book of Ascension,” the Prophet produced in China during the tenth and eleventh
encounters an angel of half-fire and half-snow (Fig. 4.1). centuries also may have contributed, directly or indirectly,
The text describes it as holding a rosary (tasbih) in each to the artist’s representation of this particular angel as
hand, and its thunderous voice is so loud that men can a shaven monk seated in the lotus position with one
3 Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-Nâmeh, 6; and Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 269. The Arabic caption in gold ink above the painting specifies that one
rosary is made of snow and the other of fire.
4 Gaster, “Hebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise,” 576 (Job 25:2); and Ginzberg, The Legend of the Jews, vol. 2, 116. For Jewish ascent literature more generally,
see, inter alia, Ithamar Gruenwald, Apocalyptic and Merkavah Mysticism (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1980); David Halperin, The Faces of the Chariot: Early Jewish
Responses to Ezekiel’s Vision (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1988); and Peter Schäfer, ed., Übersetzung der Hekhalot-Literatur (Tübingen: Mohr, 1987).
5 Ibn cAbbas, “al-Isra’ wa’l-Mi’raj,” 13, and 21. In the earliest complete tales in the Ibn cAbbas genre (thirteenth century), the angel of half-fire and half-
snow is named “The Beloved” (Habib). It appears in the first heaven and utters the following tasbih: “My dear God, unite the hearts of the male believers
and the female believers [just as I unite fire and snow], and rectify the essence among them, and improve the actions of the righteous so that they do not
cease in them. You are in all things Powerful.” (Colby, Narrative Muhammad’s Night Journey, Appendix B).
6 Liber Scale Machometi, Chapter 9, 118–119. The angel of half-fire and half-snow also appears alongside the rooster angel in Chapter 29, 178–179.
7 The Ilkhanid Micrajnama text also describes the Prophet Muhammad’s encounter with the angel of half-fire and half-snow, which is here named Qabil
(Anonymous, Micrajnama, folios 21v–23r).
8 Interestingly, the twin elements of fire and snow/water/ice also recall Zoroastrian dualistic concepts as well as the Buddhist principle of the equilibrium
between yin and yang.
9 Esin, “The Turkish Baksi and the Painter Muhammad Siyah Kalam,” 91–92; and eadem, “Four Turkish Bakhshi Active in Turkish Lands,” 56.
314
THE MICRAJNAMA’S RELATIONSHIP TO SINO-CENTRAL ASIAN BUDDHIST ART
hand on his chest and the other extended toward the Similarly, in the Uighur Buddhist traditions of Central
Prophet Muhammad. For instance, a number of paper Asia from the period ca. 850–1250, these pictorial visions
and canvas portable banners made in Dunhuang ca. or apparitions (körünç) were used by monks (bakhshis)
1000, intended for use during Buddhist funeral services as pedagogical aids to help explain the Buddha’s life and
and storytelling sessions linked to celebrations of the miracles, the intercessional power of the bodhisattvas,
Chinese New Year, include a central image of the Buddha the events of the afterlife, and the soul’s journey toward
seated in a similar manner (Fig. 4.2).10 In this particular salvation.15 A number of Buddhist murals and banners
votive painting, the Buddha Duobao (Prabhutaratna) made in Dunhuang at this time reveal that these four
is seated in the lotus position, with his feet crossed subjects were central to religious indoctrination and
and resting on his thighs, his arms either bent toward practices via the intermediary of paintings. Therefore,
his chest or extended outward, and his hands forming these pictures and possibly their associated storytelling
mudras. 11 The Buddha’s lotus position and arm practices may have inspired the Micrajnama’s painter to
movements are very similar to those of the angel of depict the angel of half-fire and half-snow as a kind of
half-fire and half-snow in the Mi crajnama, albeit in Buddha figure seated in the lotus position, which—much
reverse; one wonders if a painting such as this one like the angel’s corporeal equilibrium between fire and
arrived in Herat where it was pounced, forming a mirror snow—provides a pictured embodiment of equipoise.
image. Likewise, the Buddha and the Islamic angel
share similar facial features, although the angel has a Perhaps this Islamic painting reveals more than a
shaven head and his body is composed of fire and simple, fortuitous confluence of pan-Asian forms. To the
snow rather than cloaked in a monk’s robe.12 contrary, the artist’s selection of the lotus position and
mudras appear intellective and strategic: both elements
Had the Micrajnama painter participated in one of represent spiritual equanimity and physical balance and
the Timurid missions to China, he would have seen votive therefore are appropriate representations of the Buddha
Buddhist banners, including illustrations of the Buddha, and the angel of half-fire and half-snow. This conceptual
made in Dunhuang or elsewhere in Turkestan. He even conjunction would not have been lost on an artist conversant
may have observed the paintings’ use in liturgical in Islamic and Buddhist artistic traditions during this
performances, when portraits of figures—such as the period of heightened cross-Asian cultural dialogue.
Buddha, bodhisattvas, or other Buddhist deities—and
scenes were “activated” by actor-monks recounting the Even if the painter did not observe such works in
protagonists’ biographies or their miraculous powers.13 Central Asia or China, he may have had access to painted
These kinds of picture recitation sessions were quite silk banners present at the Timurid court in Herat.
common in China and Central Asia during the medieval Shahrukh’s passion for silk and other fine textiles from
period. In Chinese traditions, paintings were used to China was insatiable, matched only by the Ming emperor
bring to life particular Buddhist sutras: through the Yongle’s enthusiasm for horses in return. Some of the
powerful procedures of storytelling with pictures, the textiles that arrived in Herat included paintings on silk,
figures depicted in these paintings were transformed into which subsequently were copied by Timurid artists
tableaux vivants or “transformation manifestations” (bian- interested in duplicating their “exotic” subjects and in
xiang).14 experimenting with silk rather than paper as a support
10 Giès et al., Les arts de l’Asie Centrale, vol. 1, see pls. 5 and 9; Vandier-Nicolas et al., Bannières et peintures de Touen-Houang conservées au Musée Guimet,
vol. 14, 29 (cat. no. 16) and vol. 15 , 17, pl. 16; and Jera-Bezard and Maillard, “Le rôle des bannières et des peintures mobiles dans les rituels du bouddhisme
d’Asie centrale.”
11 This composition is executed on paper and bears two cartouches with inscriptions identifying the Buddha Prabhutaratna and giving the name of its donor,
Suo Zhangqi, who is attested to in at least one document from Dunhuang dated 925. The painting thus is attributable to Dunhuang and datable to ca.
900–950 (see Giès et al., Les arts de l’Asie Centrale, vol. 1, 314, pl. 9. The Buddha here is making the vitarka mudra, with thumb and index finger pinched
together, a sign of the transmission of knowledge (Vandier-Nicolas et al, Bannières et peintures de Touen-Houang conservées au Musée Guimet, vol. 14,
29).
12 The elongated ears of the Buddha in this painting are not used for the angel of half-fire and half-snow. However, the “elongated ear” motif typical of
Buddhist art is used for the large angel standing on the shores of the Black Sea (al-bahr al-aswad). See BnF Sup Turc 190, folio 30v.
13 Mair, Painting and Performance, 42.
14 Mair, “Records of Transformation Tableaux (Pien-Hsiang),” 4; and Mair, Painting and Performance, 1.
15 On Uighur pictured storytelling, see Mair, Painting and Performance, 40–45.
315
for pigment.16 Just as jade, lacquer, and gold-flecked All of these iconographic elements from Dunhuang
papers17 served as political currency from Ming emperor murals—which also find an echo in the mural paintings
to Timurid ruler, silk products and paintings also were of “monks (bakhshis), priests (rahiban), and ascetics or
key materials in Serindian gift-giving practices—with the yogis (jugiyan) in postures of meditation”21 witnessed
added benefit that they could provide pictorial and material by Ghiyath al-din in the Longxing Temple at Jia-ding fu
catalysts for artistic innovations in Timurid Herat. (Zhengding) in the Chinese province of Hebei—suggest
that the iconography of the angel of half-fire and half-
In addition to banners and paintings from Central Asia snow in the Timurid “Book of Ascension” is not an
and China, which the manuscript’s painter may have seen indeterminate offshoot of Uighur Tantric Buddhist
in situ or as traded into Herat, wall paintings of the iconography, as previously suggested.22 Rather, the angel
Buddha, bodhisattvas, or yogis may have inspired the appears inspired by Chinese Buddhist monastic figures,
manuscript’s artist. For example, the Timurid mission of including the bodhisattva Dizang as illustrated on portable
1419 had ample time to sightsee while en route. While banners, illustrated books, and cave murals of the Sutra
traversing Dunhuang, they would have had the opportunity of the Ten Kings produced in Central Asia; and paintings
to visit the famous Mogao and Yuling Caves, covered of monks and yogis painted on the walls of Buddhist
with elaborate murals painted between the fourth and temples within China’s borders, as in the case of the
the fourteenth centuries.18 These murals depict a wide Longxing Temple visited by the Timurid mission of
array of Buddhist subjects, deities, and narratives, and 1419–22.
display a distinct fusion of Central Asian and Chinese
elements. Drawing upon distinctly Chinese Buddhist materials
and iconographies, the painter of the Micrajnama appears
A number of Dunhuang murals dating from the Five to have executed a strategic decision of pictorial transference,
Dynasties (907–960) and Song (960–1279) periods provide in which a Chinese Buddhist monastic figure such as
interesting iconographic parallels to the Micrajnama’s Dizang or a yogi—clean shaven and seated in a position
angel of half-fire and half-snow. For example, in Yuling indicative of spiritual equanimity—appears in the guise
Cave number 33, the bodhisattva Ksitigarbha (Dizang)19 of an Islamic angel, itself the embodiment of perfect
sits in the lotus position wearing a monk’s robe and harmony between the two opposing elements of fire and
baring a hairless head as he presides over hell and its snow. The manuscript’s painter seems to have employed
tortures (Fig. 4.3).20 Dizang is the chief judge-king of these pictorial and symbolic similarities in a deliberate
hell in the Scripture of the Ten Kings. Dunhuang murals, manner, and such parallels may not have been lost on
silk hangings, and books illustrating this sutra from the the manuscript’s audience. In this way, the manuscript’s
tenth century forward typically depict Dizang as a man iconographic resonances expand to include citations of
seated with his legs crossed, a shaven head, wearing materials belonging to the scriptural arts of Chinese
simple monk’s robes, and holding either a staff or a rosary Buddhism.
(or, sometimes, both).
16 In 1417, a Chinese embassy arrived with a painting offered by Yongle to Shahrukh, which was immediately copied by Timurid artists in Herat. Other
Timurid paintings on paper or silk are obvious copies of Chinese originals, revealing the extent to which Chinese (Yuan or Ming) materials were integrated
into Timurid artistic traditions. These copies of Chinese models are preserved principally in two albums (H. 2153 and H. 2160) in the Topkapı Palace
collections (see Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 186–188; Çagman and Tanındı, The Topkapı Sarayı Museum, 118, figs. 74–77; and the
collection of articles in Islamic Art 1 [1981]).
17 The production of dyed paper and paper with gold-sprinkling (zarafshan), which grew in Timurid Iran over the course of the fifteenth century, seems
to have been prompted by the various decorated papers brought to Herat from China by the Timurid missions. Such luxury materials were expensive to
procure, and thus seem to have provoked Islamic experimentation with, and later mastery of, decorated papers (see Blair, “Color and Gold,” 26–27).
18 There are numerous studies on the cave murals in Turfan. See in particular Whitfield et al., Cave Temples of Mogao; Whitfield and Farrer, The Caves of
the Thousand Buddhas; Tonko Bakukokutsu (Dunhuang Mogao Caves); and Zhongguo bi hua quan ji: Dunhuang (The Complete Collection of Mural
Paintings of China: Dunhuang).
19 Henceforth, Ksitigarbha will be refered to by his Chinese name Dizang.
20 Zhongguo bi hua quan ji: Dunhuang (The Complete Collection of Mural Paintings of China: Dunhuang), vol. 9, 56, fig. 140. In this mural painting, Dizang
sits on a lotus flower and two coronas frame his body and head. On his left and right appear a male and a female devotee/donor, while all around him
demons with cows’ heads punish the souls in hell.
China, 46–48.
22 See Esin, “The Bakhshi in the 14th to 16th Centuries,” 288; and eadem, “Four Turkish Bashshi active in Iranian Lands.”
316
B. THE POLYCEPHALOUS ANGEL AND THE ELEVEN-HEADED do not appear in Islamic painting before this period and
GUANYIN only resurface again a few decades later, in the illustrated
Nahj al-Faradis made ca. 1465 for Shahrukh’s successor
Another major angelic figure—depicted no fewer than Abu Sacid Gurgan (see Fig. 5.4). The polycephalous
three times in the Timurid Micrajnama (folios 15r upper, angels thus occur in Islamic painting only during the
19v, and 32r)—is the polycephalous angel of prayer, period of ca. 1430–70, that is, during years marked by
which the manuscript’s text describes as having seventy intense cultural and artistic exchange between the Ming
heads with seventy mouths, each with seventy tongues and the Timurid courts.
that utter praises (tasbihs) to God in seventy different
languages (Fig. 4.4). In the Timurid Micrajnama, the The Buddhist arts of Central Asia and China provide
angel of seventy heads is represented as a standing angel a fruitful lens through which to examine the iconographic
with a human face, multicolored wings, arms crossed at prototypes and parallels that may have inspired the
the waist, and a robe with a beautifully designed gold manuscript’s multiheaded angel of prayer, as well as
cloud collar. Its many heads radiate upward in increasing its possible overtones and meanings to a varied audience.
numbers, creating a cephalic fanlike pattern that breaks Until recently, Emel Esin posited that the models for
through the painting’s top frame. these polycephalous angels had to be sought in Central
Asian Uighur Buddhist murals bearing Tantric overtones,
This figure of the polycephalous angel finds parallels in which representations of the multiheaded bodhisattva
in Jewish narratives, especially stories about the ascension Avalokitesvara might have served as inspirations for
of Moses that describe his arrival in the third heaven and the corresponding Islamic angel. 25 Although
his vision of Metatron, a very large angel with “seventy Avalokitesvara certainly provided a fitting model for
thousand heads, each head having as many mouths, each this kind of “image translation,” it will be argued here
mouth as many tongues, and each tongue as many sayings, that such representations were not only Uighur Tantric
and he together with his suite of seventy thousand myriads in character but rather emerged from Chinese Buddhist
of angels made of white fire praised and extolled the traditions. Therefore, in the following discussion, the
Lord.”23 In Islamic ascension tales, this polycephalous Indian deity Avalokitesvara will be referred to by its
angel was interpreted as the angelic stand-in for continuous Chinese name, Guanyin. 26 By considering possible
prayer. In some micraj texts attributed to Ibn cAbbas the Chinese aspects of the polycephalous angel, and Sino-
angel resides in the first heaven, bears one thousand Central Asian Buddhist artistic traditions more generally,
heads (rather than seventy or seventy thousand), and it is possible to examine a broad range of materials
sometimes is conflated with the angel of half-fire and that influenced Islamic iconography and its palette of
half-snow.24 In both Jewish and Islamic narratives, this symbolic references.
many-headed angelic figure in the heavens embodies
perpetual, procreating, and polyglossic praise of the The figure of Guanyin as a salvific and compassionate
Godhead and, by analogy, the spread of religious devotion bodhisattva developed within strains of esoteric Buddhism
to various peoples in the world. that bore the marked imprint of Hindusim: its intercessory
powers and cosmic manifestations were represented by
The Timurid Mi c rajnama is noteworthy for its supernumerary heads and multiple appendages that recall
representation of these three polycephalous angels, which the deities of the Hindu pantheon, especially Siva, Visnu,
23 Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, vol. 2, 115–117. In another narrative, the angel is described as having “seventy thousand heads, in each head seventy
thousand mouths, in each mouth seventy thousand tongues, and in each tongue seventy thousand dictions; before him stand seventy thousand myriads
of angels, all of white fire; they all praise and sing to God and say: ‘Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and power.” (Gaster, “Hebrew Visions of Hell and
Paradise,” 575, 1 Chr. xxix. 11).
24 Ibn cAbbas, “al-Isra’ wa’l-Mi’raj,” 12. Here, the angel is described as bearing one thousand heads with one thousand faces with one thousand mouths with
one thousand tongues that praise God in one thousand different languages, exclaiming the following tasbih prayer: “Praise to the One Who joins ice
with snow, Who unites fire with fire, and Who joins the hearts of the believing servants!” In the Liber Scale Machometi, there are numerous polycephalous
angels in the first heaven. These angels have the heads of men, the bodies of cows, and the wings of eagles, a composite form that recalls the tetramorphic
angel in the Timurid Micrajnama (BnF Sup Turc 190, folio 32v). See Liber Scale Machometi, 126–127.
25 Esin, “The Bakhshi in the 14th to 16th Centuries,” 288; and eadem, “Four Turkish Bakhshi active in Iranian Lands,” 56 and plates Vb, c. This parallel also
is mentioned briefly in Roxburgh, Turks, 600–1600, 199.
26 In Tibet, the same bodhisattva is known as Chenrezig; and in Japan as Kannon. There are many studies on Guanyin in Chinese Buddhism. General
sources on the subject include: Yü, Kuan-Yin; Eichenbaum Karetzky, Guanyin; Palmer and Ramsay, Kuan Yin; Chamberlayne, “The Development of
Kuan Yin: Chinese Goddess of Mercy”; and Neville, Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara, Chenresigs, Kuan-yin or Kannon Bodhisattva.
317
and Indra.27 When the Lotus Sutra was translated into heads, clad in flowing robes, standing upright or sitting
Chinese in the sixth century, the Indian bodhisattva of on a lotus flower, and with hands in different mudras.33
compassion Avalokitesvara became known as Guanyin, Often he is flanked by other Buddhist deities, monks in
a figure who merged well with the Confucian concept adoration, and/or donor figures, and sometimes he appears
of benevolence (ren).28 Its limitless powers were represented with six arms or holds the disks of the sun and moon,
essentially by polymorphisms: for example, Dunhuang symbols of cosmic balance that call to mind the elemental
murals, silk banners, and paintings on paper from the stability present in the angel of half-fire and half-snow.
ninth to fifteenth centuries depict Guanyin with eleven These cave murals were produced especially from the
heads (all-knowing), a thousand eyes (all-seeing), and eighth to the eleventh centuries. However, a number of
a thousand arms (all-aiding) that radiate outward to paintings of the thousand-eyed and thousand-armed
convey the vastness of its compassion and its all-embracing Guanyin continued to be produced during the Yuan
protection. Many Dunhuang materials include inscriptions period (1271–1368), and illustrated copies of the Guanyin
identifying the figure as Guanyin rather than Avalokitesvara,29 Sutra made for local temples in China were widely
revealing an unmistakable Sinization of the deity not only available during Ming rule (1368–1644).34 During this
in China but in Central Asia as well from the Tang period later period, Guanyin bore a close association with Dizang,
(618–907) onward.30 Many of these Buddhist materials the bodhisattva overseeing hell, and the Scripture of the
depicting Guanyin were observed by Timurid artists, Ten Kings.
bakhshis, and envoys as they traveled along the Silk
Route to Beijing. Similarly, banners and illustrated sutras Silk or hemp banners and paintings on paper featuring
depicting Guanyin31 may have arrived in Herat through Guanyin complement wall paintings, and, together, they
Ming-Timurid gift exchange. suggest a multimedia devotion to this polylimbed, limitless
god of benevolence. Silk and hemp banners from Dunhuang
The Dunhuang caves contain many mural representations made especially during the tenth century depict the
of Guanyin, attesting to the figure’s pivotal role in Central bodhisattva with nine or eleven heads as well as six arms
Asian Buddhist devotion and pilgrimage over the centuries (Fig. 4.6),35 often accompanied by monks or donors.
(Fig. 4.5).32 The deity typically is represented with eleven One rare banner also bears a number of inscriptions in
27 Eichenbaum Karetzky, Guanyin, 10. In Indian sculpture Avalokitesvara is represented as a deity with multiple heads and arms, drawing upon conventions
of representing Indra (Esin, Antecedents and Development of Buddhist and Manichean Turkish Art in Eastern Turkestan and Kansu, 55). Similarly, some
Central Asian paintings, such as those produced in Qizil ca. 650, represent Indra with eyes covering his body. This particular feature influenced later
representations of the thousand-eyed, thousand-armed Guanyin (Gaulier et al., Buddhism in Afghanistan and Central Asia, 38, 50, and fig. 104).
28 Eichenbaum Karetzky, Guanyin, 3–33.
29 Emel Esin mentions one mural briefly, identifying the polycephalous deity as Padmapani, a distinct form of Avalokitesvara (“The Bakhshi in the 14th to
16th Centuries,” 288–289, fig. 168). However, Padmapani is typically represented as a single-faced bodhisattva bearing a lotus in his hand, and so the
mural Esin reproduces (fig. 168) must represent an eleven-headed Guanyin instead.
30 Buddhism began to supplant Daoism and Confucianism in China during the sixth and seventh centuries, at which time Chinese monks such as the eminent
Xuanzang (ca. 596–664) translated key Buddhist texts into Chinese (see, inter alia, Wriggins, Xuanzang; Ch‘en, The Chinese Transformation of Buddhism;
and Zürcher, The Buddhist Conquest of China). Many scholars consider that, from the seventh century onward, Central Asia belonged the “orbit of Tang
culture,” incorporating Sinicized motifs and themes typical of Chinese Buddhist art and thereby adding yet another influence to the already complex
Buddhist artistic culture of Central Asia (see Esin, Antecedents and Development of Buddhist and Manichean Turkish Art in Eastern Turkestan and Kansu,
16). By the eleventh century, Buddhism replaced Manichaeism as the religion of choice among the Uighurs. Tantric Buddhist practices mixed with ideas
drawn from Pure Land Buddism; Maitreya and Amitabha cults were popular; and Tibetan Buddhism infiltrated Central Asia as well during a brief period
of Tibetan rule (672–760). See Zieme, “Religions of the Turks in the Pre-Islamic Period,” 35–36). By the sixteenth century, Guanyin underwent its final
transformation from a male, polylimbed deity into a female “Goddess of Mercy,” a maternal figure often likened to the Virgin Mary. See Chamberlayne,
“The Development of Kuan Yin,” 46–47.
31 See Fig. 4.6.
32 Tonko Bakukokutsu (Dunhuang Mogao Caves), vol. 3, fig. 82. Also see comparative murals in Jera-Bezard, “Une bannière de Dunhuang inédite et datée
au Musée Guimet,” 173, figs. 2a–c.
33 See Neville, Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara, Chenresigs, Kuan-yin or Kannon Bodhisattva, 30; Whitfield et al, Cave Temples of Mogao, 90; and Zhongguo
bi hua quan ji: Dunhuang (The Complete Collection of Mural Paintings of China: Dunhuang), vol. 5, fig. 112 (eleven-headed and six-armed Guanyin)
and fig. 165 (seated eleven-headed Guanyin); vol. 8, fig. 106 (thousand-armed Guanyin), fig. 114 (eleven-headed and six-armed Guanyin), and fig. 115
(thousand-armed and thousand-eyed Guanyin); vol. 9, fig. 104 (thousand-armed Guanyin); and vol. 10, fig. 102 (thousand-armed Guanyin), fig. 125
(eleven-headed and thousand-armed Guanyin), and fig. 188 (thousand-armed Guanyin).
34 On illustrated Guanyin Sutras from the Tang to the Ming period, see Yü, Kuan-Yin, 76, fig. 2.2; Eichenbaum Karetzky, Guanyin, 51, 66–67; and Whitfield
et al., Cave Temples of Mogao, 124–126.
35 Guimet Inv. E.O. 1147; Vandier-Nicolas et al, Bannières et peintures de Touen-Houang conservées au Musée Guimet, vol. 14, 172, cat. no. 92, and vol. 15,
58, pl. 92, also see related pieces in vol. 15, 60, pl. 95, and 62, pl. 96.
318
Chinese that identify the piece as an offering to the succor and salvation for their respective communities of
“eleven-headed bodhisattava Guanyin” from a female believers. In essence, both the bodhisattva Guanyin and
donor by the name of Zhang Zhi. This evidence not only the Islamic polycephalous angel act as “expedient devices”
serves to place the banner, and others like it, in Dunhuang and as conveyors of prayer, and their immensity of
ca. 950, it also confirms that a distinctively Chinese compassion multiplies and regenerates ad infinitum.
devotion to the deity was incorporated into the Uighur These semiotic concepts, revolving around the themes
arts and Buddhist practices of Central Asia by the tenth of deliverance and salvation, materialize through form
century.36 All evidence indeed suggests that the cult of via the cross-religious pictorial device of manifold limbs
the eleven-headed Guanyin figure was introduced to or heads.
Dunhuang via China during the Tang period, and that
devotion to this particular bodhisattva was a westward A more complex system of pictorial reference and
importation to Chinese Turkestan.37 transference must be at play in this particular instance,
and this system includes not only forms but their associated
Statues of Guanyin were numerous in Central Asia and connotative meanings as well. For these reasons, it
and China during the Tang period as well. For instance, is possible to transcend rather reductive discussions of
some of the earliest sculptures of the eleven-headed deity, pictorial syncretism in order to consider the various
which date from the seventh century and were found in complex processes of selection that coalesced to form
the Toyuk Caves in Turfan, are made of wood and the peculiar iconography of the angel of prayer in the
represent the deity’s heads in the form of a tall, stepped Timurid Micrajnama. The carefully selected forms appear
crown.38 Other Guanyin statues, made of sandstone, strategic, laden with symbolic overtones, and universalizing
appear from this time as well. One such statue, made ca. in order to carry a wide range of possible meanings,
700–725, is noteworthy for its enormous size of 13.9 values, and applications. This kind of imagery did not
meters (Fig. 4.7).39 The bodhisattva appears here as a emerge simply from Uighur Tantric iconography but
male figure with two arms and two eyes, and his many merged various inner Asian and Chinese artistic traditions,
heads look studded to his hairdress, forming a kind of especially those linked to the bodhisattva Guanyin, to
tiered tiara. This particular style of representation differs create overarching meanings for intercessory deities or
considerably from the Tantric cosmic manifestation of angelic figures.
Guanyin as a thousand-armed deity (see Fig. 1.5).
Without a doubt, the figural prototype of the eleven- THE MICRAJNAMA’S PAINTINGS OF HELL AND THE SCRIPTURE
headed Guanyin as a standing male with two arms and OF THE TEN KINGS
multiple heads invites comparison with the polycephalous
angel in the Timurid Micrajnama. Moreover, it is possible In the Buddhist arts of Central Asia and China, a
to see in such a pictorial parallel more than a one-to-one coupling between Guanyin, the bodhisattva of ever-
correlation of forms. The Timurid artist who witnessed increasing compassion, and Dizang, the chief king presiding
or was familiar with representations of the eleven-headed over hell, occurred rather naturally due to their analogous
Guanyin may have thought it appropriate to transfer this roles in securing for the believer salvation from damnation
deity’s form—emblematic of limitless compassion—to in the afterlife. Although the eleven-headed Guanyin
an angel of endless prayer, with both figures seeking appears singly on ninth-century cloth paintings from
36 Jera-Bezard, “Une bannière de Dunhuang inédite et datée au Musée Guimet.” For a silk banner representing the thousand-armed, thousand-eyed Guanyin
made in Dunhuang ca. 800–850, see Whitfield, The Art of Central Asia, vol. 1, 313–314, pl. 18; for a ninth-century painting on silk of the eleven-headed
deity, see Härtel and Yaldiz, Along the Ancient Silk Routes, 201, fig. 142; for a tenth-century cloth painting of the eleven-headed Guanyin, see Neville,
Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara, Chenresigs, Kuan-yin or Kannon Bodhisattva, figs. 36–37; for a ninth-century Dunhuang painting of the thousand-armed
deity on paper rather than silk, see Bussagli, Central Asian Painting, 120; and Giès, Les arts de l’Asie Centrale, vol. 1, pl. 94; for a discussion of votive
silk banners representing the eleven-headed Guanyin as used in funerary rituals, see Jera-Bezard and Maillard, “Le rôle des bannières et des peintures
mobiles dans les rituels du bouddhisme d’Asie centrale,” 63; and for a printed image of the twenty-four manifestations of Guanyin, see Yü, Kuan-Yin,
230, fig. 6.3
37 Lee and Ho, “A Colossal Eleven-Faced Kuan-Yin of the T’ang Dynasty,” 122.
38 See the seventh-century wooden statue of the eleven-headed Guanyin from Toyuk (MInK III. 7204) in Gaulier et al., Buddhism in Afghanistan and Central
Asia, 28, fig. 63; and Ghose, In the Footsteps of the Buddha, 273–274, fig. 78.
39 CMA 1959.129. Lee and Ho, “A Colossal Eleven-Faced Kuan-Yin of the T’ang Dynasty”; and Neville, Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara, Chenresigs, Kuan-yin
or Kannon Bodhisattva, fig. 35.
319
Dunhuang—surrounded by litanies and interceding on zoomorphic demons and specific tortures—such as yokes,
behalf of souls, some of which are shown being tortured fetters, chains, pots of molten metal and other putrid
by demons40—the bodhisattva often forms a pair with liquids, torment by snakes, and so forth—share a palpable
Dizang as both preside over the kings who administer a correlation. These similarities add a textual dimension to
trial for each deceased soul as its passes through the trials Uighur Buddhist depictions of inferno (tamugh) and its
and tribulations of hell.41 Both bodhisattvas were the demons, as represented in Turfan and as occasioned by
subject of popular devotion in Dunhuang, and their the Chinese Scripture of the Ten Kings, copies of which
appearance, singly or jointly, is a distinguishing feature were available in Dunhuang either in their Chinese original
of Central Asian and Chinese painted banners and illustrated or in Uighur translation.44
books from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries. 42
It is further argued that the axiom “form follows
As noted earlier, there exists an intriguing iconographic function” holds true in this particular case, and hence
relationship between Dizang and the angel of half-fire that both the illustrated “Book of Ascension” and pictured
and half-snow, much as Guanyin (as an eleven-headed copies of the Scripture of the Ten Kings could be used
bodhisattva) bears a likeness to the polycephalous angel as didactic tools for indoctrinating readers, viewers, or
of prayer in the Timurid Micrajnama. Expanding upon listeners into proper behavior and its rewards and away
these iconographic similarities, it is possible to hypothesize from sinful conduct and its consequences. As meditative
that such Islamic iconographic borrowings principally devices linked to specific texts or oral tales, these cross-
drew upon the Buddhist theme of salvation from hell. A cultural illustrations of hell served to promote an “orthodox”
framework for further inquiry thus expands from pure code of conduct for individuals, whether members of a
form to attached symbolic meaning and compels a Buddhist community or adherents to the Islamic faith.
discussion of Buddhist texts associated with both As an illustrated text whose expanded terminus tends
bodhisattvas and hell. The text of principal interest, which heavily toward judgment and the chthonic, therefore, the
appears to inform these angels and the series of hell Micrajnama finds its closest equal in the Scripture of the
paintings in the Micrajnama, is the Buddhist sutra known Ten Kings, from which the manuscript’s artist appears to
as the Scripture of the Ten Kings.43 have drawn inspiration.
In the following discussion, a comparison between The Scripture of the Ten Kings is a Chinese sutra said
this sutra (including its illustration in Dunhuang manuscripts, to have been spoken by the historical Buddha. Probably
banners, and mural paintings) and the extensive cycle written in China during the ninth century, it describes
of hell images that endow the “Book of Ascension” with the journey of a deceased soul taken as a prisoner through
its exceptional character is offered. It is argued that the a sequence of trials officiated by ten judges. The chief
structure and content of the Scripture of the Ten Kings judge king Dizang oversees the trials while also functioning
provided a framework for the conceptualization and as the soul’s guardian angel, hence his close relation to
iconography of the hell paintings in the Islamic manuscript, the bodhisattva Guanyin. As the soul traverses a number
whose artist drew upon a particularly Chinese sutra with of purgatories and crosses the River Nai (The River of
demonstrable popularity in Central Asian and Chinese No Recourse) and arrives at Mount Tai, it is faced by
traditions both before and during the Timurid period. ordeals meant to cultivate morality and establish its worth.
The sutra’s descriptions of judgment and hell added an
In both texts, a recurring and graded arrangement of important dimension to medieval Chinese Buddhism and
scenes typifies the narrative, while elements such as its concept of purgatory. Sinicized elements, such as hell’s
40 Neville, Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara, Chenresigs, Kuan-yin or Kannon Bodhisattva: its Origin and Iconography, fig. 39.
41 Vandier-Nicolas et al, Bannières et peintures de Touen-Houang conservées au Musée Guimet, vol. 14, 254, pl. XII, cat. no. 119 and vol. 15, 79, pl. 119
(also see comparative pieces in vol. 15, 80, pl. 118 and 81, p. 120).
42 For a discussion of the iconographic pairing of Guanyin and Dizang/Ksitigarbha, see Wang-Toutain, Le bodhisattva Ksitigarbha en Chine du Ve au XIIIe
siècle, 292–300.
43 The full name of the Scripture of the Ten Kings is the Sutra Spoken by the Buddha on the Prophecy to the Four Orders on King Yama Concerning the Seven
Feasts to be Practiced Preparatory to Rebirth in the Pure Land (yan-luo shou-ji si-zhong ni-xiu sheng-qi wang-sheng jing-tu jing). The Scripture of the Ten
Kings has been studied most extensively by Stephen Teiser: see in particular his The Scripture of the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval
Chinese Buddhism; idem, “‘Having Once Died and Returned to Life”; and idem, “The Growth of Purgatory.”
44 Although Emel Esin discusses Uighur Buddhist depictions of demons and tortures in hell, she does not explicitly link these with their textual sources and
inspirations, most especially the Scripture of the Ten Kings (see her “Muhammad Siyah Qalam and the Inner Asian Turkish Tradition,” 99).
320
bureaucratic character and the inclusion of the “local” the deeds of sinners in logbooks (Fig. 4.8). The scantily
River Nai and Mount Tai, contributed substantially to the clad souls of the deceased approach each king wearing
development of a Chinese Buddhist theory of purgatory.45 either long wooden cangues or, as in the lower right
corner, a circular yoke. Female attendants in front of each
This general concept of hell, and specific elements king unfurl scroll-like books and read each sinner’s
drawn from the Scripture of the Ten Kings, dominated sentence aloud.47 In both Yuling murals a specifically
Buddhist artistic and religious traditions in China’s western Chinese Buddhist medieval view on judgment and
regions, especially in the oasis cities of Turfan. Many punishment informs the major themes of Central Asian
murals, statues, wall paintings, silk and paper hangings, mural painting of the tenth to twelfth centuries.
and illustrated manuscripts of this sutra were produced
in Dunhuang between the tenth and the thirteenth centuries The thematic triad of death, judgment, and corporal
(and printed, illustrated copies of the sutra continued to punishment—as derived from the Sutra of the Ten Kings—
be produced in Dunhuang until the mid-fifteenth century).46 also adorns the walls of other caves in the Turfan area,
A number of Uighur or Chinese inscriptions on murals especially in Bezeklik, where a large and complex painting
and hangings also record formulas used during mortuary executed between the tenth and twelfth centuries bears
practices as well as ritualized tales recited by itinerant Uighur inscriptions describing the six roads to reincarnation
storytellers. The wide range of hell images in Chinese (Fig. 4.9).48 In the composition, the six roads are represented
Turkestan during this period precipitated a synthesis of as separate compartments in which sinners undergo a
Chinese-Uighur Buddhist death rites, shaped common variety of tortures. Proceeding clockwise from the bottom
perceptions of the afterlife, and popularized devotion to left, the sinners’ punishments are depicted in the following
the chief judge king Dizang and the bodhisattva of scenes: demons with fiery hair force-feed boiling liquid
compassion Guanyin. to a sinner tied to a pole (Fig. 4.10); sinners are speared
by demons as they run through blazing flames; a sinner
The tenth-century mural from Yuling Cave 33, discussed lies on a slab while his hair is pulled by a demon (above
in relation to the Micrajnama’s angel of half-fire and half- whom a coiled snake appears to be hissing) and another
snow, depicts Dizang as a haloed, shaven monk wearing demon prepares to behead him with an ax; a sinner is
simple robes and seated on a lotus flower (Fig. 4.3). In speared by a demon while an ox-headed devil stirs a
the background, bovine-headed demons chase and torture cauldron brimming with molten liquid; a sinner’s naked
sinners with sticks and spears. The black River Tai flows body is thrust into a funnel-shaped furnace; and a sinner
behind Dizang, and, to his right, a man and woman lies flat on a slab, awaiting his punishment as another
observe their punishments in hell-fire, reflected in the culprit approaches his own torturous platform.
mirror of karma. In the left middle ground, a sinner burns
in a large cauldron of burning liquid; in the right middle These many tortures—fettering, force-feeding of molten
ground, another attempts to escape while wearing a liquids, spearing, quartering, pulling by the hair, anguish
wooden cangue. caused by animal-headed demons and aggressive reptiles—
are not only linked to the six roads to rebirth, but also
Other Yuling Cave wall paintings evoke the theme of to Dizang and the Scripture of the Ten Kings. Many murals,
the Scripture of the Ten Kings and the punishment of paintings, and illustrated manuscripts contemporaneous
sinners. For example, one mural represents two of the with these cave paintings in Turfan elaborate on this
ten kings officiating from their high desks as they record theme, drawing a very close connection between
45 Teiser, The Scripture of the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism, 1–15; idem, “The Growth of Purgatory”; and idem,
“‘Having Once Died and Returned to Life,” 460. The bureaucratic element of trial logbooks is particularly Chinese in character.
46 On Dunhuang paintings and manuscripts of the Scripture of the Ten Kings, see Teiser, The Scripture of the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in
Medieval Chinese Buddhism, 31–48; Jera-Bezard and Maillard, “Le rôle des bannières et des peintures mobiles dans les rituels du bouddhisme d’Asie
centrale”; Gabain, Die Formensprache der Uigurischen Malerei; idem, “Ksitigarbha-Kult in Zentralasien,” 53–56 (the ten kings) and 56–58 (sinners); and
eadem, “The Purgatory of the Buddhist Uighurs.”
47 Zhongguo bi hua quan ji: Dunhuang (The Complete Collection of Mural Paintings of China: Dunhuang), vol. 9, 70, fig. 177.
48 MInK Berlin, III 8453. See Zhongguo bi hua quan ji: Dunhuang (The Complete Collection of Mural Paintings of China: Dunhuang), vol. 6, 40, fig. 99.
The six roads to rebirth include: 1) the road of the devas (gods); 2) the road of animals; 3) the road of hell; 4) the road of men; 5) the road of asuras
(mythical four-armed figures); and 6) the road of the pretas (hungry ghosts).
321
punishment, bureaucracy, and the intercessory power of The illustrated sutras of the Ten Kings were utilized
the bodhisattva Dizang, who at times appears in mortuary rites and funeral practices held intermittently
iconographically related to Guanyin (Fig. 4.11).49 Such over the course of three years after the body of the
scenes, best known under the rubric of “Dizang as the deceased was laid to rest. These religious services, which
Lord of the Six Ways,” were used in popular devotional like the sutra itself were Chinese in origin, occurred on
and mortuary practices, and often include the specific each of the first seven days (equivalent to the first seven
names of devotees and donors, seated monks, deceased kings in the sutra), on the hundredth day (eighth king),
ancestors, and ritual formulas.50 They also include lavish the first year (ninth king), and the third year (tenth king)
depictions of hell’s tortures. after the person’s death. 54 On the occasion of each
memorial observance, itinerant storytellers created picture-
These paintings on walls, silk, and paper provide shows by pointing to illustrations of the sutra as found
powerful pictorial testaments to the medieval Sino-Central on cave monastery walls, silk hangings, and illustrated
Asian Buddhist system of beliefs connected with the day manuscripts, de facto generating a very compelling,
of judgment and the soul’s journey through purgatory. ritualized multimedia performance that infused life into
Both the themes and details in the Scripture of the Ten its attending images. 55 By mixing storytelling with
King were derived from Chinese sources. Likewise, the sermonizing and “tableaux vivants” representing judgment
format of Uighur illustrated hand scrolls and bound and the underworld, Buddhist monks and tellers of tales
booklets made in Dunhuang were inspired by Chinese attempted to impart an orthodox view of what lies ahead
models,51 about all of the Scripture of the Ten Kings.52 in the Buddhist eschaton as evidenced in Sino-Central
Many of these illustrated sutras, which were found in Asian scriptural traditions of the tenth to the fifteenth
large quantities in the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang, centuries.56
illustrate the passage of spirits through the tribunals of
the underworld (Fig. 4.12).53 Sinners are depicted as The bakhshis of Central Asia active during the Mongol
human beings clad in pants or undergarments only, and post-Mongol period must have been familiar with
fettered at the hands with manacles and bound at the these traditions of ritualized pictured recitation based on
necks with heavy wooden cangues. Guided by human the Scripture of the Ten Kings. How such traditions were
escorts and zoomorphic demons, they proceed from the filtered into Islamic oral and artistic practices during the
court of one judge-king to the next until they reach thirteenth and fourteenth centuries remains poorly
Dizang, on their way to undergo a variety of tortures, understood. In the fifteenth century, however, Timurid
such as binding by chains and cangues, flogging, spearing, delegates who intrepidly took to the Serindian road would
and so forth. Their fates are inscribed in logbooks either have been able to experience firsthand Buddhist mural
opened flat in front of the presiding judge-king or carried and statuary arts in Dunhuang and other oasis cities in
as scrolls by attendants. Central Asia. Travel narratives, such as the report penned
49 Giès et al., Les arts de l’Asie Centrale, 2, 300–301, pl. 60. Also see two related silk banners in Whitfield, The Art of Central Asia, vol. 2, 317–319, figs. 25–27,
pls. 22 and 24. Some banners also represent Guanyin instead of Dizang as the savior of souls on the six roads (Giès et al, Les arts de l’Asie Centrale, vol.
2, 316, pl. 18 and 317, pl. 21). Small votive booklets of the Guanyin Sutra include illustrations of the tortures of sinners as well (Giès et al, Les arts de
l’Asie Centrale, pl. 65 and fig. 92).
50 See Overmyer, “Buddhism in the Trenches.”
51 Gabain, Die Formensprache der Uigurischen Malerei, 10–11; and eadem, “The Purgatory of the Buddhist Uighurs,” 33–34. Many of the Uighur illustrated
copies of the Scripture of the Ten Kings include Chinese (not Uighur) inscriptions. The Chinese elements in these manuscripts include the judge-kings’
caps and their desks covered with long curtains. For a tenth-century Chinese-language illustrated copy of the Scripture of the Ten Kings made in Dunhuang
(BL Or. 8210/S.3961), see Whitfield and Sims-Williams, The Silk Road, fig. 297.
52 Fujieda, “Une reconstruction de la ‘bibliothèque’ de Touen-Houang”; and idem, “The Tun-huang Manuscripts.” The total number of manuscripts and
printed texts found in Dunhuang is estimated at 50,000 (Whitfield et al., Cave Temples of Mogao, 41).
53 Whitfield, The Art of Central Asia, vol. 2, 339, pl. 63. For comparative illustrated scrolls and booklets of the Scripture of the Ten Kings, see, inter alia,
Teiser, The Scripture of the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism, pls. 4–14; Gabain, “Ksitigarbha-Kult in Zentralasien”;
Whitfield et al., Cave Temples of Mogao, 46–47, 124; Whitfield and Farrer, The Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, 83–85, no. 65; and Giès, Les arts de l’Asie
Centrale, vol. 2, 319–320, pl. 92.
54 Teiser, The Scripture of the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism, 9; and Giès, Les arts de l’Asie Centrale, vol. 2, 319.
55 Mair, Painting and Performance, 40; and idem, “Records of Transformation Tableaux (Pien-Hsiang).”
56 The Scripture of the Ten Kings was composed in the ninth century. However, the earliest illustrated copies of the sutra were produced in Dunhuang in
the early tenth century, and the latest woodblock printed sutra dates from 1469 (see Teiser, The Scripture of the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory
in Medieval Chinese Buddhism, 9).
322
by the painter Ghiyath al-Din in the early 1420s, reveal are intriguing. For example, the cangue, a large and heavy
that Buddhism had not altogether disappeared from board with a hole in the center for a person’s neck,
China’s western regions in the fifteenth century. Additionally, appears frequently as a form of corporal punishment in
Timurid delegates, artists, and traders would have been paintings related the Scripture of the Ten Kings (Figs. 4.8
confronted with living Buddhist traditions practiced in and 4.12). In the “Book of Ascension,” this restrictive
monasteries and temples in China. Both past and present form of torture is used against sinners who did not give
Buddhist Central Asian and Chinese traditions included alms (Fig. 4.13). In the latter painting, only the sinners’
popular devotion to Guanyin and Dizang, and pictured heads are visible emerging from outsized red yokes, as
performances relied substantially on ex-voto booklets they are engulfed by gold flames and watched over by
and hand scrolls of the Scripture of the Ten Kings. a rather grotesque zoomorphic demon holding a large
mace. The text in fact forms an incomplete parallel to its
For these reasons, it is possible to see in the Micrajnama’s corresponding image, as it describes a group of people
fourteen folios representing the various tortures of sinners— in hell with heavy millstones around their necks.57 This
the most complete and expressive chthnonic cycle of its kind of torture—as described in the Micrajnama and
kind in Islamic traditions—echoes of the well-developed depicted in its attendant painting—suggests a borrowing
series of punishments depicted in Central Asian illustrated from a non-Islamic pictorial source, especially since
manuscripts and murals related to the Sutra of the Ten precursor ascension texts omit this very specific form of
Kings. Two principal elements appear to have carried torture.58
over. The first is the collection of iconographic details—
such as the cangue/yoke, manacles, zoomorphic demons, Furthermore, it is important to recall that contemporary
spearing, torture by snakes, and punishment by molten Chinese criminal punishments, to which Timurid envoys
and putrid liquids—that are described in the text and and artists were witness on more than one occasion,
whose depiction finds precedents in illustrations of the included the use of the wooden cangue. Ghiyath al-Din
Scripture of the Ten Kings, as described above. The second elaborates on this practice with the eye of a visual virtuoso.
consists of the manuscript’s structure proper—a succession He notes that once the Timurid delegates arrived in the
of hell images whose basic goal revolves primarily around capital city Khan Baliq, they watched a procession of
instilling “orthodox” individual conduct (such as not being criminals wearing wooden yokes around their necks and
hypocritical, greedy, impure, adulterous, flattering, or bound by chains.59 This parade occurred immediately
haughty) and prohibiting behaviors that hurt society as after a dance staged by performers who quite probably
a whole (such as not abiding to legal precepts, sowing wore zoomorphic masks made of pasteboard. 60 The
discord, stealing orphans’ wealth, committing adultery, juxtaposition of Chinese pageantry (masks) and criminal
shedding blood, drinking wine, etc.). This particular processions (yokes) also occurs in the Micrajnama’s
narrative-pictorial arrangement draws upon the Buddhist depiction of sinners who did not give alms, suggesting
sutra but, in the case of the Micrajnama, appears in an that the manuscript’s artist was recalling, through pictorial
Islamic manuscript produced at a time of consummate conflation, coterminous criminal procedures and
pan-Asian cultural and religious communication. entertainment practices in Ming China. In other words,
he did not merely quote antecedent and defunct Buddhist
The iconographic parallels between the depictions of pictorial traditions in Central Asia. In this case, then, we
hell in the Micrajnama and the Scripture of the Ten King observe a mixing of depictions of punishments in Central
57 Pavet de Courteille, Mi’râdj-Nâmeh, 25 (lourdes pierres à meule); and Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 282 (agır tegirmen tasları).
58 In the Nahj al-Faradis, sinners are described as bound as well. However, rather than being fitted with a yoke or millstone, they are fettered by chains at
their hands and feet (Eckman, Nehcü’l-Feradis, 50: ekki elgi baglıg taqı ekki adaqı baglıg). In Uighur texts, the yoke is called a buqayu or buqaghu (Esin,
“Four Turkish Bakhshis Active in Iranian Lands,” 59, pl. III A). Unfortunately, Esin does not associate this painting of sinners shackled in hell with the
Scripture of the Ten Kings; instead she discusses this painting with regards to the Uighur conventions of representing hell (tamu) and the particular
techniques of Uighur painting.
59 Chains are depicted at least twice as punishment in the Micrajnama’s hell images (folios 53v and 63v), and a number of paintings show sinners clearly
bound at the hands and feet without representing the chains proper (folios 53v, 55r, 65r lower, and 65v). Chains are also represented in illustrated
Turfanese texts of the Scripture of the Ten Kings (Esin, “Four Turkish Bakhshis Active in Iranian Lands,” 59, pl. III A).
China, 57–58.
323
Asian illustrated copies of the Scripture of the Ten Kings A previously mentioned banner depicts Dizang as the
with contemporary Chinese punitive practices. “Lord of the Six Ways:” in this work, the variety of torments
that speckle the path to reincarnation add a macabre yet
The many arch-demons included in the “Book of expressive value to the painting (Fig. 4.11). In the
Ascension” (especially folios 57v, 59r–v, 61v, 63r–v, and background, a sinner stands next to a burning cauldron,
65r) are depicted in a carnivalesque fashion. They look in which molten liquid is stirred by a demon with a
as if they are sporting pasteboard masks with exaggerated blazing, parted hairdo. Behind the demon, a snake is on
facial features and recall to a certain degree the paintings the attack. Once again, a number of elements—such as
of demons executed by Muhammad Siyah Qalam (Fig. zoomorphic demons, demons with blistering capillaries,
3.7). The demons’ claws, hairy bodies, and gold bangles cauldrons with molten liquid, and snakes—find their way
find precedents in the latter’s sketches and paintings, into the hell scenes in the Timurid Micrajnama.
believed to be linked to a wide range of practices, including
Turkish Shamanist rituals, Tantric bakhshi practices, rituals In the Timurid “Book of Ascension,” crimson- and
of various Muslim esoteric sects, and special masquerades charcoal-colored humanoid demons spear sinners (folio
that set aside an acceptable “space” for the performance 57r), force-feed them molten liquid (folios 61r and 65v),
of one’s monstrous alter ego.61 Many of these traditions and cut their throats (folios 53 v and 65r lower). Other
were filtered into the Micrajnama’s iconography through demons with masklike facial features, flaming hair, and
antecedent pictorial sources and/or spiritual practices. gold bangles appear to oversee the torturous activities
of the andropoid demons rather than participate actively
However, it has not been noted previously that these in them. In effect, these demons preside over particular
many iconographic elements also were transmitted to classes of punishment, and their status is prompted by
the “Book of Ascension” through Sino-Central Asian their more extravagant appearances. Of particular note
paintings of the Scripture of the Ten Kings. The extant are the three arch-demons with flaming hair in the
murals, banners, and illustrated manuscripts of this sutra Micrajnama (Fig. 4.14)62 because they have no precedent
bear interesting formal correspondences which may have in Muhammad Siyah Qalam’s drawings, which depict
carried symbolic tones with them. For example, a number demons with bony growths resembling horns or antlers
of Dunhuang murals represent Dizang seated in the lotus growing from their scalps (Fig. 3.7).
position as he presides over the kings of hell (Fig. 4.3).
In paintings such as this one, some animal-headed demons The flamboyant hairdo of the presiding demons in
spear sinners wearing cangues while others boil malefactors the Timurid “Book of Ascension” must be sought not in
in large cauldrons of boiling liquid. Other murals, like Muhammad Siyah Qalam’s work but in images linked to
the complex “Six Roads to Reincarnation” in Bezeklik the Scripture of the Ten Kings. For example, the Bezeklik
(Figs. 4.9 and 4.10), offer a plethora of tortures that mural of the “Six Roads to Reincarnation” (Figs. 4.9 and
resonate with the motifs in the Mi c rajnama. Here, 4.10) depicts demons with grotesque facial features and
anthropoid demons with parted, flaming hair force-feed flaming hair; similarly, an arch-demon in the painting’s
boiling liquid from cauldrons to sinners, who in turn are lower right corner also has flaming capillaries (Fig. 4.9).
eaten alive by flames, restricted by cangues, tormented In the Dunhuang banner of Dizang as the “Lord of the
by snakes, and flung into boiling liquid by zoomorphic Six Ways” (Fig. 4.11), likewise, a demon with flames
demons. In such cases, we see a large spectrum of sprouting from his head stirs molten liquid in a large
crossover motifs from the Sino-Buddhist pictorial corpus cauldron. Such works appear to have served as the primary
of the Sutra of the Ten Kings to an Islamic illustrated inspirations for the arch-demons with flaming hair in the
manuscript on the Prophet Muhammad’s ascension. Micrajnama, and, by extension, the Islamic paintings of
61 Emel Esin considers these demons most closely related to the Uighur yeks (or gluttons), with animal heads and various ornaments, such as ankle and
arm bangles (see Esin, “Muhammad Siyah Qalam and the Inner Asian Turkish Tradition,” 97). They also recall a number of esoteric Muslim sects, in
particular the practices of the Qalandari dervishes (Esin, “Muhammad Siyah Qalam and the Inner Asian Turkish Tradition,” 93–97; eadem, “The Bakhshi
in the 14th to 16th Centuries,” 286–289, 291, figs. 169–70; and Karama aralı, “The Siyah Qalam Paintings and their Relation to Esoteric Muslim Sects”).
More recently, scholars have applied a more sociological analysis to the paintings, suggesting that the demons perform as human doubles (Parman,
“Insanın Esi Olarak Demon/The Demon as Human Double”). This kind of analysis applies a Bakhtian approach to carnival as controlled chaos and
essential to social order. For further discussions on the topic, see the collection of articles and illustrations in Ben Mehmed Siyah Kalem.
62 Also see BnF Sup Turc 190, folios 53v and 57r.
324
hell also appear to derive from medieval Sino-Central Timurid Micrajnama presents hints of storytelling practices,
Asian visual materials illustrating the Scripture of the Ten the supple and unwritten forces behind much cultural
Kings rather than Muhammad Siyah Qalam’s works. and visual production, in book format.
Beyond such visual and structural comparisons, the BEYOND SYNCRETISM

question of function between the Sutra of the Ten Kings
and the Islamic “Book of Ascension” remains to be
explored. As noted throughout this chapter, the sutra The search for the manuscript’s iconographic inflections
was favored for pictured storytelling and sermonizing and meanings takes us beyond discussions of one-to-
during yearly festivities and burial ceremonies, and a one pictorial correspondences to engage with the deeper
substrate of this widespread Buddhist practice seeped implications of visual borrowings and quotations, especially
into Islamic traditions.63 For example, at least one oversize with regards to image function and viewer reception.
Turkman painting, probably dating to the first half of the Some of the Timurid Micrajnama’s iconography relates
fifteenth century, represents the Prophet’s ascension over to the Ilkhanid book arts of about a century prior, which
a crowned monarch (Fig. 4.15). In all likelihood, this entered Shahrukh’s library in Herat and thus served as
composition was used in pictured storytelling to legitimize patterns for the ruler’s artistic commissions. However,
a ruler’s sovereignty through the comparable tale of the many of the manuscript’s innovative details appear
Prophet’s endowment of prophecy on the night of his indebted to paintings from Central Asia and China, and
ascension.64 this is above all the case for the manuscript’s intensified
illustrative attention to matters concerned with angelology
Like this painting, and like Buddhist sutras, the Timurid and eschatology.
Micrajnama may have been read aloud during Islamic
holidays, such as the yearly commemoration of the The Timurid Micrajnama’s iconographic program is
Prophet’s birth (mawlid al-nabi) on 10 Rabic I or, more not haphazard, not pêle-mêle, and not unselective. It
fittingly, on the night of his ascension on 27 Rajab.65 rises above inadvertent pictorial syncretism and involuntary
Although Timurid religious practices are not recorded in ecclecticism to sort out and borrow, in a strategic and
great detail, it is possible that Central Asian and Mongol well-considered manner, a pictorial mode most capable
traditions, as filtered through Ilkhanid practices, were of generating a set of recognizable meanings for artist,
retained, informing the ways in which images functioned viewer, or both. In drawing upon the long-lived Central
in subsequent Timurid ritualized or religious contexts. 66 Asian and Chinese traditions of illustrating the Scripture
Because of their small format, however, illustrated of the Ten Kings and its chief protagonists, Guanyin and
manuscripts must have been used in intimate reading Dizang, the manuscript’s artist turned to a Buddhist sutra,
sessions for the ruler and his immediate entourage, in which shared an array of alluring likenesses with this
effect nourishing political legitimacy through the vehicle particular Islamic “Book of Ascension.”
of religious reading as stimulated by a text and its attendant
images. The Timurid “Book of Ascension” still preserves These formal correspondences and transferences come
certain elements—such as highly legible hand gestures together to create a pictorial mode that is perhaps best
and elements buttressing imperial authority—as present called “strategic co-optation,” that is, a practice that seeks
in the Turkman painting used in storytelling practices. meaningful connotations and values for any borrowed
These formal and symbolic overlaps suggest that the form or structure. Similarities between these works include
63 For a discussion of later practices of pictured storytelling (surat-khwan, parda-khan, parda-dar) in Qajar Iran, see Mair, Painting and Performance,
118–120; and Chelkowski, “Narrative Painting and Painting Recitation in Qajar Iran.”
64 Gruber, “The Keir Mi’raj,” 38. The Prophet Muhammad clearly points down to the ruler, who stares frontally toward the viewer, as his right hand forms
a fist. These gestures thus suggest that we should read the painting as Muhammad transferring otherworldly authority to his earthly representative, a
fusion of narratives that may be indicative of oral tales conflating the genre of prophetic biography or sira with the genre praising kingship.
65 The “night of ascension” holiday is known in Arabic as laylat al-micraj, in Persian as shab-i micraj, and in Turkish as micraç gecesi.
66 The Ilkhanid vizier Rashid al-Din is well-known for having supported annual micraj celebrations (Soucek, “The Life of the Prophet,” 204; and Jahn, “The
Still Missing Works of Rashid al-Din”). Such festivities may have included readings from the Qur’an, oral stories and/or musical performances on the
theme of the ascension, pictured storytelling, the distribution of food, and various illuminations not too dissimilar from the later Ottoman practice of
burning candles (micraç kandili) in order to remember the event’s occurrence at night.
325
the themes of compassion, poise, deliverance, and salvation, respectively, the Scripture of the Ten Kings and the
as well as their polar opposites, disobedience, punition, Micrajnama indeed might have shared similar functions.
and retribution. In such a manner, these many conceptual Both are apocryphal texts; both inspire amazement and
links bind the Timurid “Book of Ascension” to the Buddhist reverence; both contain pictures to “activate” the moral
Scripture of the Ten Kings, a semiotic parallelism that lessons exposed within; and both presuppose an audience.
echoes a variety of iconographic congruences. From illustrated Buddhist scripture (sutra) to pictured
Islamic biography (sira), therefore, Sino-Buddhist scriptural
Beyond form and structure, function follows, too, and arts helped formulate the iconographic program of this
it is possible to suggest that both works were used for “Book of Ascension” produced during the Timurid period,
storytelling linked to religious festivities or other ceremonial a moment of exceptional pan-Asian religious, cultural,
activities, in which pictured texts served as entertainment and artistic dialogue.
and indoctrination into an orthodox system of religious
beliefs. Awe-inspiring and devotional, and told from the
viewpoints of the Buddha and the Prophet Muhammad,
326
CHAPTER V
THE MICRAJNAMA’S AFTERLIFE: PICTORIAL STIMULUS AND

VERBAL EKPHRASIS
Based on preliminary research, it is clear that the

M uch as the Micrajnama benefited from previous
textual and pictorial traditions found both within
and beyond Islamic realms, so too it served as a powerful
manuscript was commissioned by Shahrukh’s successor
Abu Sacid Gurgan (d. 1469), who split his reign between
stimulus for the production of illustrated manuscripts and Samarqand (1451–69) and Herat (1459–69) and who also
paintings related to the theme of the Prophet’s ascension. benefited from Silk Road trade during the 1450s and
From the time of the manuscript’s production in Herat 1460s. A number of paintings in his “duplicate” Micrajnama
ca. 1436–37 until the twentieth century, a wide variety amplify Chinese iconographic elements, especially the
of mi craj illustrations and texts were either directly polycephalous angel related to Guanyin and decorative
influenced by this masterpiece or loosely inspired by its details reminiscent of Chinese lacquer wares. The manuscript
iconographic vocabulary. Indeed, pictorial materials also includes eleven paintings signed by the Timurid
produced over the course of the Timurid, Safavid, Ottoman, court painter Sultan cAli al-Sultani. Some of these paintings
Mughal, and Qajar periods attest to the longevity of this illustrate narrative details found in al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-
much-beloved theme in Islamic bio-apocalyptical traditions. Faradis rather than in Shahrukh’s Micrajnama. Thus, this
Later materials also provide some clues to the manuscript’s particular manuscript neither constitutes a mere “duplicate”
course as it left Herat and arrived in Istanbul by the turn copy of Shahrukh’s illustrated “Book of Ascension” nor
of the sixteenth century.1 it is Mir Haydar Tilbe’s Micrajnama. Rather, because the
work illustrates sections seven and eight of chapter one
During the Timurid period, the illustrated autonomous in the Nahj al-Faradis, it must be identified as the Nahj
Micrajnama genre, as observed in the fragmentary Ilkhanid al-Faradis proper.
“Book of Ascension” and Shahrukh’s Chaghatay copy
transcribed in Uighur script, did not come to a halt. Rather, A two-part question prompted by this illustrated Nahj
Shahrukh’s copy of the Micrajnama served as a template al-Faradis thus emerges: is there such a phenomenon
for another fully illustrated manuscript in the same genre, as an “illustrated Hadith” and, if so, how do such works
which has remained unstudied until the present day.2 It is help define religious imagery in Islamic traditions? Because
now held in a private collection and thus largely inaccessible. both manuscripts served as pictured handbooks for the
Based on newly available evidence and photographs, it is promotion of Sunni orthodoxy and orthopraxy, they
possible, however, to offer an analysis of the manuscript. prove that there existed Sunni religious paintings that
1 The manuscript was acquired in 1672 in an Istanbul bookstore by Antoine Galland, a young French man licensed in “Oriental” languages who became
secretary to the Marquis Charles-François Olier de Nointel, the new French ambassador appointed to the Sublime Gate in 1670 by Louis XIV. For a
discussion of his acquisition of the Micrajnama—which he believed to be an illustrated copy of al-Qazwini’s cAja’ib al-Makhluqat (The Marvels of Creation)
written in Kufic, rather than Uighur, script—see his entry for “Thursday, January 14, 1672,” in Galland, Voyage à Constantinople (1672–1673), 29.
2 This manuscript was last recorded in 1963 by Fahir Öz in the library of Nizam of Bahawalpur, Pakistan (Esin, “The Bakhshi in the 14th to 16th Centuries,” 288).
329
predate the Shici Safavid and Qajar periods.3 Such traditions a brief synopsis of a painting’s content, thus serving as
extend well beyond devotional and biographical texts (Ottoman Turkish) textual clarifications of pictures that
to include the Timurid Micrajnama genre as an illustrated illustrate episodes described in Chaghatay or Persian
Hadith and therefore a religious work with images. texts.
Additionally, the journey of the Timurid Micrajnama These glosses to illustrated manuscripts facilitated
from Herat to Istanbul forces consideration of its possible the works’ absorption into Ottoman artistic traditions,
influence on Ottoman paintings of the ascension produced and bear witness to the sixteenth-century Ottoman
by artists in the imperial atelier, who may have turned practice of producing translations, commentaries, and
to the manuscript when seeking visual inspiration for supplements to Arabic, Persian, and Chaghatay texts
their own projects. This possible practice of pictorial considered central to learning the basics of a universal
reference is of particular importance for the extended Islamic culture.5 The period of ca. 1550–1600, in particular,
ascension cycle included in the multi-volume illustrated witnessed a marked increase in Ottoman translations
copy of al-Zarir’s Siyer-i Nebi (Life of the Prophet) of biographies of the Prophet Muhammad, a kind of
commissioned by Sultan Murad III (d. 1004/1595) and enterprise that Gottfried Hagen has interpreted as a
completed in 1595–96.4 In this specific case, did artists novel form of Ottoman Islamic religiosity.6 Within the
turn to the Timurid “Book of Ascension” for visual Ottoman venture of collecting and translating texts,
inspiration, and, if so, how were its images interpreted especially biographies of the Prophet, the Timurid
and carried over? What were the translational procedures Micrajnama certainly would have served as an appropriate
employed to understand the manuscript’s Chaghatay text pictorial and textual source of information on the Prophet
and its accompanying illustrations? In other words, how and the tale of his ascension. At a contextual level, then,
were Timurid (and Safavid) illustrated manuscripts that the glosses in the manuscript also reveal the Ottoman
contain depictions of the micraj adapted into their new fascination with, and embracing of, biographical and
Ottoman milieu? devotional literature written in a variety of Islamic
languages.
There are several possible answers to these questions.
One peculiar Ottoman practice, revealed through a close
codicological analysis of manuscripts in the Topkapı ABU SACID GURGAN’S ILLUSTRATED NAHJ AL-FARADIS
Palace collections, consisted in the addition of descriptive
inscriptions in Ottoman Turkish to the original folios and The illustrated Micrajnama of ca. 1436–37 commissioned
the insertion of pages into the Timurid Micrajnama and by Shahrukh did not go unnoticed. A few decades after
Safavid illustrated manuscripts. Some of these Ottoman its production—probably sometime after 1458, when
annotations describe a particular painting’s content and Shahrukh’s successor Abu Sacid Gurgan took back Herat
hence are essentially ekphrastic in character. Others offer from the Black Sheep (Qara Qoyunlu) Turkman ruler
3 See Rogers, “The Genesis of Safawid Religious Painting,” 177–178. Quoting Malik Bakhshi’s introduction to the Tazkirat al-Awliya’ (Memorial of Saints)
appended to the Timurid Micrajnama, Rogers argues that there existed devotional-didactic works with paintings intended to inspire reverence and to
teach religion and the Qur’an during the Timurid period. For Rogers, the “religious” quality of the manuscript’s paintings is not linked to the contemporary
viewer’s response in conjunction with reading its text. According to Rogers, the paintings fulfill an essentially “religious” function once the later Ottoman
inscriptions were added, since the paintings can be used to teach or moralize without reading the accompanying Chaghatay text (Rogers, “The Genesis
of Safawid Religious Painting,” 179).
4 Very little is known about the life of Mustafa al-Zarir. He was born blind (Arabic, darir) in Erzurum, where he studied, and later traveled to Egypt. He is
best known for his biography of the Prophet, which he freely translated into Anatolian Turkish, basing his work on al-Bakri’s thirteenth-century version
of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat al-Nabi (Life of the Prophet). Al-Zarir’s text was executed for the Mamluk Sultan Barquq (r. 1382–89 and 1390–99). For a Turkish
transcription of al-Zarir’s Siyer-i Nebi, see Gürtunca, Kitab-ı Siyer-i Nebi; and on al-Zarir and his work, see Tanındı, Siyer-i Nebî, 26–27; Grube, “The Siyar-
i-Nabi of the Spencer Collection in the New York Public Library,” 152; and Garrett Fisher, “A Reconstruction of the Pictorial Cycle of the Siyar-i Nabi of
Murad III,” 76.
5 Hagen, “Translations and Translators in a Multilingual Society.”
6 Hagen, “The Emergence of a Pietas Ottomanica,” lecture delivered at the 2nd Great Lakes Ottoman Workshop, DePaul University, Ill., September 23–24, 2005.
Hagen’s study analyzes Ottoman biographies of the Prophet in Ottoman Turkish, the collecting of Muhammad’s relics, and the growth of mevlid ceremonies
to show the ways in which a particular kind of Muhammad-centered piety emerged in Ottoman lands during the sixteenth century. At this time, Ottoman
biographies of the Prophet were composed or translated by authors such as Celalzade Mustafa (Tercüme-i Macaric-i Nübüvvet), Lami’i Çelebi (Shavahid-i
Nübüvvet), Yazıcıoglu (Muhammediye), and Süleiman Çelebi (Mevlid-i Serif or Vesiletü’n-Necat). These sira works are not concerned with dogma and exegesis;
rather, they seek in Muhammad a prophetic model worthy of devotion and imitation. According to Earle Waugh, Sufis in particular “internalized” the prophetic
exemplum, and saw in Muhammad a spiritual guide as well as a “trailblazer into the secrets of God” (Waugh, “Following the Beloved,” 64).
330
THE MICRAJNAMA’S AFTERLIFE: PICTORIAL STIMULUS AND VERBAL EKPHRASIS
Jahanshah (d. 1467)7—the work inspired a very similar (as in the case of the Micrajnama) or is a Hadith work
illustrated manuscript, also written in Uighur script and proper (as in the case of the Nahj al-Faradis). However,
containing more than sixty illustrations of the Prophet’s an analysis of the manuscript’s text and images reveals
ascension. Although Abu Sacid maintained a firm base that it is clearly an illustrated Nahj al-Faradis. This later
in Samarqand, he established his rule in Herat from 1458 inscription, thus, restates very accurately what this
until his death in 1469, and therefore this “duplicate” manuscript essentially is: i.e., an illustrated Hadith text
manuscript was most probably executed in Herat sometime on the Prophet’s ascension.
during the decade after 1458 and before 1469. The work
is clearly based on Shahrukh’s Micrajnama, which must The manuscript contains sixty-one paintings that are
have remained in the Timurid royal library in Herat. quite closely related to the Timurid Micrajnama, although
they appear to have been produced by at least three
This “duplicate” manuscript bears on its first folio a hands of varying artistic ability. One cycle of paintings,
beautifully illuminated shamsa with a dedication in white representing Muhammad’s ascent through the heavens,
ink, on a gold background decorated with vine scrolls is unsigned and bears very close resemblance to Shahrukh’s
(Fig. 5.1). The dedication states that the book was Micrajnama; the second series of paintings (which includes
commissioned for/by the treasury (bi-rasm-i khizana) depictions of heaven) bears signatures by Sultan cAli al-
of Sultan Abu Sacid Gurgan. Moreover, it includes Abu Sultani and is of very high quality; and the third series
Sacid’s many titles, including “king of kings” (sultan al- of paintings, depicting hell, remains unsigned and is
salatin) and “conqueror of sea and earth” (qahraman rather average in execution and overly dramatic in coloring.
al-ma’ wa’l-tin), and wishes the ruler a long and prosperous
reign. The shamsa thus provides evidence for Abu Sacid’s The manuscript includes seven paintings that have no
patronage—unlike the Timurid Micrajnama, which must equivalents in the Timurid Micrajnama (folios 10r–v,
have lost its dedicatory shamsa at some point in time8— 11r–v, 22r–v, and 23r). 11 They depict Muhammad’s
a much welcome piece of evidence, since the text itself encounters with angels and prophets and his visit to
does not bear a colophon containing a scribe’s signature several pavilions in heaven. The series of pavilions is
or date. especially important: for example, the manuscript includes
a depiction of Abraham’s saray in heaven, which is
At the top of the folio, a later inscription in black ink intended as the eternal dwelling place of all children
has been added: it describes the work as a “book of who died at a young age (Fig. 5.2). This painting shows
images of the Prophet, peace be upon him, on the night Abraham with a blazing halo above his turban standing
of the ascension (as described) in the Hadith.”9 This in a lavish pavilion filled with young children playing
inscription is noteworthy for two reasons. First, it describes with water or, outside the pavilion, climbing a tree. The
the illustrated manuscript as a “book of images” (kitab Prophet approaches Abraham on al-Buraq as Gabriel
al-ashkal), a term that is typically not recorded in art points both hands toward Muhammad in an explanatory
historical literature and therefore can be added to the gesture. Abraham’s saray recalls in part the kiosk of
technical lexicon of Islamic art history and codicology.10 Rumaysa’ in the Timurid Micrajnama (Fig. 2.1), although
Second, it specifies that the manuscript illustrates the it is much more detailed and lavishly ornamented. Similarly,
night of the Prophet’s ascension (as described) in the Muhammad’s halo bursts into a large and swirling pattern
Hadith. Based on the inscription alone, it is unclear of gold, while his facial features seem to have been
whether this means that the work is related to the Hadith overpainted at a later date.12
7 For further information about Abu Sacid Gurgan, his rule, and his military campaigns, see Aubin, “Abu Sacid b. Muhammad b. Miranshah b. Timur,” E.I.2,
vol. 1, 147–148; Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 240–242, 367; and Soucek, A History of Inner Asia, 136-137.
8 Many of Shahrukh’s manuscripts, such as the Majmac al-Tawarikh of Hafiz-i Abru, bear initial shamsas. His Micrajnama must have as well, but the shamsa
probably was removed at a later date.
9 al-Sara’i, Nahj al-Faradis, folio 1r: “Kitab ashkal al-nabi calayhi al-salam fi laylat al-micraj fi’l-hadith.”
10 Illustrated books tend to be described by Persian writers as “formed” or “painted” (Arabic, musawwar or Persian, musavvar) and not as “books of/with
images” (see Roxburgh, Prefacing the Image, 244).
11 Conversely, four paintings in the Timurid Micrajnama (folios 38v, 59r–v, and 65r) are not found in Abu Sacid’s Nahj al-Faradis.
12 Many of the paintings in this manuscript appear to have been overpainted later, possibly in India. The painting of the Prophet’s arrival in the seventh
heaven shows him, Gabriel, and al-Buraq engulfed in light, and a lion (which looks like a tiger) was painted in at a later date by an artist who apparently
sought to “Shicify” the image (al-Sara’i, Nahj al-Faradis, folio 14v).
331
In the lower right corner, the painter included a slightly falls in the Hadith genre. After all, as discussed in Chapter
inclined cartolino-like panel, which blends in with the Two, the Nahj al-Faradis is essentially a narrativized
stream that flows across the lower horizontal edge of the “Forty Hadith” text. By collating evidence from the
painting. This panel includes the artist’s signature, which identifying inscription, narrative details, and paintings
reads: “made by the servant (camala al-cabd) Sultan cAli contained in Abu Sacid’s illustrated copy of the Nahj al-
al-Sultani.” As evidenced by his epithet, Sultan cAli was Faradis, therefore, it becomes clear that this particular
a Timurid royal (sultani) painter. He may be synonymous work is unusual in at least two ways. First, it is the only
with a certain Khwaja cAli, who had come to Herat from surviving manuscript commissioned without a doubt by
Tabriz by the order of Baysunghur (d. 1433), Shahrukh’s Abu Sacid, whose patronage for the arts has been deemed
son who was a great bibliophile and supporter of the almost nonexistent.17 And second, it is the only surviving
arts.13 He also might be identified as a Timurid painter Hadith manual illustrated with pictures (or only one of
by the name of Sultan cAli Shushtari, about whom other two if we consider Shahrukh’s Micrajnama a slight variant
information is lacking,14 or yet another artist by the name of this genre).
of Sultan cAli Qa’ini, who was active in Herat during the
1450s and also benefited from the sponsorship of the Until now, only one manuscript could be ascribed to
last Timurid ruler, Sultan Husayn Bayqara (r. 1468–1506).15 the period of Abu Sacid’s reign in Herat: an illustrated
At this time, it is impossible to clearly identify Sultan cAli copy of cAttar’s Mantiq al-Tayr (Conference of the Birds)
al-Sultani, although he obviously was a royal painter who transcribed by cAtiq al-Katib al-Tuni in Shacban 860/August
executed and signed eleven paintings in Abu Sacid’s Nahj 1456.18 The manuscript contains thirteen paintings most
al-Faradis. likely contemporary to the text’s transcription. The first
painting (folio 13v) in the manuscript illustrates the
Above the original Uighur-script text and outside the Prophet’s ascension (Fig. 5.3). It accompanies cAttar’s
main text box, an Ottoman Turkish inscription notes that introductory section, entitled “In Praise of the Prophet”
the Prophet visits Abraham’s pavilion (qasr) after first (dar nact-i hazrat-i rasul), in which Muhammad is lauded
visiting David at his own pavilion. This inscription not for his special traits and characteristics, especially his
only confirms the episode described in the text and purity and his pre-existential light. A devotional and
illustrated in the painting, but also shows that—alongside poetic encomium, it is quite different in tone from the
all other Ottoman Turkish inscriptions in crisp naskh (or biographical tale contained in the Nahj al-Faradis. Although
nesih) script on every folio of this manuscript—this work, the painting in cAttar’s Mantiq al-Tayr seems to have
like Shahrukh’s Micrajnama, must have arrived in Istanbul, drawn somewhat on the isra’ composition in Shahrukh’s
where it underwent close analysis and interpretation. Micrajnama (folio 5r),19 it is de-narrativized and thus
functions more as a laudatory, and rather static, pictured
Abraham and David’s pavilions are described in al- preface to a larger poetic work.
Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis and not at all in Shahrukh’s
Micrajnama,16 thus confirming the later annotation on Abu Sacid thus seems to have ordered the production
the manuscript’s first folio that this illustrated text indeed of at least two illustrated manuscripts: cAttar’s Mantiq al-
13 Dust Muhammad briefly mentions a certain painter or portraitist (musavvir) named Khwaja cAli, who may be synonymous with Sultan cAli (Thackston,
Album Prefaces and Other Documents on the History of Calligraphers and Painters, 13). The paintings signed by Sultan cAli are the most similar to those
contained in Shahrukh’s Micrajnama, so it is not impossible that he had a hand in both commissions.
14 Karimzadeh Tabrizi, The Lives and Art of Old Painters of Iran, vol. 1, 218, no. 427.
15 Huart, Les calligraphes et les miniaturistes de l’Orient musulman, 214–215. Apparently, Sultan cAli was so famous that he could charge the price of
transcribing a whole volume for just a single verse of poetry. This information is recorded by Mir Ali Shir Nava’i in his Majalis al-Nafa’is, but it is possible
that he confused Sultan cAli al-Qa’ini with his more famous counterpart, Sultan cAli Harawi. If so, perhaps Sultan cAli al-Qa’ini was a Timurid painter
rather than a calligrapher.
16 Eckman, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 48.
17 Lukens-Swietochowki, “The School of Herat from 1450–1506,” 179. There is a real dearth of Herati materials from the period following Shahrukh’s death
in 1447 and preceding the reign of Sultan Husayn Bayqara (r. 1468–1506).
18 SBB Oct. 268. This manuscript is mentioned in Lukens-Swietochowki, “The School of Herat from 1450–1506,” 179, 211, fn 2.
19 The Prophet is represented in this manuscript in a manner similar to the image in the Micrajnama (folio 5r): he wears a green cloak and a white turban
as he sits on al-Buraq with both hands raised, surrounded by angels presenting a variety of offerings. It seems that originally Muhammad’s facial features
were represented, just as they are in the Micrajnama and Nahj al-Faradis, but were covered over at a later date by a rather sloppy rectangular gold panel.
His facial features are slightly visible to the left of the gold panel, and his long braids are depicted as well.
332
Tayr of 1456 and al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis of ca. 1465. (Fig. 5.4). The painter Sultan cAli al-Sultani, who inserted
Both works contain paintings connected to the Prophet’s his signature into a small rectangular extension of the
ascent, interpreted either in a poetic-devotional fashion lower horizontal picture frame, seems to have delighted
or in a bio-religious manner. Abu Sacid’s pictured Nahj in creating a conical polycephalous protrusion, encircled
al-Faradis provides a visual continuum of the image by a gold aureole and reaching almost the top of the
cycle in Shahrukh’s Micrajnama. The manner of painting page. Up to the eighth tier, the angel’s many heads look
the ascension in his illustrated copy of the Mantiq al- to the right and left, and from the eighth to the tenth
Tayr, on the other hand, forecasts the later Timurid and tiers, its heads stare frontally at the viewer. This tapering
Safavid efflorescence of single-folio ascension images cephalic tiara especially resembles the technique of
included at the beginning of Persian epic and romantic representing Guanyin with multiple heads peering in
tales (as well as the disappearance of illustrated “Books various directions, as represented in many Sino-Central
of Ascension” until their reappearance in the Qajar period). Asian and Chinese murals, banners, and manuscript
Abu Sacid’s reign thus appears as an intriguing interim paintings (see Figs. 4.5—4.7).
moment in the history of Persian painting because the
illustration of the micraj at this time straddles two different Sultan cAli al-Sultani drew upon and expanded these
literary and artistic genres before leaving behind the motifs for the depiction of his Islamic angel, while another
pattern of the illustrated Micrajnama genre and fully painter who contributed to the manuscript seems to have
transforming into a single-page allegorical and visual drawn on Chinese decorative arts for the patterning of
eulogy to the Prophet Muhammad and his micraj. the gates of hell (Figure 5.5). He changed the almost
invisible gates of hell in the Timurid Micrajnama (folio
Returning to Abu Sacid’s illustrated Nahj al-Faradis, 53r), which were painted in dark gray and thus blend
it is interesting to note that a few essentially Chinese with the picture’s black background, into brilliant red
motifs are further amplified by Sultan cAli al-Sultani and doors patterned with gold geometric and vegetal motifs.
the other artists who participated in the manuscript’s
pictorial cycle. These Sinicized designs and patterns reveal There is little doubt that this motif was informed by
that the influence of Chinese forms and materials continued Ming gold-painted and/or gold-engraved red lacquer
in Timurid lands during the post-Shahrukh period. This ware. During the first half of the fifteenth century, many
is not all too surprising, since Ming-Timurid missions Chinese closet doors, dishes, and plates were made of
continued during Abu Sacid’s reign, though tending to carved red lacquer, and sutra boxes (like those made for
head toward Samarqand rather than Herat.20 Furthermore, copies of the Scripture of the Ten Kings) and manuscript
the ruler himself was a great fan of Chinese products covers in particular tended to be embellished with gold
such as blue-and-white ceramic wares (unearthed in large decorative patterns, including vegetal scrolls, vase motifs,
quantities in the Registan, the main square of Timurid dragons, and cloud bands.22 Both Timurid and Ming
and pre-modern Samarqand).21 sources record that Chinese delegations brought dishes
as diplomatic gifts to Persian rulers. Although most appear
A triad of polycephalous angels in Abu Sacid’s Nahj to have been blue-and-white ceramic wares or metal
al-Faradis (folios 8r, 10r, and 16r) echo those included wares, some must have been made of red lacquer.
in the Timurid “Book of Ascension” (folios 15r upper,
19v, and 32r). One of them has benefited from a Much as blue-and-white ceramics were copied by
multiplication of heads and the addition of a blazing halo Muslim artists, it appears that lacquer wares also were
20 From the 1430s onward, Chinese missions headed via Hami and Turfan toward a terminus of Samarqand (rather than Herat), where they were welcomed
with great pomp by Ulugh Beg (r. 1409–49) and, later, Abu Sacid (r. 1451–69). These missions brought along many gifts, such as paper money, raw silk,
embroidered silks, silk clothing, taffeta, linen, jade, silver wares, ceramic wares, and so forth. A number of Muslims emigrated from Samarqand to China
at this time, and a community of Chinese émigrés settled in Samarqand. Abu Sacid sent several missions to Beijing in the 1450s and 1460s: along the way,
his delegates visited Buddhist temples in Central Asia and China (Kauz, Politik und Handel zwischen Ming und Timuriden, 176–224).
21 Çagman and Tanındı, The Topkapı Sarayı Museum, 115. These blue-and-white wares were either imported from Ming China or were copies by Timurid
ceramicists who based their works on Chinese prototypes. For a further discussion of this topic, see Lisa Golombek et al., Tamerlane’s Tableware: A New
Approach to the Chinoiserie Ceramics of Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Iran (Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1996).
22 Watt and Leidy, Defining Yongle, 47–57. For an engraved gold red lacquer sutra box and manuscript covers that resemble closely the doors of hell, see
55–57, pls. 21–22. This particular Chinese technique of gold design is called qiangjin (or chi’ang-chin): fine lines are chiseled into the lacquer’s surface
and gold foil or powder is pressed into the grooves.
333
deemed fit for emulation. For example, at least one carved Why did Abu Sacid commission an illustrated Nahj al-
sandalwood box made for Ulugh Beg in Samarqand ca. Faradis and how can this manuscript shed light on the
1420–49 emulates Chinese red lacquer boxes in terms of nature and character of the Timurid Micrajnama? In all
its shape, its vegetal designs, the coiled dragon on its likelihood, Abu Sacid came into possession of Shahrukh’s
lid, and its gold clasps and handles.23 masterpiece when he entered Herat in 1458, having
concluded a peace treatise with his cousin, the Qara
Why would the Timurid artist have decided to decorate Qoyunlu Turkman Jahanshah, who had captured the city
the doors of hell in the Nahj al-Faradis with designs earlier that year.25 This diplomatic accord appears to have
clearly intended to recall Chinese gold-painted lacquer ensured the survival of Shahrukh’s treasury, which must
ware? Perhaps, as in the case of Ulugh Beg’s box, the have passed into Abu Sacid’s hands. The latter then split
process of absorbing Chinese designs (khata’i) and his time among Herat, Samarqand, Balkh, and Merv, took
imitating their media was the best kind of flattery: suggestive to the road to wage war especially in Transoxiana and
of luxury, exotic lands, political wealth, and the availability Turkestan, and ultimately died in 1469 at the hands of
of goods. However, the application of clearly Chinese the Aq Qoyunlu Turkman Uzun Hasan (r. 1453–78) during
patterns to the gates of hell may have carried an internal his unsuccessful attack in Azerbaijan.
message about the superiority of Islam—as well as the
salvation that comes with abiding by its precepts—within When in Herat, Abu Sacid must have found Shahrukh’s
the larger framework of fifteenth-century Ming and Timurid Micrajnama and ordered his artists to create a copy for
struggles for political and religious supremacy in Asia. his own personal use, a version that would hew more
Within this particular context, it is possible that the closely to the work’s foundational text—that is, al-Sara’i’s
“decorative” term khata’i acquired a much greater Hadith handbook. What particular event could have
significance as an allegorical—and potentially subversive— prompted this commission? One possibility seems particularly
method of patterning. salient: in 1466, a baby boy named Mirza Baysunghur
was born to Abu Sacid. To celebrate the event, the ruler
Abu Sacid’s illustrated Nahj al-Faradis contains only ordered a feast organized in honor of his son’s birth and
nine classes of sinners and thus only nine paintings of the circumcision of all other Timurid princes. The feast
the tortures of hell (folios 35v–40v), as opposed to the took place in Herat’s Bagh-i Zaghan, a garden filled with
fifteen paintings of torments for sixteen classes of sinners pavilions and tents decorated for the occasion with silks
as described and depicted in the Timurid Micrajnama from Anatolia and brocades from China.26 During the
(folios 53v–67v). This discrepancy in numbers serves festivities—which lasted close to two full months (May
to confirm once again that the illustrated manuscript 17 to July 19, 1466)—those in attendance enjoyed
dedicated to Abu Sacid must be identified as al-Sara’i’s banqueting, reveling, and listening to minstrels whose
Nahj al-Faradis, which describes nine (and not sixteen) enchanting melodies “drew back the veil of sorrows from
classes of sinners and their respective punishments.24 the heart of all.”27
The fact that seven extra classes of sinners—those who
do not pay alms, flatter, are fearless, shed blood, drink To prepare for this occasion, all artists and craftsmen
wine, and are haughty—were added to this base text in Herat busied themselves with preparing spectacular
in the Timurid Mi crajnama must be seen as further objects, which were processed by their respective guilds
evidence of Shahrukh’s interest in legislating proper during the festivities.28 As Khwandamir notes in his Habib
behavior in his overall efforts to solidify and to renew al-Siyar (The Friend of Biographies), that year (1466),
the Prophet’s Sunna. “the greatest craftsmen in the world were in the capital
23 Roxburgh, Turks, 235, 425, cat. no. 195; and Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 142, 339, cat. no. 49.
24 Eckman, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 49–50.
25 Khwandamir, Habibu’s-Siyar, tome 3, part 2, 391–392. Khwandamir notes that the only “blemish” in Abu Sacid’s otherwise perfect, though campaign-
ridden, record is his killing of Gawharshad, Shahrukh’s wife (Khwandamir, Habibu’s-Siyar, tome 3, part 2, 388).
26 Khwandamir, Habibu’s-Siyar, tome 3, part 2, 396.
28 Guild processions also occurred during circumcision ceremonies in Ottoman lands, and are recorded in detail in a number of illustrated Surnames
(Circumcision Books). See, inter alia, Esin Atil, “The Story of an Eighteenth-Century Festival.”
334
of Khurasan, and they all produced marvelous things with art and artists. They constituted the only large and
with their powerful minds and talents for intricacy.”29 He extended ceremonial event recorded during Abu Sacid’s
singles out a certain Khwaja cAli Arizagar of Isfahan, who rule, occasioned by the birth of a son and the circumcision
produced a stunning representation of thirty-two different of other young princes. Some of the events thus must
craftsman—such as a tailor, mattress maker, carpenter, have catered to the youth of the royal family. Abu Sacid
and metalsmith—occupied in their respective workshops. may have commissioned the illustrated Nahj al-Faradis
When Abu Sacid saw the image, he was overjoyed by for this very specific event, considering the manuscript
Khwaja cAli’s talent and offered him a lavish reward.30 an especially appropriate pedagogical tool for teaching
an event in the life of the Prophet, his Sunna, and the
If Sultan cAli al-Sultani is synonymous with Khwaja basic mores of the Muslim community.
cAli Arizagar of Isfahan, who had come to Herat sometime
in the 1420s, then by the 1460s he had become a painter This kind of entertaining, illustrated work certainly
of high esteem with a long career behind him, earning would have been more suitable, and surely more appealing,
him continued royal patronage and reward. He must to a group of youngsters at the moment of their covenant
have acquired the honorific epithet al-sultani and begun with God than pure Qur’anic recitation, which tended
to sign his paintings at this time. Because his eleven to be practiced by adults during religious holidays such
signed paintings in the Nahj al-Faradis are the closest as the Feast of Sacrifice (cid al-adha).31 The fact that the
in composition and palette to those included in Shahrukh’s Nahj al-Faradis does not contain a single caption in
Micrajnama, it is not impossible that he may have executed Arabic at the top of its folios, furthermore, suggests that
the paintings in the latter work (though leaving them its text solely in Turkish vernacular was directed to a
unsigned) and, as a result, gained a reputation which younger audience not yet conversant in the sacred language
later helped him secure Abu Sacid’s commission. of the Qur’an. In this particular case, Arabic—as a referential,
sacred, but non-native language—has completely given
Alternatively, perhaps Sultan cAli al-Sultani and the way to a native, regional, vehicular idiom.32
other artists whose hands are visible in the Nahj al-Faradis
were members (or even pupils) of the same group of Abu Sacid’s illustrated Nahj al-Faradis was based on
painters to which the unrecorded artist of Shahrukh’s the Timurid Micrajnama, and perhaps even inspired by
“Book of Ascension” belonged. If so, then this particular the illustrated Micrajnama of his precursor and namesake,
group of artists had obvious connections to bakhshi the last Ilkhanid ruler Abu Sacid Khudabanda (r. 1317–35).33
scribes in the Timurid divan. These artists practiced in Abu Sacid’s Nahj al-Faradis was thus an appropriate
a painterly style that was neither “classical” nor “historical.” continuum to at least two antecedent illustrated Sunni
Their singular style, which this study argues is essentially “Books of Ascension.” Whether prompted by the desire
“religious,” only appears in these two illustrated micraj- to enforce the Sunna, to teach a moment in the Prophet’s
Hadith manuscripts from ca. 1436 and 1465. These two biography, or to entertain his guests with morally elevating
works, and the span of approximately three decades, tales, the commission was essentially “religious” in nature.
suggest that these painters formed a possibly small but The work’s piousness derives not only from its elevated
separate “school” of Timurid painting, which for the most subject, but also from its literary genre (a Hadith handbook),
part has gone unnoticed. its iconographic vocabulary, and its possible application
(a religious feast of Islamic orthopraxy). Much like
The circumcision festivities in which Sultan cAli al- Shahrukh’s Micrajnama, it also must have internally
Sultani participated were grand, long-lasting, and filled fortified the Islamic faith during a period of intense cross-

32 On the different functions of language in a polyglossic society, see Gobard, L’aliénation linguistique, 34. Gobard differentiates between four levels of
language: 1) vernacular: local, spoken, used for communication, and maternal; 2) vehicular: national or regional, learned, and used in city-wide
communication; 3) referential: linked to cultural traditions, especially classical texts; and 4) mythical: magical, sacred, and largely incomprehensible. Within
this particular Timurid context, one could interpret Chaghatay Turkish as vernacular, Persian and Chaghatay Turkish as vehicular, Persian and/or Arabic
as referential, and Arabic as sacred.
33 This manuscript may have been housed in the royal library in Herat, alongside other illustrated Ilkhanid manuscripts, such as Rashid al-Din’s Jamic al-
Tawarikh (Blair, A Compendium of Chronicles, 27, 31).
335
cultural relations and therefore acted as a pre-emptive Uighur alphabet, so that his son (and future sultan)
educational tool and self-assertive declaration of religious Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512) could learn the basic principles
identity for a varied audience. of a language considered central to Turkish culture
and literature. 38 Learned men within Mehmed II’s
immediate entourage, moreover, deeply admired and
TO ISTANBUL: THE MICRAJNAMA’S ARRIVAL, ANNOTATION, AND imitated Timurid literature; for example, his grand
INTERPRETATION vizier Ahmed Pasa used to wait impatiently for the
arrival of Mir cAli Shir Nava’i’s newest ghazals, which
were carried by caravan from Herat to Bursa. At one
A. THE MANUSCRIPT’S PATH TO ISTANBUL point, Nava’i sent thirty-three ghazals to Bayezid II,
and Ahmed Pasa wrote poetic responses (nazires) to
Shahrukh’s Micrajnama—along with cAttar’s Chaghatay- them at the order of the sultan.39
language, Uighur-script Tazkirat al-Awliya’ (Memorial
of Saints) and Abu Sacid’s Nahj al-Faradis (which also Mehmed II issued several formal decrees (yarlıqs)
contains Ottoman inscriptions)—could have arrived in executed in Uighur script. On August 30, 1473, he
Istanbul by 1500 through a number of means: Timurid- commissioned a certain Shaykhzada cAbd al-Razzaq
Ottoman literary exchange, diplomatic contact, or as Bakhshi to compose a Fathnama (Decree of Victory) in
booty of warfare. Although it is at present impossible to Uighur while based in the city of Karahisar. The letter
ascertain exactly how the Timurid “Book of Ascension” was sent to the Aq Qoyunlu Turkman ruler Uzun Hasan
arrived in the Ottoman imperial capital, a duplicate volume (r. 1453–78) upon his defeat at the Battle of Terjan in
of the combined Chaghatay Micrajnama-Tazkirat al- August 1473.40 It does not seem entirely unlikely that
Awliya’—transcribed in Arabic (not Uighur) script in Cairo manuscripts in the hands of Uzun Hasan—which could
in 917/1511 34 —supports the hypothesis that both have included Shahrukh’s Micrajnama and Abu Sacid’s
manuscripts had arrived and were already combined into Nahj al-Faradis after the latter’s execution in 1469—in
one volume in Istanbul by 1511. turn were seized by Sultan Mehmed II during or after
the Battle of Terjan. From this time forward, the number
Shahrukh’s Mi c rajnama could have arrived in of scribes—some of whom, like Malik and cAbd al-Razzaq,
Istanbul via Turkman hands during the second reign were bakhshis proficient in Uighur script—increased at
of Mehmed II (1451–81). Sultan Mehmed II is known the Ottoman court. Alternatively, the Micrajnama may
to have written almost exclusively in Turkish. Alongside have arrived with Ugurlu Mehmed, Uzun Hasan’s son
Persian, the leading language of culture and literature who incurred his father’s wrath and sought refuge at the
at the Ottoman court, eastern Turkish literature was Ottoman court in 1474. Although it is not known which
much admired and emulated.35 For example, Mir cAli manuscripts he brought along, Ottoman chronicles of
Shir Nava’i (1441–1501) and his Chaghatay-language the time record the Turkman prince as having inspired
poems were well liked, collected, and copied.36 Mehmed the Ottoman royal arts.41
II himself wrote a collection of poems (divan) in
Turkish under the pseudonym Avni (“the helpful Thus a likely route for the movement of the Micrajnama
one”).37 He also commissioned a short treatise on the was from Timurid, to Turkman, and finally to Ottoman
34 SK Fatih 2848; discussed in Chapter One.

35 For an overview of the Ottomans’ interest in Chaghatay literature, see especially Birnbaum, “The Ottomans and Chaghatay Literature,” 157–170; and
Sertkaya, Osmanlı sâirlerinin Çagatayca siirleri.
36 Babinger, Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time, 473.
37 Babinger, Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time, 473.
38 TSK A. 2312. See Sertkaya, Islâmî Devrenin Uygur Harfli Eserlerine Toplu Bir Bakıs, 6. For a further discussion of the teaching and learning of Uighur at
the Ottoman court, see Arat, Uygur Alfabesi, 665–690.
39 Köprülü, “cOthmanlı. III. Literature, a. Until 1600 A.D.,” E.I.2, vol. 8, 211. Competitive responses or creative imitations (nazires) were fashionable literary
traditions for sixteenth-century Ottoman poets who wished to engage with Chaghatay materials (Birnbaum, “The Ottomans and Chaghatay Literature,” 169).
40 Arat, “Un yarlik de Mehmed II, Le Conquérant”; and idem, “Fatih Sultan Mehmed’in Yarlıgı.”
41 Tanındı, “Additions to Illustrated Manuscripts in Ottoman Workshops,” 148. The Timurid prince Badic al-Zaman also fled from Herat to Tabriz during the
Uzbek invasions, and then left Tabriz for Istanbul during the Battle of Çaldiran (1514). He is known to have brought along works by Mir cAli Shir Nava’i,
although he left the rest of his treasury in Herat.
336
hands via Herat (1436–68), Tabriz (1469–73),42 possibly used as prototypes at the Ottoman court.45 One of the
Karahisar/Afyon (1473–74), and Istanbul (1474–1672). works that Nava’i sent to c Abd al-Razzaq included
Chaghatay-language ghazals composed by Lutfi transcribed
in Uighur script.46 cAbd al-Razzaq subsequently copied
B. ABD AL-RAZZAQ BAKHSHI
C the ghazals on a piece of paper bearing a watermark in
the shape of open scissors. Thus, an Uighur poem executed
What happened to the Timurid Micrajnama in Istanbul, by cAbd al-Razzaq in Istanbul on paper imported from
and what was its impact on Ottoman writers, scribes, Europe certainly stands as a symbol of the Ottoman capital
and artists active at Mehmed II’s court? One particular as a cultural and commercial crossroads.47
bakhshi active in the Ottoman palace seems most likely
responsible for the addition of some of the oldest Ottoman Other manuscripts in Uighur script sent to cAbd al-
inscriptions in the manuscript. This is Shaykhzada cAbd Razzaq include a Kutadgu Bilig (a manual on statecraft)
al-Razzaq Bakhshi, who, as mentioned previously, copied in Herat in 843/1439.48 It was brought—along
composed decrees in Uighur script for Sultan Mehmed with a letter addressed to the scribe also written in Uighur
II as early as 1473. Not much is known about his life, script—to Istanbul in 1474 by a certain cAli b. Yusuf Bali
except that he was active as a court scribe and wrote or b. Fanari, who was then studying in Samarqand, Bukhara,
copied several works in Uighur during the last decades and Herat.49 Uighur verses written by cAbd al-Razzaq on
of the fifteenth century—that is, during the reigns of page 190 of the Kutadgu Bilig manuscript prove decisively
Mehmed II and Bayezid II. He also may have come from that the manuscript went through his hands.50 In sum,
Samarqand to the Ottoman court sometime ca. 1475.43 he was in the habit of acquiring Uighur materials through
intermediaries, writing directly on them, and copying
In addition to transcribing the declaration of the them on (European watermarked) paper available to him
Ottoman victory against Uzun Hasan (August 30, 1473), in the Ottoman palace library.
he also copied the following works: a Makhzan al-Asrar
(Treasury of Secrets) of Mir Haydar Tilbe; an cAtabat al-
Haqa’iq (Threshhold of Verities) by the author Zayn al- C. OTTOMAN INSCRIPTIONS ON THE MANUSCRIPT’S ORIGINAL
cAbidin; and several Chaghatay poems composed by Lutfi FOLIOS
and Sekkaki, which he transcribed in Uighur script and
completed on January 30, 1480, in Istanbul.44 These facts pertain to Shahrukh’s Micrajnama in many
vital ways, as the work too bears a number of Ottoman
cAbdal-Razzaq was not only in charge of composing inscriptions on its original folios and on twenty-five pages
or transcribing works in Uighur. One of his duties as inserted between the manuscript’s original folios. The
court scribe responsible for Uighur materials included Ottoman inscriptions on the original folios and on the
the acquisition of materials in Uighur script from cities inserted pages were noticed by Emel Esin as early as
as far away as Herat, and he requested that Mir cAli Shir 1966, followed by Michael Rogers in 1968.51 In her study,
Nava’i send sample Uighur compositions that could be Esin provides a helpful, albeit brief, discussion of the
42 If the Paris Micrajnama was held in Tabriz ca. 1468–73, it is possible that it also played a role in the formation of Turkman book arts, especially the
autonomous tale on the exploits of cAli (The Khavarannama, or Epic of Eastern Lands) composed by Ibn Husam (ca. 1380–1470) and illustrated in Tabriz
around 1480–1500. Like the Micrajnama, the Turkman Khavarannama provides a very rare complete hagiographical story with pictures. It even begins
with an introductory prayer to the Prophet and an illustration of his micraj (see Husam al-Din, Khavaran Nameh, pl. 25).
43 Roxburgh, Turks, 438, cat. no. 243.
44 Sertkaya, Islâmî Devrenin Uygur Harfli Eserlerine Toplu Bir Bakıs, 13–20; and idem, “Some New Documents Written in Uigur Script in Anatolia,” 182.
These texts were compiled into an Arabic-Uighur miscellany, now held in the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul (Ayasofya 4757). See Roxburgh, Turks,
287, 438, cat. no. 243.
45 Similarly, the Aq Qoyunlu Turkman ruler Ya’qub Beg (r. 1478–90) also exchanged manuscripts with Mir cAli Shir Nava’i during the heyday of the Herat
atelier (Gray, “The Pictorial Arts in the Timurid Period,” 864).
46 Sertkaya, “Some New Documents Written in Uigur Script in Anatolia,” 189.
48 Sertkaya, “Some New Documents Written in Uigur Script in Anatolia,” 191; and Birnbaum, “The Ottomans and Chaghatay Literature,” 164. The work is
also cited in Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-Nâmeh, XIV.
51 Esin, “Isrâ Gecesi ‘Uygur Mi‘râc-nâmesi’nde cennet tasvîrleri,” 111–112; and Rogers, “The Genesis of Safawid Religious Painting,” 179.
337
Ottoman inscriptions and their possible date of execution. expand on themes described in the Chaghatay text. In
She dates a series of inscriptions to ca. 1500 and another some cases, they offer descriptions of the paintings or
to Sultan Murad III’s reign (1574–95). In turn, Rogers opinions on the appropriateness of tortures reserved for
supports the identification of Istanbul as the locus for sinners.54 These annotations prove that whoever added
the addition of the Ottoman inscriptions, and adds that the inscriptions to the manuscript’s folios and inserted
such inscriptions indeed must have served as helpful new folios attempted to identify the paintings by interpreting
commentaries to a text in Uighur, which otherwise could the main text in conjunction with the Arabic captions.
not be have been easily read. As a result, it is logical to assume that the person responsible
for the Ottoman inscriptions was proficient in at least
Esin suggests that the inscriptions were added probably three languages: Arabic, Chaghatay, and Ottoman Turkish.
at the same time as the manuscript’s renovation and Based on the extant signed and dated manuscripts
rebinding in Istanbul. She divides the inscriptions into transcribed in Istanbul mentioned previously, the most
two periods: the first group was executed in a tacliq script likely scribal candidate with knowledge of all three
around 1500, while the second dates to the late sixteenth languages and both Arabic and Uighur scripts is cAbd al-
century and consists of Ottoman inscriptions in large Razzaq.
cursive (naskh or nesih) script. She argues convincingly
that it was probably during Murad III’s rule that the If we accept c Abd al-Razzaq (or one of his
manuscript was rebound and parts of the earlier Ottoman contemporaries) as responsible for at least some of the
inscriptions were truncated at the spine.52 Esin’s suggestion Ottoman explanatory inscriptions, then it appears that
that the manuscript was rebound during Murad III’s reign the Micrajnama manuscript underwent a first phase of
bears implications for identifying the sources which artists intensive reading and analysis by the turn of the sixteenth
in the royal atelier might have used for the ruler’s famous century. This supposition is supported by the fact that
multi-volume Siyer-i Nebi (Life of the Prophet) executed cAbd al-Razzaq actively acquired materials executed in
in 1595–96, as well as for other Ottoman illustrated Uighur script, upon which he based his own works or
hagiographical or bio-historical works from approximately into which he added commentaries. The importance of
the same period. this phenomenon—i.e., the addition of Ottoman translations
and explanatory notes to the folios of the original
Key in this discussion are the Ottoman inscriptions manuscript—cannot be underestimated for the history
added to the manuscript when it arrived in Istanbul at of Islamic book arts.
the turn of the sixteenth century. Some inscriptions on
the original folios may have been written by cAbd al-
Razzaq and/or someone in his entourage. Aside from D. OTTOMAN INSCRIPTIONS ON THE MANUSCRIPT’S INSERTED
those on five folios,53 the Ottoman inscriptions on the PAGES
manuscript’s original folios are executed in a tacliq-shikasta
script. Some appear quite old, while others tend toward After its initial reception and the addition of Ottoman
the cursive, showing a development of script typical of commentary ca. 1500, the Timurid Micrajnama must have
the later sixteenth century. All twenty-five pages bearing remained in the Ottoman imperial library. During the last
Ottoman inscriptions inserted between the original text quarter of the sixteenth century—most likely during
folios contain a tacliq-naskh script executed by a single Murad III’s reign (1474–95)—however, it underwent
hand and appear to date from the last quarter of the renovation and rebinding, at which time at least five
sixteenth century. Ottoman inscriptions, executed in naskh script, were
added to the original folios.55 The binding truncates earlier
The inscriptions largely translate the Arabic captions Ottoman inscriptions in its (now tighter) spine. It also
at the top of the original folios, although at times they may have been at this time that an initial shamsa dedicated
52 Esin, “Isrâ Gecesi “Uygur Mi‘râc-nâmesi”nde cennet tasvîrleri,” 111–112. Unfortunately, Esin’s comments about the inclusion and periodization of the
Ottoman inscriptions were not seized upon by later scholars, possibly because the main theme of this early article in Turkish revolves around the
descriptions of hell in the manuscript (rather than the history of the manuscript proper).
53 BnF Sup Turc 190, folios 36v, 38v, 59r–v, and 61r.
54 See Appendix III for the Ottoman Turkish annotations.
55 BnF Sup Turc 190, folios 36v, 38v, 59r–v, and 61r.
338
to Shahrukh and a title page were removed. Although place,” for example, is used throughout. Other phrases
Murad III’s and his artists’ reasons for repairing the volume referring to locations—such as “that is an elevated place”
remain unknown, it seems possible that the project was (folio 43v) and “that is a noble location” (folio 46r)—are
undertaken in preparation for the ruler’s major commission, employed, as well. For the series of hell paintings, however,
the multi-volume Siyer-i Nebi (Life of the Prophet). This the inserts (folios 52v–66v) identify the paintings as
manuscript included an extensive section on the Prophet’s descriptions (sifat) of the torments to come on the Day
ascension provided with illustrations. Although the of Judgment. Two inserted pages (folios 58r and 62v)
Ottoman paintings vary in style from their precursors, are particularly interesting, because they also include the
this work nonetheless joined a trajectory set by the Timurid exclamation “God help us!” or “We seek refuge in God!,”
“Book of Ascension” and other manuscripts available in prayers for safety from the tortures depicted on the facing
the Topkapı Palace collections. In other words, the Siyer- folios. Finally, one inscription (folio 62r) describes the
i Nebi did not spring ex nihilo. punishment of women who commit adultery as hanging
from hooks by their breasts, with the final estimation: “It
The manuscript’s second, and final, phase of renovation is appropriate and deserved.” In these cases, the
and rebinding probably took place at this time. All of commentator added protective prayers and at least one
the inscriptions on the twenty-five inserted folios appear moral opinion, contributing a personal and ethical
in a similar tacliq-naskh script typical of the late sixteenth dimension to a codicological practice. The inscriptions
century, and the inserted pages bear watermarks that thus reveal a scribe’s close interaction with the manuscript’s
depict an anchor in a circle surmounted by a six-pointed images, as well as the paintings’ ability to evoke certain
star without a countermark. Papers bearing this kind of religious sensibilities from commentator(s) and viewer-
anchor watermark were produced in Venice between readers.
1550 and 1595.56 Ottomans considered Venetian paper
of very high quality, and imported it to Istanbul, where
it was used for the production of manuscripts and OTTOMAN EKPHRASTIC COMMENTARY AND ILLUSTRATED PERSIAN
documents.57 The anchor watermark, which firmly dates MANUSCRIPTS
the paper (and thus the insertion of the pages in the
Micrajnama) to ca. 1550–1600—along with the manuscript’s Over the course of the sixteenth century, many other
brown Morocco leather binding, decorated with a dry- illustrated manuscripts made in Persian lands arrived in
stamped central medallion typical of Ottoman bindings Istanbul. Although demand for Chaghatay-language texts
from the late sixteenth-century—proves that the inserted remained strong until approximately 1600, most illustrated
folios cannot have been added during cAbd al-Razzaq’s manuscripts imported to Istanbul were written in Persian,
time. The tacliq-naskh script and the watermarked papers not Turkish.58 Between fifty and sixty percent of the two
thus confirm a second phase of interaction with the hundred sixteenth-century Safavid illustrated manuscripts
manuscript, which most likely occurred during Murad now held in the Topkapı Palace Library were made in
III’s rule. the city of Shiraz,59 while others were produced in Herat
or Tabriz. Many of them arrived as diplomatic gifts for
The twenty-five pages bearing Ottoman inscriptions circumcision festivals and enthronement ceremonies;
were inserted either immediately before or after each through Turkman, Timurid, or Safavid refugee princes
painting in the Micrajnama. By and large, the inscriptions who defected to the Ottoman side; via immigrant artists
describe the depicted scenes and use a linguistic style who found lavish patronage in Ottoman lands; as conquered
similar to that of the inscriptions added to the original treasuries at the height of Ottoman-Safavid conflict (1514–35
folios. The terminal descriptive expression “that is the and 1578–90); or through purchase and importation.60
56 Mosin, Anchor Watermarks, 45, 50 (Type Il. IV.2.f), pl. 69 (cat. nos. 793–804).
57 Mosin, Anchor Watermarks, 51.
58 Uluç, “Ottoman Book Collectors and Illustrated Sixteenth Century Shiraz Manuscripts,” 104.
59 Uluç, “Ottoman Book Collectors and Illustrated Sixteenth Century Shiraz Manuscripts,” 86, 97. These manuscripts are mostly epic and romantic Persian
poems written by Jami, Nizami, and Sacdi.
60 Uluç, “Ottoman Book Collectors and Illustrated Sixteenth Century Shiraz Manuscripts”; Tanındı, “Additions to Illustrated Manuscripts in Ottoman Workshops”;
and Çagman and Tanındı, “Remarks on Some Manuscripts from the Topkapi Palace Treasury in the Context of Ottoman-Safavid Relations.” For example,
Shah Quli Khan, Shah Tahmasp’s ambassador to Selim II upon his accession in 1567, offered the Ottoman sultan Shah Tahmasp’s famous Shahnama-yi
Shahi (The Royal Book of Kings, a.k.a. the Houghton Shahnama). Two other Safavid ambassadors followed suit in 1576 (for the enthronement of Murad
III) and 1582 (for Sultan Murad III’s son Mehmed’s circumcision festivities).
339
If these manuscripts had been left unfinished, they include commentary in Ottoman Turkish on pages inserted
were provided with paintings in Istanbul. If the paintings either immediately before or after paintings, or located
needed repair or repainting, they were refurbished in an on the original folios.63 The glosses typically summarize
“Ottomanized” style.61 If folios were missing, replacement the events depicted in each painting, thereby providing
folios were added to “complete” a manuscript. If bindings a brief and helpful synopsis of a Persian text and its
were in poor condition or not suited to a patron’s taste, attending illustrations. On the other hand, the annotations
they were removed and new covers were made to replace that comment on paintings of the Prophet’s ascension
bindings that were either damaged or démodé. In other that were bound into these manuscripts’ initial encomia
words, artists in the royal Ottoman workshop (ehl-i hiref) with praises of God, His Messenger, and the micraj fulfilled
not only produced new manuscripts but also saw their an entirely different purpose. Rather than giving a précis
duties expanded to include conservation, refurbishment, of the depicted narrative, the Ottoman ekphrastic texts
and repair of older works.62 The Timurid Micrajnama verge on the exegetical. These commentaries reveal the
was one of the many manuscripts that underwent this uneasy Ottoman reception of the illustrated ascension
conservation-cum-commentary process during the sixteenth poetic eulogy (micrajiyya) included in imported Persian
century. manuscripts. They also present material evidence for the
manner in which Ottoman artists and calligraphers struggled
Collectively, the inserted pages with Ottoman comments to provide historical or narrative explanations for ascension
and summaries immediately preceding or following the images that may have seemed, at first glance and without
paintings which they describe, or for which they provide intimate knowledge of the Persian text, out of place
a written précis, demonstrate a particular Ottoman within collections of epic and romantic stories.
codicological practice that has yet to become the subject
of scholarly inquiry. Such insertions into illustrated Two examples of Safavid illustrated manuscripts with
manuscripts, moreover, provided an important mechanism Ottoman Turkish inserted commentaries will be discussed
for transmitting both textual and visual knowledge in the here. The first example consists of a manuscript copy of
Islamic world. This mechanism may be called ekphrastic, Nizami’s Khamsa (Quintet) completed in 1575.64 The
because Ottoman inscriptions describe the paintings that manuscript and its paintings are typical of mid- to late-
they accompany; or perhaps it could be understood as sixteenth-century works produced in Shiraz for export
translational, because the Ottoman annotations were abroad. Immediately before or after each painting—
necessary for the viewer to grasp the meaning of images executed on beige rag paper decorated with stenciled
located within texts that were in a foreign language or gold paintings of animals and plants—appears an Ottoman
an unfamiliar script. These insertions help identify paintings inserted page made of glossy white chain-lined paper.
in texts not transcribed using the Arabic script, as in the All of the inserts provide a synopsis in Ottoman Turkish
example of the Timurid “Book of Ascension” in Uighur of the events depicted, except for one. The insert (folios
script. Such insertions also appear in Persian-language 5r–v) immediately before the painting of the Prophet’s
illustrated works, such as Nizami’s Khamsa (Quintet) and ascension (folio 6r) contains a long Ottoman synopsis
Jami’s Haft Awrang (Seven Pavilions). Inserted Ottoman of the micraj written in fine Ottoman cursive script on a
Turkish annotations thus functioned as verbal intermediaries background of flaming gold bundles (Fig. 5.6).
from which a reader could extrapolate textual information
and identify the subject of a manuscript’s paintings. The painting of the ascension about which the insert
comments comes at the end of Nizami’s description of
A number of Timurid and Safavid illustrated manuscripts the Prophet’s ascension, included at the beginning of his
written in Persian and held in the Topkapı Palace Library Makhzan al-Asrar (Treasury of Secrets). Nowhere in his
61 For a discussion of the “Ottomanized” style and the translation process between Persian and Turkish pictorial materials, see Bagci, “From Translated Word
to Translated Image.”
62 Tanındı, “Additions to Illustrated Manuscripts in Ottoman Workshops,” 147, 157.
63 See TKS Bagdat B. 282, Hafiz-i Abru’s Kulliyat-i Ta’rikh (Compendium of History) produced for Shahrukh in 818–19/1415–16 (Lentz and Lowry, Timur
and the Princely Vision, 166, 338–339, cat. no. 46). Ottoman Turkish inscriptions in cursive script were added above each painting in the manuscript (and
the Prophet Muhammad’s face was probably painted over with gold pigment after the manuscript arrived in Istanbul as well).
64 TKS R. 877 (Karatay, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi Farsça Yazmalar Katalogu, 159, no. 442). The manuscript contains 341 folios measuring 23 (w)
x 35.5 (h) cm and is written in Persian nastacliq at 21 lines per page. The written surface measures 13.3 (w) x 22.8 (h) cm. The colophon (folio 341r) is
signed by the calligrapher Muhammad Qasim b. Sultan Mahmud cAshqabadi and is dated 983/1575.
340
eulogy to the Prophet does the author reveal any interest The insert’s commentary offers a summary of the
in the chronology of events, the debates that took place debates concerning the place from which the nighttime
over its details, or the reception of the story in Hadith journey began,68 as well as a synopsis of Muhammad’s
literature. His poetical excursus has everything to do with ascension: first his arrival and prayer with other prophets
mythical and cosmic inspiration, and nothing to do with in Jerusalem, then his ascension through the heavens—
historical and exegetical concerns.65 at which time he meets John, Jesus, Joseph, Aaron, Moses,
and Abraham—followed by his arrival at the Lote Tree
In a similar manner, the painting accompanying this of the Limit (sidrat al-muntaha) and the Frequented
part of the Khamsa is divorced from almost all narrative House (Bayt al-Macmur), where he successfully selects
concerns, representing the Prophet’s ascension in a a cup of milk from among three cups (the other two
patterned image befitting the ascension eulogy that had containing wine and honey), and his final return to
become so well established by the end of the sixteenth Mecca—at which time Abu Bakr confirms his ascension
century. Here, the Prophet sits on al-Buraq—his right and thus gains the honorific title of “The Truthful,” “The
palm raised in prayer and his face covered by a white Upright,” or “He Who Confirms” (al-Siddiq). The Ottoman
veil—as he rides through the heavens, accompanied by text concludes with a discussion of whether the Prophet’s
a group of angels who extend flaming platters of offerings. ascent occurred with the body (jasad), soul (ruh), or
The swirling composition of wings and movement makes both together, a concern that characterizes exegetical
the central location of the Prophet less noticeable and sources, not poetic encomia. In sum, the Ottoman insert
almost obscures the event that transpires. Located in the draws upon a wide variety of sources—Qur’an, Hadith,
prefacing eulogy of so many Persian poems, it also exegesis, and biographies—to supplement what is missing
removes narrative visual clues and thus serves more in Nizami’s poetic micraj encomium.
generally as an icon of inspiration for praising the Prophet
of Islam. The facial veil—a pictorial motif added for It appears that a general confusion reigned about how
reasons of political ideology, pietism, or prohibitionism to interpret the narration and depiction of the Prophet
by the sixteenth century—alters the tenor of the composition Muhammad’s ascension. The Ottomans continued to
from an expository one to an allegorical one. The rather understand the story as operating along narrative lines
average painting follows the standard laudatory sections (i.e., the micrajnama or sirat al-nabi genre), an approach
on the Prophet’s ascension included as incipits to Persian patently at odds with the elaboration of the ascension
poems. as a symbolic, esoteric prolegomenon in Persian poetical
works. These two approaches define the ascension tale
The Ottoman insert, however, differs in tone and and its depiction in the sixteenth century. On one hand,
character. As the title of the passage shows,66 the Ottoman the ascension tale could serve as an inspired exordium
text provides not a recapitulation of the lyric Persian emanating from Persian elegiac expressions; on the other,
text, but an analysis of the stories (akhbar and rivayat)67 it remained firmly affixed to debates in theological spheres
about the Prophet Muhammad’s ascension. The text and was critical to the continual drive toward the creation
reviews and summarizes several relevant sources, all of a normative biography of the Prophet Muhammad and
the while blatantly omitting any discussion of Nizami’s his miracles.
poem and its symbolic values or motifs. Rather, the
inserted commentary begins with the entirety of surat This particular example and the Timurid Micrajnama
al-isra’ (17:1) and quotes several Hadiths attributed to are not the only manuscripts in which inserted pages
Ibn cAbbas and Malik b. Sacsaca, who provided core provide commentary on the details of the Prophet’s
information for the elaboration of subsequent ascension ascension. Another manuscript, a copy of Jami’s Yusuf
narratives. va Zulaykha (Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife) probably made
65 On the allegorical language used in Nizami’s ascension text, see De Fouchécour, “The Story of the Ascension (Mi’raj) in Nizami’s Work.”
66 The inserted text is entitled “khabar dar micraj-i hazrat-i risalat panah” or “The Story of the Ascension of the Excellent Lord Messenger” (TSK R. 877,
folio 5r).
67 TSK R. 877, folio 5v, diagonal line 9.
68 That is, either from the house of Umm Hani’ or the hatim (the semi-circular wall opposite the northwest wall of the Kacba).
341
in Shiraz during the second half of the sixteenth century, The scribe mistakenly attempted to identify buildings
also includes glossy white pages with Ottoman Turkish on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount rather than buildings around
commentary, inserted either before or after each of the the Kacba in Mecca. The domed structure on the right
fourteen paintings it contains.69 One insert (folio 10r), must represent the building over the Zamzam well in
again, does not summarize the narrative details of Jami’s Mecca, as the chain with the bucket and the opening to
tale about divine love and longing but instead provides the pit show. Instead, the scribe identified it as the makam-
a disquisition on the theme of the Prophet’s ascension. i Da’ud, otherwise known as the Dome of the Chain
It is inserted immediately prior to its corresponding (Qubbat al-Silsila) on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
painting (folio 11r), at the launch of Jami’s narrative (Figs. The domed structure in the center is identified as the
5.7 and 5.8). Dome of the Rock (the building over the “Rock of God”),
although there is no pictorial representation of the Rock
The painting (Fig. 5.7) is included in Jami’s preface itself, a typical motif in Ottoman representations of the
praising God, the Prophet, and the micraj. The poem edifice. Rather, the domed structure must represent one
describes the Prophet’s journey to Jerusalem (al-Aqsa) of the several domed stations in the Kacba enclosure.
and his ascension through the skies, where he encounters The pavilion on the left, identified as the al-Aqsa Mosque,
the planets and constellations. The painting is equally appears rather like the pavilion in which Yusuf and
expressive. Here, a veiled Muhammad mounts al-Buraq Zulaykha finally find union in divine love, much as
with his right palm raised in a gesture of prayer, as he Muhammad ascends and enters into unity with God on
traverses skies filled with angels and the various the night of his ascension.
constellations mentioned in Jami’s poem. Venus plays
the harp, Jupiter sits on a carpet and writes in a book, The Ottoman labels attempt to place the micraj within
and the six-armed figure of Mars stands up from a chair. the perimeter of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, reaffirming
A human-faced moon appears in the sky, between the the role of the Holy City within the sacred history of
purple rocky outcrop on the right and the flaming roof Islam and its Messenger. This may be a simple slip of
of an unidentified building in the center. In the foreground the pen or, more likely, may reveal a larger and more
appears the Kacba, cloaked with a black brocaded cover politically charged attempt to implant the city’s fate and
(kiswa) pulled back to reveal the structure. Around the presence firmly within contemporary political concerns
Kacba are three small, domed structures and a pavilion and the Ottoman religious imagination. By the sixteenth
with a couple sitting on its open-air balcony. These century, the role of Jerusalem within ascension narratives
buildings are enclosed within a blind arcade decorated had been well established and, with Sultan Süleyman’s
with blue tiles and abstract designs painted on white- reign (1520–66), the Temple Mount was restored and its
washed walls. role within Islamic history reaffirmed.70 To represent the
ascension of the Prophet over Mecca—omitting Jerusalem
An Ottoman scribe attempted to identify at least three as the interim, earthly stop—would simply not be acceptable
of the buildings by inserting small inscriptions in gold to an Ottoman commentator.
paint immediately below the lower horizontal frame. The
first inscription identifies the rightmost domed structure The Ottoman remarks on the Prophet’s ascension
as David’s station (makam-i Da’ud), the central inscription inserted into Jami’s poem (Fig. 5.8) are similar in several
states that the painting is a description of Holy Jerusalem ways to the text included on the inserted page in the
and the Rock of God (sifat-i Quds-i Sharif wa Sakhra-yi manuscript of Nizami’s Khamsa (Fig. 5.6). The Ottoman
Allah), and the inscription on the left identifies the pavilion précis bears the same title as its counterpart, “The Story
as the al-Aqsa Mosque (Masjid-i Aqsa). of the Ascension of the Excellent Lord Messenger,” and
69 TKS H. 1084 (Karatay, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi Farsça Yazmalar Katalogu, 257–258, no. 749). The manuscript contains 196 folios measuring
26 (w) x 40 (h) cm. The written surface measures 13.6 (w) x 22.6 (h) cm. There is no colophon. The original text is written in Persian nastacliq in two
(not four) columns. The miniature, heavily cropped and separated from its facing Ottoman ekphrastic text, was published in Tanındı, Siyer-i Nebî, Min.
IV.
70 Jerusalem was under Ottoman rule from 1516 to 1918. Sultan Süleyman, who considered himself the Solomon of his time (Süleyman al-Zaman), refurbished
the exterior of the Dome of the Rock and strengthened the city’s walls. His artists added a large inscription dated 951/1545–46 running along the top of
the drum on the Dome of the Rock that contains surat al-isra’ (17:1), thus reaffirming the link between the structure and the Prophet’s micraj during the
Ottoman period (see Beatrice St. Laurent, “The Dome of the Rock: Restorations and Significance, 1540–1918,” in Ottoman Jerusalem, the Living City:
1517–1917, eds. Sylvia Auld and Robert Hillenbrand [London: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, 2000], vol. 1, 417).
342
both commentaries begin with a citation of the Prophet’s

Sayings, in particular those transmitted by Ibn cAbbas Inserting translation-commentaries to paintings in
and Malik b. Sacsaca and included in the Hadith manuals illustrated manuscripts that had been transplanted to
compiled by Muslim and al-Bukhari. Then follows a rather foreign cultural milieus was not an Ottoman practice
detailed summary of Muhammad’s isra’ to Jerusalem and alone during the early modern period: it was part and
his ascension to the throne of God, where he received parcel of the interpretation of manuscripts for polyglot
the duty of fifty daily prayers, reduced to five through Muslim societies engaged in trans-regional dialogue.
Moses’s intercession. The inserted text concludes by There are many more examples of this practice in
praising Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s companion and the first international manuscript collections, including the Topkapı
of the rightly guided caliphs (al-rashidun). Palace Library in Istanbul and the Bibliothèque nationale
de France in Paris.72 For the sake of brevity, however,
These Ottoman inserts blend doctrinal principles drawn only two select examples drawn from Mughal India and
from the Qur’an, Hadith, biographies, and exegetical Safavid Iran will be discussed here.
works featuring narrative elements from tales belonging
to the “Book of Ascension” genre. The commentaries When Rashid al-Din’s illustrated Arabic copy of the
bear little resemblance to the poetic texts and significantly Jamic al-Tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) dated
to the paintings for which they provide the prolonged 714/1314 arrived in Mughal India via Timurid Herat during
annotation. By describing the Prophet’s ascension in the rule of Akbar (1556–1605), members of the royal
factual and theological terms, they remain disjointed from family and other owners added notes and glosses in
the poetical text into which they have been inserted. It Persian that summarize the Arabic text and thus identify
is quite possible that this disjuncture was purposeful, as its attendant paintings. As Sheila Blair has noted, these
commentators might have seen it as more important to comments describe battle scenes and provide summaries
explain the micraj in non-poetic, “normative” terms, all of certain tales.73 Some of the glosses occur directly above
the while concluding with a praise of Abu Bakr, whom or below the text frames, while others are inscribed
Ottomans (and other Sunnis) consider a figurehead of vertically in the left margins.74 Unlike the Ottoman inserts
orthodox Islam. accompanying ascension paintings, they were not required
to conform to a presumed “canonical” version or sectarian
The tales and paintings of the Prophet’s ascension recounting of particular events. Moreover, the Persian
were altered for an Ottoman audience through the translations and synopses appear strictly on the manuscript’s
mediation of inserted texts that stress the veracity of original folios and not on pages inserted into a refurbished
Muhammad’s miracles and, by extension, the legitimacy and rebound whole. Much like the Ottomans inherited
of the Sunni community. Given the frequent Ottoman- Arabic, Persian, and Chaghatay texts and rendered them
Safavid clashes and the continued entrenchment of the into Ottoman Turkish, the Mughals inscribed Persian
Sunni-Shici split over the course of the sixteenth century, summaries onto the folios of Arabic illustrated manuscripts.
Ottoman inserts such as these speak volumes about
various, often subtle ways of sustaining religious authority. The Safavids also actively engaged in pictorial and
By combining ekphrastic notes, narrative summaries, textual translation. In 1608, for instance, Shah cAbbas I
exegetical explanations, and pro-Sunni proclamations, (r. 1587–1629) received, from a delegation of Discalced
these inserted pages serve as powerful intermediary tools Carmelites who arrived in Isfahan, a picture Bible probably
in the selective appropriation and modification of Islamic- made for Louis IX of France ca. 1250.75 The Bible contained
Persianate culture and art. They translate images into full-folio paintings divided into two or four sections and
carefully selected words and, in the process, interpret accompanied by brief synopses in Latin of the depicted
the visual through the textual.71 events placed at the top and bottom of the folios. The
71 On a similar process in painting styles, see Bagci, “From Translated Word to Translated Image,” 173.
72 See BnF Sup Persan 1927, Nazim’s Yusuf va Zulaykha, dated 1227/1812. The manuscript is provided with 34 paintings in typical nineteenth-century
Kashmiri style. Before and after the manuscript’s paintings (including one representing the Prophet’s ascension on folio 22r) appear inserted pages which
provide comments and summaries of the Persian text in eastern Turkish. The inserted comments to the micraj painting (folios 21r–v) describe the upcoming
painting (tasvir) in relation to its accompanying text.
73 Blair, A Compendium of Chronicles, 30–32.
74 See Blair, A Compendium of Chronicles, folios 66a–299a (KI–K35).
75 See Noel and Weiss, The Book of Kings; and Simpson, “Shah ‘Abbas and his Picture Bible.”
343
Shah leafed through the Bible, admired its pictures, and as well as Safavid illustrated copies of Nizami’s Khamsa
then ordered that Persian-language explanations of the and Jami’s Yusuf va Zulaykha helped to transfer knowledge
Bible’s illustrations be added to the manuscript’s folios about ascension texts and images in Ottoman Istanbul
so that he and his royal entourage could understand the over the course of the sixteenth century. These inserts
subjects of the pictures. The person responsible for certainly aided in sustaining the Ottoman effort to translate
translating the Latin summaries would have been at least key Islamic texts and to encourage Muhammad-centered
bilingual and perhaps active in the royal Safavid kitabkhana. piety.77 They also seem to have been prompted by the
In this picture Bible, the Persian translations are loyal to Ottoman desire to produce illustrated manuscripts ex
the Latin digests, although they omit the honorific titles novo, while Ottoman artists sought inspiration from
of Old Testament prophets76 and therefore are closer in pictorial sources in the safeguard of the Ottoman royal
tenor to the Mughal glosses in the Jamic al-Tawarikh library.
than the full-page inserted commentaries produced in
the Ottoman book atelier. One grand undertaking of the late sixteenth century,
the five-volume illustrated Siyer-i Nebi (Life of the Prophet)
These few examples from the sixteenth and early commissioned by Sultan Murad III and completed in 1596
seventeenth centuries reveal that Ottomans, Mughals, (a year after his death), is the only large-scale manuscript
and Safavids all engaged in translational activities when project illustrating the biography of the Prophet that was
illustrated manuscripts in non-native languages—Chaghatay, produced in Ottoman lands.78 Originally meant as a tool
Persian, and even Latin—arrived within their milieus. for the ruler’s sons’ religious instruction, these volumes
Inserted glosses on original folios or inserted pages thus contained 814 paintings, of which 200 remain unaccounted
belonged to procedures that amount to an early modern for today.79 Unlike other Ottoman illustrated manuscripts,
text-and-image translation movement. This cross-regional which included only one or a few images of the Prophet,80
movement sought to transmit both textual and pictorial this undertaking necessitated a full cycle of images that
knowledge in an increasingly interconnected, albeit depicted Muhammad on his prophetic mission, engaged
multilingual, Muslim world, in which local, vernacular, in battles, and performing miracles from the moment of
and vehicular idioms did not always share the same his birth until the day of his death.
referential language. In the process, paintings did not
merely illustrate or enhance a text. In a delightful inversion Faced for the first (and only) time with the task of
of function, they instead served as the visual aids needed illustrating a voluminous bio-historical narrative for a
to elucidate and translate their foreign, and thus obscure, royal patron, artists in the Ottoman workshop must have
verbal counterparts. In the Ottoman case, more specifically, consulted Timurid and Safavid materials held in the royal
these kinds of procedures also helped to transmit basic book atelier. In the palace collections, illustrated universal
knowledge about micraj texts and images, solidify certain histories with sections on the Prophet’s life—including
“normative” interpretations of the tale, and promote the the Ilkhanid Jamic al-Tawarikh and its Timurid successor
preeminence of the Sunni community. the Majmac al-Tawarikh—must have provided inspiration
for the selection and composition of specific episodes,
especially battle scenes and nodal points in the Prophet’s
THE MICRAJ CYCLE IN SULTAN MURAD III’S SIYER-I NEBI career (such as his revelations from God, his hijra to
Medina, his triumphant return to Mecca, his purging of
The pages with commentaries inserted immediately the idols at the Kacba, etc.). For the tale of Muhammad’s
before or after each painting in the Timurid Micrajnama ascension, more specifically, Ottoman artists were fortunate
76 Simpson, “Shah ‘Abbas and his Picture Bible,” 132, fn 23. It appears that Shah cAbbas asked a chamberlain to take a mulla to the Carmelites in order to
receive information about the depicted scenes.
77 Hagen, “Translations and Translators in a Multilingual Society.” Also see his “The Emergence of a Pietas Ottomanica,” lecture delivered at the 2nd Great
Lakes Ottoman Workshop, DePaul University, Ill., September 23–24, 2005.
78 Volumes of the work are housed in TSK (H. 1221–23), NYPL (ms 157), and CBL (T. 419). Other single-folio paintings are dispersed in international
collections such as LACMA, Louvre, and MIK.
79 Tanındı, Siyer-i Nebî; Garrett Fisher, “A Reconstruction of the Pictorial Cycle of the Siyar-i Nabi of Murad III,” 75; and eadem, “The Pictorial Cycle of the
Siyer-i Nebi.”
80 Such works include, for example: Fuzuli’s Hadiqat al-Shuhada’ (Garden of the Blessed) and his Khamsa (Quintet), al-Nishapuri’s Qisas al-Anbiya’ (Stories
of the Prophets), anonymous illustrated copies of the Ahwal al-Qiyama (Conditions of Resurrection) in eastern Turkish, Sayyid Luqman’s Zubdat al-
Tawarikh (Cream of Histories), and Ahmadi’s Iskandarnama (Book of Alexander).
344
to have at their disposal not only the Timurid Micrajnama Moses’s help in requesting a diminution of daily prayers
and the fragmentary Ilkhanid Micrajnama, but innumerable from twenty-five (rather than fifty) to five; and Muhammad’s
single-page paintings of the micraj included as pictured return to Mecca and his proving of the truthfulness of
incipits in Timurid and Safavid illustrated epic and romantic his micraj to members of the Quraysh tribe.
tales.
The first image (Fig. 5.9)86 offers a parallel to the
These many materials provided visual patterns for painting of Gabriel announcing the ascension to the
Ottoman painters as they experimented with new Prophet in the Timurid Micrajnama (folio 3v). However,
compositions by “Ottomanizing” forms and figures. The the composition is reversed and its ground is separated
most evident among these changes is the Prophet into an indoor space and an outdoor setting. Indoors,
Muhammad now appearing with a white facial veil and the angel Gabriel is much more demonstrative in his
a flaming aureole enveloping his whole body, rather than affection for the Prophet: he not only approaches him,
being depicted with facial features and a gold nimbus but embraces him with both hands. To add to the piousness
framing his visage. This iconographic novelty—which is of their encounter, angels en plein air stand in positions
entirely divergent from Ilkhanid and Timurid traditions of prayer, forming various hand gestures—such as the
of representing the Prophet—may have been prompted clutching of the two hands at waist level (qabd) or the
by an increase in specifically Ottoman Sunni piety, which raising of the two hands (rafc al-yadayn)—typical of
stressed devotion to Muhammad and exalted his concealed prayer patterns established by emulating the Prophet’s
and invisible primordial light (nur Muhammad), itself own practice (camal and sunna).87 Muhammad is veiled
indicative of his pre-existential flux imbued with the and wears a green mantle and white turban, and a caption
sacred traces of God’s creation.81 This Prophet’s facial above him identifies him as the Prophet (hazrat); likewise,
veil, moreover, may have been selected by Ottoman Gabriel is identified by an inscription reading “Jibra’il,”
artists to convey the Prophet’s special status, as well as and the remaining angels are marked with the label, “this
his honorific epithets “The Enshrouded One” (al- is a group of angels.” The artist(s) intended these captions
Muddaththir) and “The Enwrapped One” (al-Muzzammil).82 to aide the reader-viewer, in a manner that recalls in part
the explanatory insertions in the Timurid Micrajnama.
The chapter on the Prophet’s ascension in Sultan
Murad III’s Siyer-i Nebi is one of the text’s most extensive The second painting in the ascension cycle represents
sections, running from folio 3r to folio 57r in the third the Prophet Muhammad riding al-Buraq, accompanied
surviving volume.83 Unfortunately, only five paintings by Gabriel and a host of angels holding a canopy above
remain in this section,84 a surprising situation since the his head, as they travel to Jerusalem (Fig. 5.10).88 The
manuscript includes an average of one painting for every Prophet is identified by the small inscription hazrat above
three to five pages of text.85 The five surviving paintings his head, and Gabriel bears his own name between his
represent the following episodes in the Prophet’s micraj: two wings. The composition also draws upon the painting
Gabriel’s arrival in Mecca and his invitation to the ascension; of the Prophet’s isra’ in the Timurid “Book of Ascension”
Muhammad’s journey on al-Buraq from Mecca to Jerusalem; (folio 5r): Muhammad sits on al-Buraq in the middle of
Muhammad’s prayer with other prophets in Jerusalem; the scene, with both palms raised as Gabriel leads him
81 See Rubin, “Pre-Existence and Light.” One cannot help but wonder whether the white facial veils added subsequently to Muhammad’s face in the paintings
of the fragmentary Ilkhanid Micrajnama might have been added at this time, thereby retroactively “Ottomanizing” the Persian pictorial corpus (as suggested
in Rogers, “The Genesis of Safawid Religious Painting,” 178). All nine paintings of the Prophet Muhammad in the fragmentary Ilkhanid Micrajnama were
conserved in recent years, at which time the a posteriori Ottoman white facial veils were removed. It is for these reasons that Muhammad’s face has
suffered damage and appears fainter in tone.
82 Rubin, “The Shrouded Messenger,” 99. These two appellations are derived from the titles of chapters (suras) 73 and 74 of the Qur’an and have been
interpreted as praise-terms for the Prophet as well as metaphors denoting him as “covered” or “loaded” with prophethood.
83 NYPL 157. The manuscript’s ascension section corresponds to the Turkish edition in Roman script printed in Gürtunca, Kitab-ı Siyer-i Nebi, vol. 2, 166–226.
84 NYPL 157, folios 3r, 5r, 6v, and 57r; and MIK I.26/78. Another painting representing Gabriel offering cups of dates and grapes to Muhammad (CBL T.
419, folio 7v) may also belong to the ascension cycle (see Grube “The Siyar-i-Nabi of the Spencer Collection in the New York Public Library,” fig. 3).
85 Garrett Fisher, “A Reconstruction of the Pictorial Cycle of the Siyar-i Nabi of Murad III,” 77. It is possible that some of the folios containing ascension
paintings were sold, traded out of the palace, or seized during palace rebellions.
86 NYPL 157, folio 3r.
87 Dutton, “cAmal v. Hadith in Islamic Law.” On the performance and benefits of raising the two hands at various appointed times in communal prayer, see
al-Bukhari, Kitab Rafc al-Yadayn fi’l-Salah.
88 NYPL 157, folio 5r; and reproduced in Tanındı, Siyer-i Nebî, min. 38.
345
to the left and hordes of angels accompany the protagonists, Moses, whose bearded face is visible, stretches his
biting their fingers in astonishment. However, a large hands toward Muhammad in a welcoming gesture. All
canopy framing Muhammad—now represented with a three protagonists, in the center of the composition,
facial veil camouflaging his facial features—both honors bear Ottoman inscriptions above their heads that identify
and protects him. them and their roles in the narrative. Above Muhammad’s
head, his golden halo boasts the inscription: “The faithful
The next painting in the Siyer-i Nebi represents Gabriel and the Prophet arrive at the Prophet Moses’s
Muhammad’s arrival in Jerusalem, where he prays with level.” The label above Gabriel’s head and on his right
a group of prophets (Fig 5.11).89 This image appears to wing reads: “The Faithful Gabriel, peace upon him.”
collapse the third and fourth paintings of the Timurid In Moses’s flaming halo, it is explained that “The Prophet
Micrajnama (folios 5v and 7r) into one event. Along with Moses goes to greet […].” On Moses’ chair appears the
the first two paintings in the Siyer-i Nebi, it completes a inscription “maqam-i Musa” (the place/throne of
series of three paintings that follow the preliminary scenes Moses), 91 while several angels are described by the
depicted in the Timurid Micrajnama, suggesting that inscription “angels” (mala’ika), and two clouds bear
Ottoman artists were inspired by the themes and sequence, the words “place” (makan). These inserted captions
if not the stylistic vocabulary, of the paintings in this identify the figures and the locations in the painting,
“Book of Ascension.” In the Ottoman painting, the Prophet thereby helping the viewer follow the narrative and its
stands in the front, with his hands crossed at the waist, chief protagonists.
as he leads rows of prophets and angels in prayer. The
upright position and qabd gesture initiate communal Another substantial gap in the Siyer- Nebi visual program
prayer in Islamic customs (unlike genuflection, as occurs between the fourth and the final surviving painting,
represented in the Micrajnama, which occurs later in which depicts the questioning of the Prophet by the
communal prayer). Perhaps this scene was intended to Quraysh upon Muhammad’s return to Mecca (Fig. 5.13).92
honor Ottoman practices of communal prayer as following In this painting, the Prophet stands to the left as he lifts
the practice (camal) and tradition (sunna) of the Prophet his right index finger toward a white-bearded Abu Bakr,
Muhammad. seated in the center of the composition and flanked on
his left by cAbbas. In the lower right corner appears a
There is a sudden lacuna between the first three standing Abu Jahl, Muhammad’s life-long rival who refused
paintings and the fourth, which represents Moses interceding to accept the veracity of the micraj: his visage has been
on Muhammad’s behalf to request from God a reduction defaced so violently that the pigment has worn off
(takhfif) of the daily prayers from twenty-five to five (Fig. completely and the paper has been damaged as a result.
5.12).90 The encounter occurs immediately after the Other figures sit in a circle around a prayer carpet,
Prophet’s colloquy with God and His granting to gesticulating toward one another, enraptured and in
Muhammad and his community twenty-five daily prayers conversation about the Prophet’s miraculous night journey
along with three months of fasting in every year. This to Jerusalem and his ascension through the skies.
episode corresponds to the takhfif episode in the Timurid
Micrajnama (folio 38v), but the latter’s composition seems No painting of the questioning of the Quraysh appears
to have been flipped from right to left in the Ottoman in the Timurid Micrajnama, whose text closes instead
painting, in which the Prophet approaches Moses with with a series of hell images and a textual description of
the help of the angel Gabriel. The painting’s style, heavy Muhammad’s visit to Mount Qaf and Moses’s community’s
use of gold, and its vertical format also are dissimilar embracing of his prophethood. Because this final episode
from Shahrukh’s “Book of Ascension,” revealing that in the micraj was not available in Shahrukh’s manuscript,
Ottoman artists used their own pictorial lexicon while Ottoman artists may have turned to the composition in
also relying on older illustrative themes. the fragmentary Ilkhanid “Book of Ascension,” which
89 NYPL 157, folio 6v; and reproduced in Tanındı, Siyer-i Nebî, min. 39.
90 MIK I.26/78.
91 The chair (maqam or kursi) of Moses is described in ascension texts as being made of light (see Colby, Narrating Muhammad’s Night Journey, Appendix
B), and in this painting gold paint conveys the throne’s luminosity.
92 NYPL 157, folio 57r; and reproduced in Garrett Fisher, “A Reconstruction of the Pictorial Cycle of the Siyar-i Nabi of Murad III,” fig. 16.
346
depicts the same subject in a comparative fashion: groups intermediary tools between their paintings and those
of men sit in a circle around the Prophet and engage in produced for the ascension chapter in the Siyer-i Nebi.
heated discussions (Fig. 5.14). The Prophet is seated on Painters in the royal Ottoman atelier, it appears, mostly
a prayer rug on the left, Abu Bakr appears in the center drew upon the themes in the Timurid Micrajnama and
with his snow-white beard, and Abu Jahl’s face is scratched also supplemented missing information by looking to
out, as well. Although the Ottoman painting does not images of the Ilkhanid Micrajnama. Inspired by such
represent Gabriel bringing a model of the city of Jerusalem, paintings, they also experimented with new forms, which
it nevertheless maintains an allusion to the city’s revelation coalesced to create a new Ottoman pictorial language.
to Muhammad, whose right hand points toward the sky This “Ottomanization” of the Persian visual system was
in a moment of divine disclosure. In both paintings, achieved not only through the alteration of form but also
moreover, the stress is on a moment of pious sanctity, via the transformation and regulation of meaning at a
the announcing of Abu Bakr as al-Siddiq (“the Confirmer”),93 time when the Sunni Ottoman community was fully
and the physical desecration of the disbelieving and engaged in translating and absorbing textual and visual
malicious Abu Jahl. Interestingly, Abu Bakr seems a more materials devoted to Muhammad, his life, deeds, miracles,
pivotal figure in the Siyer-i Nebi: his large size and central and, last but not least, his heavenly ascension.
location clearly set him apart, thereby moving the focus
from the model of Jerusalem to the champion of the
Sunni community. CONTINUITIES IN MICRAJ TEXTS AND IMAGES
In all five surviving ascension paintings from Sultan This chapter has attempted to trace the “ripple effects”
Murad III’s Siyer-i Nebi, a few major iconographic changes caused directly by Shahrukh’s Micrajnama within later
can be detected. First and foremost, Muhammad is provided Timurid and Ottoman pictorial traditions. By focusing on
with a white facial veil and/or canopy, suggesting that the stemmata and afterlife of this magnum opus, most
his prophetic body and primordial light must be contained, especially its imitation and reception in various Islamic
protected, and applauded. Along with the angel Gabriel, cultural spheres, it has been possible to gauge the possible
groups of angels, prophets, and other actors in the story, extent of its influence on Islamic illustrated religious and
Muhammad is provided with identifying tags so that the biographical manuscripts over a period of almost two
reader-viewer can comprehend the picture by interacting centuries.
with the text, or vice versa. Moreover, the figures are
represented as performing a range of pious gestures— As discussed, the Timurid Micrajnama engendered a
such as clutching the hands at the waist (qabd) or raising “duplicate” work commissioned sometime around 1465
both hands in the air (rafc al-yadayn)—which, like the by Shahrukh’s successor Abu Sacid Gurgan. The latter’s
identifying labels, may have been useful pedagogical illustrated manuscript must be identified as the Nahj al-
tools for teaching Murad III’s sons normative prayer Faradis of al-Sara’i, that is, the “base” text that seems to
practices as well as the details of Muhammad’s ascension. have kindled the illustrated “Book of Ascension” in the
Finally, and perhaps most explicitly, the tale’s dénouement first place. Although the Nahj al-Faradis contains a
vindicates Abu Bakr’s unquestioning belief in the Prophet’s narrativized tale of the Prophet’s ascent, this tale is
miracle. subsumed into the larger “Forty Hadith” pattern. Moreover,
it is a religious work and, during the middle Timurid
In the last painting of the Siyer-i Nebi’s chapter on the period in particular, it seems to have been a widespread
micraj, we see a clear connection with the concluding and popular kind of handbook for the learning and
remarks on inserted commentary pages in the Nizami teaching of Islam’s principal tenets and popular tales.
and Jami manuscripts discussed previously. These both
stress Abu Bakr’s (and thus the Sunni community’s) Because the Mi crajnama and the Nahj al-Faradis
righteousness. This final element—coupled with Ottoman belong to the same class of religious texts, their
procedures of inserting translations, synopses, and accompanying images also can be classified as
identifying labels—supports the hypothesis that inserted “religious” in terms of their textual genesis, their
pages in Timurid and Safavid manuscripts functioned as devotional functions, and their didactic applications
93 In the Ottoman painting, an inscription above Abu Bakr mistakingly identifies him as Abu Talib.
347
for audiences ranging from young to old. Religious In examining the mi c raj image-cum-paraphrase
images need not be strictly divorced from a text, or phenomenon, some of the theoretical models offered by
rendered into text-less icons, to be appreciated as scholars of ekphrasis may be of some value. For example,
potent conveyors of pietistic feeling. 94 Rather, as as a process of “interpretation, mediation, commentary,
suggested by the Ottoman reception of the Timurid critique, imitation, and countercreation,”96 ekphrastic
Mi crajnama and other ascension images, the textual exercises in western (descriptio) and Arabic (wasf) traditions
mode served as an essential conduit for the appreciation combine texts and images in a perennial dialogue, in
of the visual mode. Conversely, the visual mode which the shortcomings of one are successfully supplemented
elucidates the verbal when a text is written in a non- and completed by the other.97 In the early modern Islamic
native language and therefore is in need of translation world, this interartistic discourse seems to have been of
and elucidation. prime importance, because only images could communicate
effectively across linguistic barriers. Once Ottoman writers
Ottoman procedures of naturalizing Turco-Persian responded by adding verbal clarifications, ascension
literary and artistic traditions reveal a fastidious and pictures and texts could be transferred and naturalized
dynamic engagement with pictorial materials, an engagement into their new cultural, religious, and artistic environment.
that manifests itself at the codicological level in the During the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries in
inclusion of glosses and ekphrastic notes on original particular, this imagetext translational process in Islamic
folios or written on pages inserted into inherited or societies was an important means through which viewers
appropriated illustrated manuscripts. These notes help and readers from outside an illustrated manuscript’s original
“textualize” images, such as those of the Prophet milieu could truly “get the picture.”
Muhammad’s ascension, and this blending of the visual
and the textual cause the emergence of a crossbreed one
could call the “imagetext.”95
94 Rogers, “The Genesis of Safawid Religious Painting,” 179. Rogers argues that one of the elements of religious art is that it must “stand on its own and
teach or moralise without benefit of text.”
95 Robillard and Jongeneel, Pictures into Words, IX.
96 Persin, Getting the Picture, 23.
97 Akiko Motoyoshi, Description in Classical Arabic Poetry, 6.
348
CONCLUSION
T H E M I CR A J N A M A A S A P I C T U R E D
“T A L E -A R G U M E N T ”
“Prayer is the ascension of the faithful” semi-public, courtly sphere. Its viewer-readers were
(al-salah micraj al-mu’minin).1 evidently of Perso-Islamic and Turco-Mongolian origins,
and even possibly of Chinese extraction.
T HE genesis of the Timurid Micrajnama’s theme

dates to the Ilkhanid period, and its later reception
in Timurid and Ottoman realms extends its lifespan from
The Timurid Micrajnama’s primary purpose was to
teach the basic elements of Muhammad’s micraj, but
many details also appear to carry the potential for double
ca. 1300 to at least 1600. Not an exotic, singular unicum entendre. The evident alterations to its “base” text—that
(as it has tended to be interpreted), the Timurid “Book is, al-Sarai’i’s Nahj al-Faradis, a Hadith manual originally
of Ascension” thus offers one piece of evidence in a composed in Khwarezmian Turkish ca. 1357–60—also
corpus of micraj book arts, a genre of illustrated manuscripts indicate that we should no longer refer to this particular
whose religious and social functions have formed the manuscript as Mir Haydar Tilbe’s Micrajnama. Instead,
core of this study. it is, with slight alterations, the micraj-tale included in
the Nahj al-Faradis. These textual changes were made
As an endeavor prompted by Shahrukh’s royal at the time of the manuscript’s production and most likely
sponsorship, the Timurid Micrajnama also contains within were inflected by Shahrukh’s religious programs, his
its textual and pictorial program a potential for symbolic attempts to quench internal power struggles, and his
interpretation, religious indoctrination, and political modus operandi in the field of international diplomacy.
serviceability. Possibly used for the ruler’s individual
enjoyment or during semi-private readings on the occasion The expansion of certain narrative elements is particularly
of ceremonial festivities, the manuscript catered to a intriguing within a specific Herati historical context. For
heterogeneous audience that included Shahrukh and his example, the pavilions of cUmar and Rumaysa’ in heaven
immediate family. This audience also could have can be seen as allusions to the contemporary Sunni
encompassed members of the Timurid divan, an intimate champions, Shahrukh and his wife Gawharshad, and
entourage of learned men (culama’), Chaghatayid amirs, their assured future entry into paradise. Similarly, this
Timurid princes, and other privileged personnel.2 On text’s unusual, and very abrupt, ending (with Moses’s
some occasions, moreover, a highly select group of community accepting Muhammad’s mission at Mount
Chinese envoys (such as Chen Cheng in 1413) were Qaf) may be interpreted, within the context of Ming-
welcomed into palace quarters. These circles were Timurid relations, as a not so thinly veiled hint that
entertained by minstrels and storytellers, some of whom peoples “beyond China” should return to the “correct
may have employed the Mi c rajnama as a pictured path” by embracing Islam. The Timurid Micrajnama’s
handbook to narrate and highlight a pivotal moment in hell series and its climax coalesce, moreover, to form
Muhammad’s prophetic career. Therefore, the manuscript two overwhelming arguments both textually and visually
could have functioned both in the private realm and the for embracing Sunni Islam and its basic doctrines, a
1 Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 218.

2 On the constitution of Shahrukh’s divan and its personnel, see Forbes Manz, Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran, 79–110.
351
rationale subsumed into a larger ascension tale that was So how must we classify the Timurid Micrajnama? Is
directed not only to a domestic audience but to a wider it an illustrated biographical tale, a handbook for acceptable
and possibly international one as well. behavior, an attempt to implement religious orthodoxy,
or a call for religious conversion? This study has argued
The text also did not exist in a cultural or literary that the manuscript successfully blends all four categories.
vacuum. Its structure discloses narrative patterns Along with its wide assortment of pictorial motifs, the
drawn from a number of older ascension texts— merging of these four categories is precisely why the
particularly those within the Ibn cAbbas genre—and work could be employed for multiple religious and
other Islamic religious works, especially Hadith manuals political aims. It is also why it was copied, adapted, and
such as al-Sara’i’s Nahj al-Faradis and al-Baghawi’s mined for information by later Timurid and Ottoman
Masabih al-Sunna. The addition of new motifs into patrons and artists.
the text demonstrates the extent to which a popular
story could be recast and altered according to need As an illustrated book on the Prophet’s ascension in
and application. Such a process of adapting basic the sira genre, the Timurid Micrajnama served as an
narrative lines of mi craj tales has occurred from the excellent pedagogical tool for teaching Islamic hagiography,
first centuries of Islam until the modern period; various angelology, and eschatology. As an instruction manual
communities employed such narratives to claim for the inculcation of religious ethics and proper conduct,
authority in both inter- and intra-religious contexts, moreover, it also functions as a kind of pictured pandnama
to form communal identity, and to promote proper (book of advice) and thus crosses into the field of Islamic
social behavior. moralia and the “mirror for princes” genre. Books in the
“advice” (nasihat, pand, or andarz) genre were used for
By elaborating upon and modifying the basic patterns the education of princes and the ruling elite, a detail that
of a more or less commonly accepted text—that is, adding strengthens the hypothesis that the Timurid Micrajnama—
a new skin to the bones of a skeleton 3—intentional much like Abu Sacid’s Nahj al-Faradis of ca. 1465 and
variations become all the more informative. Similar Sultan Murad III’s Siyer-i Nebi of 1595–96—was tailored
narrative enlargements occur in practices of storytelling, at least in part to appeal to a younger audience.6
in which morally edifying oral stories (qisas) are manipulated,
usually through improvisation,4 so that the tales echo The manuscript’s call for religious orthodoxy and
and promote specific religious and political concerns. proper adult behavior also targeted a more mature group
Whether in textual or oral traditions, a “normative” story of addressees, who are told openly that they will suffer
like Muhammad’s ascension could be modulated in order punitive damages for illegal or insubordinate activities.
to nourish rulers’ claims to sovereignty and promote their Finally, as a muted yet insistent incentive for conversion,
God-given supernatural powers.5 The story thus performed the Timurid Micrajnama’s particular dénouement also
a symbolically important role within the larger realm of could have been directed to an “outside” group of
religious politics. observers, readers, or listeners.
3 This process of enlargement also occurs in Hadith narratives and tafasir on the Prophet’s ascension. See Vuckovic, Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns, 2.
4 This practice of altering basic narrative patterns in oral tales and storytelling has been approached through “improvisation theory,” a methodological
approach that also applies to traditions of textual adaptations (see Colby, Narrating Muhammad’s Ascension, 48). Many oral tales, like those of the
Prophet’s ascension, were linked to officially sanctioned religious sermonizing and were used to confer Islamic religious and political approval on rulers.
A storyteller (qass) thus took on the roles of admonisher (waciz), counselor (mudhakkir), and preacher (khatib). On this subject, see cAthamina, “Al-
Qasas”; Pedersen, “The Criticism of the Islamic Preacher”; and Irwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion, 104–117. As Ignac Goldziher further notes,
storytellers were not just low-level charlatans bent on entertaining the masses with outlandish stories, but rather expounders of the Qur’an who many
times were officially supported within the mosque context to serve quintessentially religious ends. In such cases, official theology gladly tolerated and
even sponsored them (Goldziher, “The Hadith as a Means of Edification and Entertainment,” 153).
5 Timur is said to have ascended to the heavens by means of a ladder, and Timurid historians claim that Shahrukh performed religious miracles and
wonders (karamat) as well (Forbes Manz, Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran, 191; also see her “Tamerlane and the Symbolism of Sovereignty,”
Iranian Studies 21/1–2 [1998], 118).
6 There are numerous “books of counsel,” especially in Persian-Islamic traditions. These include, most prominently, Nizam al-Mulk’s Siyasatnama (Book
of Government) or Siyar al-Muluk (Rules for Kings), cAttar’s Pandnama (Book of Counsel), and the allegorical animal fables of Kalila va Dimna, the
latter of which was frequently produced as an illustrated manuscript. On the moralia genre in Persian traditions, see De Fouchécour, Moralia.
352
T H E M I CR A J N A M A AS A P I C T U R E D TA L E - A R G U M E N T ”
At all levels, the illustrated “Book of Ascension” syncretism that goes well beyond a Serindian artistic
essentially functions as an illustrated tale-argument, fusion. By selectively appropriating forms and structures
wherein a Hadith template expands into a biographical associated with the book, wall, and sculptural arts of
narrative that in turn transforms into a hortatory parable. Buddhist Central Asia and China, the artist of the Timurid
This triply amalgamated genre of “khabar-qissa-exemplum”7 Micrajnama created a pictorial whole from which a varied
suggests a standardized system of religious beliefs audience could derive moral and religious lessons.
communicated by means of admonitory storytelling firmly
anchored in both official and popular piety. Religiously The artist, however, did not practice in either of the
edifying, in a vernacular language, and appealing to a two major styles typical of Timurid illustrated manuscripts
mixed audience, therefore, the Timurid Mi crajnama produced in Herat during the 1420s–30s. He did not paint
provides a summa of scriptural narration in pictorial form. in the so-called “classical” style associated with the Timurid
book atelier under Baysunghur’s patronage: such paintings’
From the point of view of content, function, and aesthetic unity and complexity of form bear no relation
reception, therefore, the manuscript also must be considered to the Timurid Micrajnama’s paintings, their large swathes
an illustrated religious work. It is a visualized theme- of color, and their flatness of form. Although the artist’s
bound Hadith; it teaches proper religious behavior; and compositions were conceived through a series of horizontal
it memorializes the Prophet Muhammad’s miracles.8 The frames and thus align him with the “historical” style of
text is didactic and devotional, and its attending images Shahrukh, his compositions differ greatly from those
suggest that the visualization of piety in Timurid pictorial included in the Timurid ruler’s illustrated universal
traditions was not necessarily linked to allegorical expression encyclopedias. His use of a vibrant palette, a range of
alone. gestural expressions, and novel forms derived from Sino-
Central Asian Buddhist scriptural arts is unequalled in
As a highly detailed text expanded through a parallel Islamic painterly traditions.
image cycle, the Timurid Micrajnama carried the potential
for religious entertainment and instruction by using the The manuscript’s pictorial language neither belongs
closely coupled mechanisms of textual explication and to the “classical” style of illustrated works made for
polycyclic depiction. Much like the text’s modifications, Baysunghur nor to Shahrukh’s “historical” style. Whether
the manuscript’s pictorial set also could divulge manifold one attempts to identify the artist as the painter-traveler
meanings to different audiences as they untangled and Ghiyath al-Din (who observed firsthand Buddhist sites
drew conclusions from the work’s newly created in Central Asia and China), Khwaja cAli (the royal artist
iconographic lexicon. A Perso-Muslim audience might who signed eleven paintings in Abu Sacid’s Nahj al-
see the manuscript’s paintings as a continuation of Islamic Faradis of ca. 1465), or another artist who has remained
themes carried over from the Ilkhanid period, while a unrecorded, it appears that he engaged a different set of
Turco-Mongolian audience would detect a careful adaptation pictorial conventions. His new and experimental forms
and absorption of Central Asian Buddhist motifs. And a may have been informed by his travels through Asia or
potential Chinese Buddhist audience member could spot his connection to bakhshi scribes active in the Timurid
recast forms and structures drawn from Sino-Buddhist divan. If he himself had been from a bakhshi milieu, he
scriptural traditions. These three levels of image-derived would have drawn from his own knowledge of the
meanings—all of which bear religious and, by extension, Buddhist visual repertoire.
political implications—endow the Micrajnama with an
iconographic polyvalence that not only is syncretistic but Familiar with Buddhist texts and—more importantly
also created by a strategic and informed selection and to the present study— illustrated scriptures such as the
manipulation of visual forms and their affiliated meanings. Sutra of the Ten Kings, a bakhshi artist in Timurid court
circles might have been deemed by Shahrukh and his
The manuscript’s imagery appears to have been adroitly advisors as best equipped to devise an appropriate pictorial
manipulated so that its form and structure create a cycle for an illustrated mi craj-Hadith narrative. The
8 This three-part definition is similar to Michael Rogers’s delineation of “religious” painting, which he argues must explain a (religious) text, teach a moral
lesson, and instill reverence toward religion in the viewer (Rogers, “The Genesis of Safavid Religious Painting,” 168).
353
“classical” and “historical” styles may have been considered contemplation, functioning in many other dimensions.
not suitable for this particular text, and so a new “religious” Moreover, by signaling Buddhist traditions of sacred
style had to be formulated. The artist achieved such a imagery, this manuscript uses extra-Islamic forms for a
style primarily through a series of internal formal elements genre that rightly must be considered religious in both
and by adapting forms belonging to Buddhist scriptural form and function.
arts where earlier Persian visual sources proved insufficient.
Although many questions about the Timurid Micrajnama
Returning to the elusive issue of religious imagery in remain, the brilliance and fame of this particular illustrated
Islamic traditions, it is now possible to begin formulating Islamic manuscript unquestionably derive from its fusion
new answers to the questions that have been posed about of genres, both at the level of content (text) and presentation
this and other illustrated “Books of Ascension.” Religious (image). Part biography, part apocalypse, and part
sentiment certainly was aroused by the text’s contents, exemplum, this exceptional manuscript offers a pictured
but neither the text nor the pictorial language had to be tale-argument whose multiplicity of meanings is matched
couched in allegorical terms, despite their potential for by its remarkable conflation of forms.
symbolic interpretation. In the Timurid Micrajnama, the
pictures indeed do provide “visual paraphrases”9 of the
text, but they also stand on their own for pious
9 Grabar, Mostly Miniatures, 93.
354
APPENDIX I
T H E M I CR A J N A M A T E X T IN E N G L I S H T R A N S L AT I O N
FOREWORD eighteen thousand worlds, He Who has no Associate,

the Unique, the Existent, the Excellent, the Sovereign
The English translation of the Timurid Micrajnama text King, the Highest God. May His Glory shine forever
that appears here is based on a number of materials: first, and may His Name be Blessed. There is no god but
the Chaghatay text in Uighur script as contained in the He.
manuscript proper1 and, second, its translation into French
by Abel Pavet de Courteille.2 The French translation includes A hundred thousand prayers and blessings upon
a transcription of the Chaghatay text from Uighur script into the high-ranking Prophet Muhammad, the leader of
Arabic script, allowing scholars unfamiliar with the Uighur the hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets,
alphabet the opportunity to access the text.3 Moreover, Muhammad the Messenger of God. May mercy descend
Wheeler Thackston’s 1994 article contains an English translation from the skies upon the offspring and companions of
as well as a transliteration of the Chaghatay text,4 much as the Prophet, peace be upon him. May God be pleased
Max Scherberger’s 2003 German translation and transliteration.5 with them all.
These transcriptions of the Chaghatay text have varied to a
certain degree, depending on the authors’ inclination to give Now you must know that the title of this book is “The
precedence to Arabic and Persian spelling or Turkish Book of Ascension” (Micrajnama). We have rendered it
pronunciation.6 It is not the goal of this study to solve such into the Turkish language from the book entitled “Pathway
linguistic discrepancies, as they are best left to philologists. to the Heavens” (Nahj al-Faradis) so that many readers
Rather, the principal objective of Appendix I is to bring may benefit from it. May it come to completion with the
together these disparate versions in order to provide a full success of God and may it charm the eyes of the heart
English translation of the Timurid Micrajnama text. of people.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION In his book entitled “The Lanterns” (Masabih), Imam

Baghawi, may God’s mercy be upon him, transmitted a
The Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, Ascends to Heaven Saying that states: “On the authority of Anas b. Malik,
may [God] be pleased with him, from the Prophet, peace
Thanks, appreciation, and praise to the Unending, and prayers upon him: ‘One night I was taken on a night
and All-Powerful One, the Creator and Maker of the journey. Al-Buraq was brought bridled and saddled, but
1 BnF Sup Turc 190, folios 1v–68r.

2 Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-Nâmeh. This is a reprint of his Mirâdj-nâmeh, Publié pour la Première Fois d’après le Manuscrit Ouïgour de la Bibliothèque
Nationale, Publications de l’École des Langues Orientales Vivantes, 2nd series, volume 6 (Paris: E. Leroux, 1882).
3 Pavet de Courteille, Mirâdj-Nâmeh. The French translation appears on pages 1–28 and the Chaghatay text in Arabic script is included on pages 1–43
(Arabic numerals).
4 Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 263–285.
5 Scherberger, Das Micrajname. The text’s Roman transliteration appears on pages 48–80 and the German translation on pages 81–115.
6 For a discussion of the varying transcription methods, see Scherberger, Das Micrajname, 41–47.
357
it7 recoiled. Gabriel said to it: “How can you do this to can witness the work of Our omnipotence and be honored
Muhammad? You have never been ridden by anybody by Our granting of favors.”
more privileged by God.’ Then it [al-Buraq] broke out
into a sweat.” The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that, “as soon
as I heard these words, I got up and performed my
The meaning of the Saying is that Anas b. Malik reports ablutions. Gabriel brought me water from the Kawthar
from the Prophet, peace be upon him, that “on the [Basin] in paradise in a ruby (qızıl yaqut )10 ewer, and I
ascension (micraj) Gabriel brought me a buraq8 bridled made my ablutions [with it]. Gabriel poured onto his
and saddled.” When the Prophet, peace be upon him, wings the water which I used. I asked him: ‘Why are you
attempted to mount it, it did not permit him. So when doing this?’ and Gabriel answered: ‘It is so that God the
Gabriel said, “Oh, al-Buraq, nobody more privileged at Most High will not throw me into the fire of hell on the
God’s court than Muhammad has mounted you before,” Day of Resurrection.”
al-Buraq broke into a sweat that began to gush out.
“Then I left the house. Gabriel was standing [there]
Another companion of the Prophet named Malik [b. and holding al-Buraq by the bridle. There were other
Sacsaca] transmits another report (rivayat qılur) after Umm angels holding seventy thousand standards [made] of
Hani’, cAli’s sister. Umm Hani’ said: “One night, the light (nur) and next to each banner were seventy thousand11
Messenger, peace be upon him, was staying in our house. angels. Upon seeing me, they all greeted me and I
In the morning, he awoke and said: ‘Many strange things responded by saluting them. After that, I mounted al-
happened to me last night.’ We asked: ‘Oh Muhammad, Buraq. When I strode it on earth, the distance of each
what happened?’ The Messenger, peace be upon him, step was as far as the eye could see. When I turned the
answered: ‘I will tell you. Listen to me. Know that Gabriel, reins toward the sky, it flew like a bird.”
peace be upon him, along with seventy thousand angels
and Gabriel, also accompanied by seventy thousand “Along with all the angels, I went to Jerusalem12 and
angels, all appeared before me. They brought along an then we entered the al-Aqsa Mosque.13 There, I saw all
animal named al-Buraq, saddled and bridled. It was the prophets at the front of whom appeared Abraham,
smaller than a mule but larger than a donkey; its face Moses, and Jesus. They came forward, offered me their
looked like that of a human being; its tail and hooves greetings, and exclaimed: ‘Oh Muhammad, God the Most
looked like those of a cow. (In another book, it is said High has showered you with His favors. This night you
that its tail and feet resembled those of a camel). He had have received the good news that the Lord will grant
the rump of a horse and wore a saddle made of emerald you all that you desire.”
(yesil zumurrud),9 reins made of pearl (inci), and stirrups
made of turquoise (firuze). Gabriel approached me first “Then Gabriel gave the call to prayer, and the Prophet
and said: ‘Oh Muhammad, God the Most High has showered Abraham said to me: ‘Oh Muhammad, serve as prayer-
you with His graces and given to you endless favors. He leader and we will follow you in prayer.’ So I served as
has issued the decree: ‘Let him ascend tonight so that he prayer-leader and we prayed. After completing prayer, I
7 As al-Buraq’s gender alternates between male and female in a number of texts, the neutral pronoun “it” is favored here. Al-Buraq was interpreted as a
female creature based on its description as a beast of burden (dabba) or mule (baghla) that the prophets, particularly Abraham, used to ride before the
Prophet Muhammad. Because of the terminal letter (ta marbuta), the Arabic terms dabba and baghla are linguistically feminine words, which may
account (along with later Persian poetic expressions) for this creature’s development into a female entity. Dabba and baghla are used in Ibn Ishaq’s
description of al-Buraq (see Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad, 182; and idem, La Vie du Prophète Muhammad, vol. 1, 315).
8 The indefinite term buraq is utilized here more generally to refer to a flying steed.
9 The term for emerald (zumurrud) is used interchangeably with green chrysolite (yesil yaqut).
10 Literally, red hyacinth.
11 In Turco-Mongolian administrative and military conventions, the term tüman describes the standard “division” of ten thousand men. In the Micrajnama
text, the word for a thousand (ming) is replaced with “division” or “ten thousand” (tüman) when describing a large number of angels. The choice of
this term is intended to convey numerous formations of angels. In this text, I have translated the term tüman as ten thousand. See Amitai, “Tuman,” E.I.2,
vol. 10, 619; and Doerfer, Türkische und mongolische Elemente in Neupersischen, vol. 1, 528, and vol. 2, 632–642.
12 Bayt al-Muqaddas or Bayt al-Maqdis, literally the “Holy House.” In Islamic traditions, Jerusalem also is called Iliya (Roman Aelia) and the “City of Holiness”
(Medinat al-Quds). See Hasson, “The Muslim View of Jerusalem—the Qur’an and Hadith,” 353.
13 Literally, masjid al-aqsa (rather than the adverbial genitive construct al-masjid al-aqsa). In this text, it is clear that the expression masjid al-aqsa is not
a “far-away place of prostration” in the skies; rather, it refers to the historical al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.
358
uttered a prayer invocation (duca qıldım) for my community. disbelievers, the oppressors, and the polytheists. Upon
Raising their hands, all the prophets said ‘Amen.” looking at them, he is saddened and cries.”
“Afterwards, Gabriel said: ‘Oh Muhammad, rise, let’s “Passing that [place], I saw a white rooster. Its head
move on.’ I rose, looked ahead, and saw a ladder of light was below the throne [of God] and its feet were firmly
with one end on earth and the other end in the sky. gripping the earth. I asked Gabriel: ‘What is this rooster?’
Gabriel said: ‘Oh Muhammad, climb this ladder.’ I recited: Gabriel answered: ‘This rooster is an angel that counts the
“In the name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most hours of the day and the night. When prayer time arrives,
Merciful” and uttered many other prayer invocations he cries out and recites a tasbih.14 Upon hearing its voice,
(ducalar) while I climbed up the ladder without difficulty. the earthly roosters also cry out and recite a tasbih.”
I arrived close to the sky and there I saw a sea so large
that no one knows its size except for God the Most High. “Passing that [place], I saw an angel, half of which was
I asked: ‘Oh Gabriel, what is this sea?’ Gabriel said: ‘This made of fire and the other half of snow. I asked Gabriel:
sea is called the Sea of Kawthar. It is held aloft by the ‘What is this angel?’ Gabriel answered: ‘This is the angel
order of God the Most High and no one knows this sea’s whose voice is so booming that, when it recites a tasbih,
size except for God the Most High.” men say that it thunders.’ It held two rosaries in its hands.”
“We passed this sea and arrived, by the command of “Passing that [place], I saw a white sea. I asked: ‘What
God the Most High, to the first heaven. I saw that it was is this sea?,’ to which Gabriel answered: ‘This is the sea
made of turquoise-colored enamel (firuze ranglıg mina) which we call the Sea of Creatures (bahr al-hayavan).”15
and its width spanned a distance of five hundred years.
Gabriel knocked at the gate and, as soon as he called the “Then passing that [place], we arrived at the second
gate-keeper of this heaven, the latter asked: ‘Who are you?’ heaven. I saw that it was created of white pearls (aq inci)
Gabriel said: ‘It is I, Gabriel, along with Muhammad.’ As and its width was five hundred years’ way. Gabriel
the angel approached, it asked: ‘Oh Messenger of God, proceeded and knocked [at the door]. A voice asked:
has the time of your arrival come?’ As it opened the heaven’s ‘Who are you?’ He said: ‘I am Gabriel and with me is
gate, it greeted me profusely, and I greeted it in return. Muhammad, the Prophet of God.’ The angel, filled with
That angel said: ‘Oh Muhammad, welcome. Come in and joy, immediately opened the heaven’s gate. We entered
grace the world of heaven with your noble presence.’ When and greeted that angel, and that angel returned the greeting
I entered, I saw seventy thousand angels which resembled and said: ‘Oh Muhammad, tonight celebrate the graces
that angel waiting at the gate. They all greeted me.” of the Lord Most High.’ Twenty thousand angels resembling
him were standing in rows. They all greeted us.”
“There, I saw a person. Gabriel said: ‘This is the prophet
Adam, salute him.’ I went toward Adam and greeted him. “Passing that [place], I arrived close to a large angel.
Adam responded, greeted me in return, and said: ‘Oh ‘What is this angel?,’ I then asked. Gabriel answered:
Muhammad, welcome. You have brought gladness, and ‘This is the angel that provides daily sustenance to all
may prosperity follow you.’ Afterward, I saw that when creatures.’ I passed that [place] and I saw an angel with
Adam, peace be upon him, looked to his right, he was seventy heads. On each head there were seventy tongues,
satisfied and smiled. When he looked to his left, he was each of which recited seventy different kinds of tasbihs.”
worried and cried. I asked Gabriel: ‘What is Adam doing?’
Gabriel answered: ‘On Adam’s right are the souls of prophets, “Moving past that [place], I saw two people. ‘Who are
saints, and believing followers. Upon looking at them, his they?,’ I asked. Gabriel answered: ‘One is the prophet
heart rejoices and he smiles. On his left are the souls of the John and the other one is the prophet Zachariah.’16 I
14 Tasbih formulas, which occur frequently in ascension narratives, begin with the introductory expression subhan (“Glory to…”), followed by a variety of
phrases or epithets describing God. Such prayers laud God as “Royal,” “Eternal,” “Living,” and “Powerful,” and resemble other prayer formulas such as
the tamhid (“Thanks be to God”) and tacala (“God is Great”) prayers, all three expressions essentially meaning “Praise be to God.”
15 The Sea of Creatures (Arabic, bahr al-hayawan) also appears in the earliest extant manuscript containing al-Bakri’s ascension text, copied toward the
end of the thirteenth century (see Colby, Narrating Muhammad’s Night Journey, Appendix B).
16 Usually only John, the son of Zacharias (Yahya b. Zakariyya), appears in ascension texts. This is the only Micrajnama which includes both him and his
father Zacharias.
359
greeted them. They said: ‘Oh Muhammad, welcome. You heads. Standing next to it were many angels sitting on
have bestowed honor upon the world of heaven. May chairs.19 They were all reciting a tasbih.”
the graces of God the Most High make your prosper.”
“Leaving behind that [place], we arrived at the fourth
“Going past that [place], I saw a white sea. On the heaven. Gabriel knocked at the gate and cried out. The
shore of that sea were many angels reciting a tasbih.” angel rejoiced, and, as it opened the gate, it greeted me.
It said: ‘Oh Muhammad, welcome, may you be honored
“Passing that [place], we reached the third heaven. As by the graces of the Lord Most High.”20
soon as Gabriel knocked at the gate and cried out, an
angel asked: ‘Who are you?’ Gabriel answered: ‘I am “Leaving behind that [place], we arrived at the fifth
Gabriel, and with me is Muhammad.’ I saw that that heaven. That heaven was made of gold (altın). When
heaven was made of ruby (qızıl yaqut).17 The angel said: Gabriel knocked at the gate and spoke, that angel rejoiced
‘Oh Muhammad, may you be honored by the graces of and, as he opened the gate, saluted me. It said: ‘Welcome,
the Lord Most High.’ There were thirty thousand archangels18 oh Muhammad, you will be honored by the graces of
resembling him, and there were thirty thousand other the Lord Most High,’ [and] it uttered a prayer invocation
angels resembling each of the archangels. They all greeted (duca qıldı) for me.”
me and I returned a greeting, and they prayed on my
behalf.” “Going further, I saw in a place the prophet Ishmael,
the prophet Isaac, the prophet Aaron, and the prophet
“Passing that [place], I saw two people in a delightful Lot. I greeted them. ‘Oh Muhammad, whatever your
place. The face of one of them was as round as the full desires, tonight the Lord Most High will grant them to
moon. ‘Who are these people?,’ I asked. Gabriel answered: you in their totality,’ they said.”
‘This is the prophet Jacob with the prophet Joseph.’ I
went to greet them, and they returned my greeting and “Going past that [place], I reached a sea of fire. Gabriel
said: ‘Oh Muhammad, welcome. The Lord Most High said: ‘On the Day of Resurrection, this sea of fire will be
swore to us: ‘I will show you Muhammad.’ So a hundred thrown into hell, and the inhabitants of hell will be
thousand thanks that we saw your blessed face. Tonight, tortured by this fire.”
the Lord Most High will grant you whatever you desire.”
“Passing that [place], we arrived at the sixth heaven.
“After leaving them, I saw two other people. When I That heaven was made of pearl (inci). When Gabriel
asked Gabriel [about them], he answered: ‘One is the knocked at the gate, the gate-keeper angel greeted me
prophet David and the other is the prophet Solomon.’ I as it opened the gate. It said: ‘Oh Muhammad, welcome,
greeted them, and they returned my greeting and said: fortunate is your arrival. You have honored the world of
‘Oh Muhammad, rejoice in the graces of the Lord Most heaven. May you be honored by the favor of the Lord
High and do not forget us.’ Then they also said: ‘Thanks Most High.’ It uttered many prayers. Six hundred thousand
[be to God] that we saw your blessed face.’ They issued angels at its side were reciting a tasbih.”
many prayers on my behalf.”
“Passing that [place], I saw a pavilion.21 I saw a person
“Passing that [place], I saw on the shore of a large sea on top of that pavilion. The person’s body was hairy.
a gigantic angel that was sitting on a chair. It had seventy Surrounding him were many people. I asked: ‘Who is
17 See fn 10.
18 Literally, leading angel (sarhang feriste), a term which appears to refer to archangels or the four major angelic figures: the rooster angel, the angel of
half-fire and half-snow, the angel of daily sustenance, and the polycephalous angel of prayer.
19 The expression here is kursilar tutup, literally holding or occupying chairs. Thackston (“The Paris Micrajnama,” 270) interprets this verb as “holding
chairs,” which may explain why a number of angels appear to be carrying objects that resemble camp stools in the painting on folio 10v. This remains
unclear, however, since the gold objects represented in the painting seem to depict drums.
20 The remaining description of the fourth heaven is missing in the manuscript due to the loss of a folio between folios 19v and 22r (two pages bearing
Ottoman commentary are inserted between these folios and replace folios 20r–v and 21r–v). Moreover, the Chaghatay catchword in red ink in the lower
left corner of folio 19v does not match the first word of the text on folio 22r. As the Ottoman inserted pages serve as carriers of descriptions of paintings,
it is possible that the folio was present (and included a painting) at the time of the manuscript’s rebinding and the pages bearing comments inserted
sometime during the last few decades of the sixteenth century.
21 The term kösk is used for pavilion throughout the Chaghatay text.
360
this person?’ Gabriel answered: ‘This is the prophet prophet Abraham.’ I approached and greeted [him]. He
Moses, peace be upon him.’ I approached and greeted returned the greeting and said: ‘Oh good prophet, welcome.
[him]. Moses greeted [me] in return and said: ‘Oh May your arrival be blessed.’ Then Gabriel said: ‘Your
Muhammad, welcome, fortunate is your arrival.’ Gabriel station and the station of your communities is this place,’
said to me: ‘Proceed, ascend higher.’ At that moment, and continued: ‘Oh Muhammad, enter this house (ev)
Moses started to cry. Gabriel asked: ‘Oh Moses, why are and visit it since every day seventy thousand angels come
you crying?’ Moses answered: ‘Woe, I thought that my to this house and visit it.”27
station and my rank were higher than all others. Muhammad
has come after me and has attained a higher rank than “Then I saw a group of people, half of whom [were
I. Also, his communities22 are much more numerous than wearing] white robes and the other half [were wearing]
my communities, and his communities will enter paradise striped robes. Gabriel said: ‘These people are your
before my communities.’ A decree was delivered to Moses communities.’ Then he said to those wearing white robes:
from the Lord Most High [stating] that: ‘Oh Moses, I made ‘You too, enter with your Prophet.’ He allowed them to
you renowned in the world as My Word.23 I also saved enter, but he did not give permission to those in striped
you from your enemy’s malice.24 Why do you not give robes [to enter].”
thanks for My gift to you?”
“Passing that [place], I saw a large black sea. In looking
“Then passing that [place], I saw the prophet Noah at it my eye[s] darkened. Inside that sea I saw countless
with the prophet Enoch. I greeted them. They greeted angels. I asked Gabriel: ‘Why is the water of this sea
me in return and issued many prayers on my behalf. black?’ Gabriel answered: ‘No one except the Lord Most
‘Welcome, oh Muhammad,’ said they joyfully.” High knows the secret of this sea.’ On the sea’s shore I
saw a large angel, whose head was under the throne [of
“Going forward from that [place], we arrived in the God] and whose feet were on the earth. If the seven
seventh heaven. When Gabriel knocked at the gate and strata of the earth were placed into its mouth, they would
cried out, that gate-keeper angel rejoiced and opened disappear altogether.”
the gate. We entered. That angel said: “Oh Muhammad,
welcome. You have honored us. May you be honored ‘Passing that [place], I saw a large angel [with] seventy
as well.’ There were seven hundred thousand archangels heads, whose size equaled this world. On every head
resembling the angel in charge of that heaven. That there were seventy tongues. Day and night, it recited a
heaven was made of light (nur). There did not remain tasbih to the Lord Most High. Next to it was an angel
an empty spot the size of a house [because] the angels that was so large that if one were to place all the earth’s
were filling it up completely.” seas onto its eye, they would not reach the other eye.”
“Going beyond that [place], we arrived at a great “Leaving that [place], I saw an angel with ten thousand
pavilion. In front of that pavilion there was a large pulpit wings. Next to that angel was a sea. It was diving into
(minbar) made of emerald (yesil zabarjad).25 There was that sea and, [as] it was coming back out, it was shaking
a person with a white beard sitting atop that pulpit [and] [its wings]. From every drop of water [that fell] from its
he was leaning against that pavilion. When I asked: ‘Who wings, the Lord Most High creates an angel with His
is this?’ Gabriel answered: ‘This is your grandfather,26 the might.”
22 Throughout this text, Muhammad’s community (ummat) is almost always rendered in the plural as “communities” (ummatlar). The plural form is highly
unusual, although one finds it rendered as ummatan in the Persian text of the Ilkhanid Micrajnama dated 686/1286, as well (see Anonymous, Micrajnama).
The plural form suggests that the author of the Timurid Micrajnama purposefully selected the plural form ummatlar in order to emphasize that many
different communities follow Islam and accept Muhammad’s prophecy. Within the context of Ming-Timurid relations, this slight alteration in the text’s
language may have been intentional and used for propagandistic reasons.
23 Kalimim, or “My Word.” The epithet kalim refers to Moses’ nickname Kalim Allah, or “The One Who Speaks with God,” since he was able to converse
with God while receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.
24 This “gift” refers to the saving of Moses from the Pharaoh. See Qur’an 28; al-Kisa’i, The Tales of the Prophets, 208–243; and al-Thaclabi, cAra’is al-Majalis,
296–317.
25 See fn 9.
26 Also, great ancestor (ulug atang).
27 This building is the “Frequented House” (Bayt al-Macmur), i.e., the celestial prototype of the Kacba in Mecca. The Turkish word for house (ev) here is
equivalent to the Arabic term “bayt,” an abbreviated way to refer to the Bayt al-Macmur.
361
“Close to that angel I saw an angel with four heads: yourself.’ When I arrived at the station of proximity and
one head like a man’s head, one head like a lion’s head, prostrated myself, I saw (kördüm) the Lord Most High
another head like the head of a phoenix,28 and one head with the eye of my heart (könglüm közi bile). At that
like the head of an ox.” instant, a decree arrived from the Lord Most High, stating:
‘Raise your head, praise and glorify Me.’ I raised my head
“Passing that [place], we arrived at the Lote Tree of and exclaimed: ‘Salutations, prayers, and good deeds are
the Limit. What one calls the Lote Tree of the Limit (sidrat to God.’33 (The meaning of this is that whatever praise,
al-muntaha) is a large tree, some of whose branches are glorification, and tasbih are uttered, by whatever means
of chrysolite (zabarjad) and some of pearl (inci), with almsgiving and sacrifice [are made], and whatever acts
leaves like elephant’s ears. Its fruits are large. At the base of devotion are accomplished, they are [all] for the Lord
of the tree emerge four rivers29 that flow into four canals. Most High.) Then an oration arrived: ‘Peace be upon
Two of the canals’ tops are open, and two of the canals’ you, oh Messenger, and may God’s mercy and blessing
tops are closed. Of the two canals whose lids are open, be upon you.’ (This means: ‘May you be saved from the
one is the Nile River, which flows through the city of terror and torment of the Hereafter, and may mercy,
Cairo,30 and one is the Euphrates, which flows through blessing, and goodness be upon you.’) Then I said: ‘Peace
the city of Kufa. Of the two canals whose lids are closed, be upon us and upon God’s good servants.’ (This means:
one is the water of Salsabil, which flows in paradise, and ‘May the Lord Most High’s peace and mercy be upon me
one is the Kawthar Basin. Those two waters are whiter and also upon the worthy followers.’)”
than milk and sweeter than honey.”
“At that time, all of the angels, seeing this proximity,
“Then angels approached me and greeted me. They dignity, and sanctity, exclaimed: ‘I proclaim that there is
brought [substances] in three cups, which they offered no god but God, and I proclaim that Muhammad is His
to me. In one was milk, in another was wine, and in servant and prophet.’34 (This means that: ‘We bear witness
another was honey. I took the milk and drank it. When that the Lord Most High is One, [and that] there is no
I did not take those other two, the angels said: ‘Oh lord besides Him. We also bear witness that Muhammad
Muhammad, you did well to take and drink the milk. All is His servant [qul] and His prophet.’)”
of your communities will leave the world with faith.’ I
was greatly pleased by these words.” “A proclamation from the Lord Most High arrived,
saying: ‘Oh Muhammad, I impose upon you during night
“Then Gabriel said: ‘I do not go beyond this place.’ and day fifty prayer times. Go and prescribe these fifty
While standing in that place, he changed into his original prayer times upon your communities.’ So I accepted.
form (öz suratı). I saw him spread out six hundred wings, Then, once I went back and reached the prophet Moses,
with one fold in the east and one fold in the west. I the prophet Moses, peace be upon him, asked: ‘Oh
asked: ‘Oh Gabriel, what is this form?’ Gabriel answered: Muhammad, what did the Lord Most High order you to
‘This is my form; I was created with this form.”31 do?’ I answered: ‘Oh Moses, He prescribed fifty prayer
times per day.’ Moses said: ‘Oh Muhammad, your
“The knowledge of earthly creatures does not exceed communities will not be able to perform fifty prayers. I
the sidrat al-muntaha. It is for that reason that they call came before you and I have much experience with people.
it the Lote Tree of the Limit.”32 I suffered many wrongs at the hand of the Children of
Israel. Go again and make a petition. It is possible that
“Then Gabriel said: ‘Oh Muhammad, now go to the the Lord Most High will show benevolence and will
station of proximity (qurbat maqamı) and prostrate reduce these fifty prayers a bit.”
28 In this text, the typical third head of an eagle has been replaced by that of a phoenix (humay).
29 Literally, springs or fountains (bulaq).
30 Although the term mısır as used in this text can stand for Cairo (al-Qahira), it also refers to the country of Egypt.
31 This episode supports the common interpretation that Muhammad had a (heart) vision of Gabriel in his true form (rather than of God) at this “furthest
horizon” (Qur’an 53:11–12).
32 This sentence appears out of sequence in the text. It should have appeared three paragraphs earlier, to explain the Lote Tree of the Limit as the highest
pinnacle of human knowledge.
33 The following dialogue between God and the Prophet comprises prayer formulas and greetings in Arabic, the meanings of which are explained in
Chaghatay.
34 This is the standard shahada, or proclamation of faith, in Arabic.
362
“Then when I went, cried, and supplicated, a keep the fast for thirty days, I will grant for each day
proclamation arrived: ‘Oh Muhammad, I excuse you from a reward of ten days, which amounts to three hundred
ten prayer times. Perform forty prayer times.’ I approached days. Also, if they keep the fast for six days during the
Moses again, and, once I told Moses [what occurred], month of Shawwal, I will give them the reward of sixty
Moses said: ‘Oh Muhammad, return, plead, and beg. days, which makes the reward total three hundred and
Maybe He will concede a little more.” sixty days. Moreover, to those people I will grant
paradise.”
“When I went back, prostrated, and pleaded, the Lord
Most High showed generosity and conceded ten prayer Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “My
times. He imposed thirty prayer times. Once I returned God, You gave sovereignty to Solomon, the rod to
to Moses, Moses said: ‘Oh Muhammad, go back; He Moses, and the ability to raise the dead to Jesus.” A
certainly will concede [more]. Thirty prayer times are still proclamation (khitab) arrived: “Oh Muhammad, I made
too many.” your rank higher than [all] others. Moreover, I allowed
your communities to approach Me and have enabled
“Once I went back, pleaded, and implored, He conceded them to take part in My mercy.” [Muhammad states:]
ten prayer times. ‘Perform twenty prayer times,’ He “He said to me ninety thousand words: thirty thousand
ordered. Once I went back to Moses and told [him what about the law (sharicat), thirty thousand about the way
occurred], he said: ‘It is still too much. Your communities (tariqat), and thirty thousand about the truth (haqiqat).
will not be able to perform [these prayers]. They will God continued: ‘Tell everyone about the thirty thousand
rebel in front of the Lord. Go back and make another words about the law; tell the words about the way to
appeal. He will concede again.” those you wish or do not tell those whom you do not
wish [to tell]; and do not tell the truth to anyone who
“Once I returned and begged, He conceded ten prayer is ill-suited.”
times. ‘Perform ten prayer times,’ He ordered. I returned
to Moses’s side, and Moses said: ‘Oh Muhammad, ten “Passing that [place], I saw seventy thousand curtains,
prayer times are still too many. Your communities will some of light (nur), some of fire (ot), some of hyacinth
not be able to perform [them]. On this night, all that you (yaqut), some of pearl (inci), and some of gold (altın).
desire, the Lord Most High will grant to you. Get up, go There were seventy thousand angels guarding every
back, and ask again.” curtain. As I reached one curtain, an angel came, took
my hand, and led [me] through that curtain.”
“Once I pleaded and begged the Lord Most High, He
again conceded five prayer times. When I returned to “In this manner, I passed seventy thousand curtains
Moses’s side, Moses said: ‘If you go back once more, the and I saw the throne [of God]. It was so immense that
Lord Most High would not want to send you back next to it the seven layers of the sky and the seven strata
disappointed. Rather, He will grant success to your of the earth would not be visible at all. The Lord Most
communities.’ I rejoiced from such favor and generosity, High created it from ruby (qızıl yaqut).35 Also, many
and so accepted.” angels were circumambulating the throne [of God]. All
of them were reciting a tasbih night and day to the Lord
“Another proclamation from the Lord Most High Most High.”
arrived, saying: ‘Oh Muhammad, for everyone in your
communities who performs these five prayer times with “In a circle around the throne [of God], I saw seven
conviction, I will give him the reward of fifty prayer hundred thousand tents. Each tent was seventy times the
times. Also, when someone from your communities dimensions of this world. The distance from one tent to
resolves to perform a good deed and announces his another tent was fifty thousand years’ way. In each tent
intention, I will order the angels to record ten good five hundred thousand angels were engaged in adoration:
deeds in his book of life. If he commits an evil deed, some of them were standing, some of them were sitting,
I will order [only] one bad deed recorded. If they repent and some of them were prostrating. They were reciting
with a sincere heart, I will forgive their sins. If they a tasbih to the Lord Most High.”
35 See fn 10.
363
“Leaving those tents and intending to go up towards the four sides of hell with many kinds of desires of the
the throne [of God], I said to myself that I should take soul: wine drinking, adultery, usury, oppression, and
off my two sandals (na c layn). [At that moment] a delights. When he [Gabriel] saw these [things], he said:
proclamation arrived, saying: ‘Oh Muhammad, do not “Oh my God, I see clearly that nobody will remain who
remove your two sandals so that the blessing of your will not enter this hell.”
two sandals may reach Our throne.’ Thereupon, I climbed
up the throne [of God], I prostrated to the Lord Most Now let us return to the discussion. When the Prophet,
High, and I offered praise and tribute. And [then] I left.” peace be upon him, left the station of proximity (qurbat
maqamı), the Lord Most High ordered Gabriel: “Escort my
At this point, let us explain how the Prophet, peace friend Muhammad so that he may see the wondrous things
be upon him, witnessed paradise and hell. In his book of paradise, which are prepared for the believing servants.
entitled “The Lanterns” (al-Masabih), Imam Baghawi, Then let him observe hell’s many kinds of torments, which
God’s mercy be upon him, reported this Saying [of the are arranged for the disbelievers.” Then Gabriel said: “Oh
Prophet] rendered in Persian.36 The meaning of the Saying Muhammad, let us first look at the Kawthar Basin, which
is that paradise is accessed with difficult deeds [such as] was created for you. Afterwards, let us observe paradise.”
fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, and holy war (gaza). It is
necessary to follow many kinds of [spiritual] exercises “I said: ‘Let it be so.’ We left at once for the Kawthar
and to perform acts of devotion. Hell also is reached by Basin. I saw at the edges of the Kawthar Basin many
the soul’s desires and many kinds of wishes. The Prophet, qubbas, or domes:37 some of them of pearl (inci), some
peace be upon him, says that the Lord Most High created of them of ruby (qızıl yaqut),38 and some of chrysolite
paradise and adorned it with many kinds of good things. (zabarjad). That water’s soil was made of musk, and the
pebbles in it were made of ruby (qızıl yaqut).39 Also, its
Then a decree reached Gabriel, saying: “Go to paradise water was whiter than milk, sweeter than honey, and
and explore [it].” Gabriel went and took a look. He saw more aromatic than musk. The width of the Kawthar
that the Lord Most High, with His Own power, had Basin is one month’s journey. More numerous than the
prepared for his servants more kinds of good things than stars in the sky, cups for drinking water were [placed]
any eye had seen or any ear heard. Gabriel said: “My around it. They were made of gold (altın), silver (kümüs),
God, everyone who hears a description of this paradise hyacinth (yaqut), chrysolite (zabarjad) and pearl (inci).
will not rest until he enters [it].” The Lord Most High Whoever drinks of that water once will never feel thirsty
surrounded the four sides of paradise with hard works, again.”
i.e., fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, and war, as well as In the words of the Lord Most High, it is reported that:
moderation and humble devotion. An order arrived, “Verily, we have given you al-Kawthar, so pray to your
saying: “Unless they undergo these hardships, they will Lord and make sacrifices. Verily, he who hates you, it is
not enter this paradise.” When Gabriel saw these things, he who is abtar.” 40 The meaning of this is that: ‘Oh
he said: “Nobody will be able to enter this paradise.” Muhammad, We have given you the Kawthar Basin along
with many good things. So pray for your Omnipotent
Likewise, when the Lord Most High created hell, an [God] and make sacrifices. Whoever calls you abtar, it
order came to Gabriel, saying: “Oh Gabriel, go and also is he who is abtar. You are not abtar.”
see hell.” Gabriel saw [so] many kinds of torments and
afflictions [that] nobody would be able to describe them. By Khadija, the Prophet had a son named cAbdullah
At that moment, Gabriel said: “My God, may nobody who died at a very young age. A man by the name of
enter this hell.” After that the Lord Most High surrounded cAs went to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and offered
36 The Hadith in Persian (translated from the Arabic original) is omitted from the Chaghatay text. It must have been the Saying of the Prophet as transmitted
by Anas b. Malik: “Paradise is surrounded by hardships and hell-fire is surrounded by temptations” (see Chapter Two, fn 31).
37 Here the author explains that the term qubbalar (Turkish plural of the Arabic term qubba) means gumbadlar, or domes. This brief explanatory note
occurs a number of times in the text, especially in the dialogues between God and the Prophet.
38 See fn 10.
39 See fn 10.
40 Qur’an 108, Surat al-Kawthar.
364
him his condolences. On the way back home, he whom were sitting on chairs, and some of whom were
encountered the Quraysh disbelievers. The disbelievers holding each other’s hands and were playing. Birds were
asked: “Oh cAs, where were you?” cAs answered: “I went coming toward them and sitting atop those huris’ heads.
to offer my condolences to that abtar.” (It was an Arab On Fridays, they rode camels to visit one another and
custom to call someone whose son had died at a very they went laughing and playing. Then they greeted one
young age ‘abtar.’ However, the [proper] meaning of another.”
‘abtar’ is ‘without extension.’)
“Inside the gardens, I saw a pavilion. Many huris in
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, heard that that garden were roaming around, laughing and playing.
the disbelievers called him abtar, he became disconcerted. I asked: ‘Whose pavilion is this?’ The huris answered:
Right away Gabriel came and brought the Prophet, peace ‘This is cUmar’s pavilion.’ Then I saw Talha’s wife, Rumaysa’,
be upon him, this sura: “Oh Muhammad, the Lord Most among those huris. I asked: ‘Oh Rumaysa’, is it really
High gave you the Kawthar Basin. Give him thanks, pray, you here?’ Rumaysa’ answered: ‘Yes, oh Prophet of God.
and make sacrifices. Every person who calls you abtar, The Lord Most High showed mercy upon me and granted
that person is abtar. He will not be honored in this world [me] paradise.”
or the next. We have honored you. Until the [Day of]
Resurrection, in the call for prayer after they invoke My Then they asked the Prophet, peace be upon him:
name they will invoke your name.” When the Prophet, “How are the people of paradise?” The Prophet, peace
peace be upon him, heard this decree, his heart was be upon him, answered: “The people of paradise are the
contented. size of Adam. Adam’s height was sixty cubits. They are
the age of the prophet Jesus, and Jesus lived on earth
Then Gabriel said: “Oh [Muhammad],41 the first people [to the age of] thirty. They are beautiful like the prophet
who will drink water from this Kawthar Basin are those Joseph and their disposition is like that of the Jacob,42
who accompanied you from Mecca to Medina, those who peace be upon him. On their bodies are neither hair nor
went with you to Medina, leaving [behind] their women beard. Their eyes are painted with black eye-wash.43 In
and children. Then [will come] those who have fled from their hearts is neither jealousy nor hatred. They neither
the desire of this world, that is, [your] poor, deprived, feel pain nor grow old. They do not squat, spit, or blow
and indigent companions to whom nobody showed any their noses. No matter how many robes the huris wear,
consideration. On one side of the basin is Abu Bakr, on every one of them is visible, one under the other. Their
another side is cUmar, on another side is cUthman, and skin is visible under their robes, and their bones are
on another side is cAli. They will not give water to visible under their skin, and their marrow is visible in
whomever does not love one of the companions.” their bones. They do not feel envy. Each believer has a
tent, whose size is sixty leagues. That tent is made of
“Afterwards, Gabriel said: ‘Oh Muhammad, now let gold (altın).”
us go and visit paradise.’ When we arrived at the gate
of paradise and Gabriel knocked at the gate, the angel Then Gabriel, peace be upon him, said: “Oh Muhammad,
guarding the gate asked: ‘Who are you?’ He [Gabriel] you have seen your friends’ residences and areas. Now
answered: ‘I am Gabriel and with me is Muhammad, the [go] observe the places of the enemies of the Lord Most
Prophet of God.’ That angel rejoiced, opened the gate, High.”
and greeted us.”
“I saw that hell was terrible and frightful. At hell’s gate
“The Lord Most High created [paradise] for my I saw an angel with a dreadful and intimidating face.
communities. In a garden, I saw many huris, some of When I asked: ‘Who is this?,’ Gabriel answered: ‘His name
41 The scribe accidentally omitted Muhammad’s name (folio 47r).

42 Pavet reads “Jacob” (Mirâdj-nâmeh, 21 and Arabic transcription 32, fn 4), but Thackston (“The Paris Micrajnama,” 280) reads “Prophet” here. The confusion
is caused by the whitened word in the text, which is followed by the expression “peace be upon him.” Jacob is chosen here since it is the Prophet
himself who is speaking: he would have referred to himself as “me” and would not use the expression “peace be upon him” when speaking of himself.
43 The Chaghatay term for eye-wash (surmalıg) is equivalent to the Persian term surmeh and the Arabic kuhl. It is an ophthalmic unguent or collyrium that
is usually made of antimony trisulphide. Although its main use was as a black-colored cosmetic, it also was utilized in the production of ceramic wares
(Allan, “Abu’l-Qasim’s Treatise on Ceramics,” Iran 11 [1973], 112, 117). Calligraphers and scribes also used it to polish gold and silver (Levey, “Mediaeval
Arabic Bookmaking,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, new series, 52/4 [1962], 37–38).
365
is Malik. He is the warden of hell and its gate-keeper. who hand over Muslims to oppressors and who forcefully
Since his creation, he has never smiled at anyone or seize their goods. Because of [their] discontent, they also
spoken openly with anyone.’ I greeted him; he offered create rivalry, discord, and strife between two Muslims.”
no reply.”
“I saw another group of people in hell who were
“Gabriel said: ‘This is Muhammad.’ At that moment, hanging by chains. I asked: ‘Who are these people?’
Malik asked forgiveness from me and said: ‘Oh Muhammad, Gabriel answered: ‘These are the people who, in order
rejoice of the gifts granted to you. The Lord Most High to be honored as ascetic and virtuous, prayed hypocritically
has shown you His Own powers and has granted you in the world. Their goals consisted of worldly gain. They
His favor.’ I answered: ‘Oh Malik, blow one time on the were not concerned with the reward of the Hereafter or
fire of hell.’ Malik blew one time. I fell unconscious, and with this Day [of Judgment].”
Gabriel fainted too.”
“I saw another group of women in hell who were
“Then I saw a tree in hell. Its size was five hundred hanging by their hair. From their noses emerged of a
years’ way, its thorns were like spears, and its fruits like flurry of fire. I asked: ‘Who are these women?’ Gabriel
demons’ heads. Gabriel said: ‘This is the Zaqqum tree.44 answered: ‘These are the women who showed their hair
Its fruit is more bitter than poison. The people of hell to the na-mahram.’47 Those people who saw [their hair]
eat [of] it. It does not stay in their insides; [rather], it goes coveted them. Evil deeds occurred between them, without
right through them.” them fearing this Day [of Judgment].”
“At the base of this tree, I saw a group of people “Then I saw a group of women whose hands and feet
(bölek).45 Angels were tormenting [them by] cutting their were bound. Snakes and scorpions came, bit, and stung
tongues. Their tongues grew back again, and they cut them. I asked: ‘Who are these women?’ Gabriel answered:
[them] again. I asked: ‘Oh Gabriel, who are these people?’ ‘These did not pray and went around impure. They did
Gabriel [answered]: 46 ‘These are those learned men not know how to perform ablutions and did not ask
(culama’) who said to people: ‘do not drink wine, do someone so that they could learn. Also, they did not
not fornicate, and do not commit evil and perverse deeds,’ learn the fundamentals of prayer.”
who, not following their own principles, committed
themselves these reprehensible and wicked acts.” “I saw another group of women who were hanging
in hell by their tongues. I asked: ‘Who are these women?’
“I saw another group of people. Angels were cutting Gabriel answered: ‘These are the women who lashed
off their flesh and feeding it to them. ‘Who are these out their tongues at their husbands. They leave [their]
people?,’ I asked. Gabriel answered: ‘These are the people house[s] without permission and commit evil acts.” Then
who derided Muslims to their faces and said evil [things] the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “Paradise is the
behind their backs without fearing the Day of Resurrection.” abode of that woman who obeys the order of the Lord
Most High and who does not strike her husband with
“I saw another group of people in hell whose stomachs the tongue.”
were so enlarged that they could not walk. I asked: ‘Who
are these people?’ Gabriel answered: ‘These are the “I saw another group of people whom angels were
avaricious and greedy for gain.” tormenting by pouring poison down their throats. It [the
poison] was coming out from their posteriors. I asked:
“I saw another group of people who were being ‘What have these people done?’ Gabriel answered: ‘These
pierced with spears and tormented. I asked: ‘Who are are the people who consumed the goods of orphans
these people?’ Gabriel answered: ‘These are the people without fearing this Day [of Judgment].”
44 See Qur’an 37:62, 44:43, and 56:52.

45 This term is not gender specific.
46 The verb is missing here (folio 55r).
47 The term na-mahram applies to people beyond a licit degree of kinship.
366
“I saw another group of women who were hanging [good] deeds for the Hereafter, because hell’s torment is
by their breasts and were tortured beyond limits. I asked: brutal. Hell’s depth is [as great as the distance] between
‘Who are these women?’ Gabriel answered: ‘These women the sky and the earth. When the Lord Most High created
bore sons from their forbidden acts and, pretending they hell, he ordered the angels to stoke it for a thousand
were from their husbands, offered them inheritance and years [until] hell turned red. Then when they stoked it
took property.” for [another] thousand years, hell turned white. Then
when they stoked it for [another] thousand years, hell
“I saw another group of people around whose necks turned black. The skin of the disbelievers who enter hell
were suspended heavy millstones and whose arms were is forty cubits thick and their teeth are the size of Mount
fettered with chains. Angels were torturing them ruthlessly. Uhud. Each disbeliever occupies a spot equal to the
I asked: ‘Who are these people?’ Gabriel said: ‘These are distance between Mecca and Medina. In hell, the people
the ones who do not pay the tithe on their possessions. of hell cry so much that their faces are wrinkled with
With satisfaction in their hearts and not fearing this Day canal-like crevasses. Once the tears from their eyes stop
[of Judgment], they were not able to absolve the greediness to flow, blood begins to stream out.”
in their hearts by paying the tithe on their possessions.”
“After having looked at paradise and hell, I left. A
“I saw another group of people whose faces were proclamation from the Lord Most High arrived, saying:
blackened. Their necks and hands were fettered by chains ‘Oh Muhammad, you saw My powers. Go and tell your
and they were tortured ruthlessly. I asked: ‘Who are these communities. Pledge paradise to the believers. Instill fear
people?’ Gabriel answered: ‘These are the people who in hell’s torments to the disbelievers, hypocrites, and the
proffered flattery to the eminent [ones].” evil-doers. You, yourself, have patience and perform
devotions. Be kind in words and good in deeds. Also,
“I saw another group of people whose tongues were invoke Me in every [one of your] actions. I am Closer to
dangling from their mouths. Their heads were like pigs’ you than [you are to] your soul.48 If the disbelievers also
heads, and their legs and tails were like [those of] donkeys. invoke Me, I will not leave them in despair. Oh Muhammad,
I asked: ‘Who are these people?’ Gabriel answered: ‘These do not have an inflated heart because I do not love the
are the people who, not fearing the Lord Most High, give proud.”
false testimony.”
Afterward, Gabriel made me sit on his wing and took
“I saw some people whom they [the angels] were me to Mount Qaf. I saw Mount Qaf: it was made of
killing and revivifying, saying: ‘They shed blood without emerald (zumurrud) and it enveloped the world. Then,
permission.” with the order of the Lord Most High, Gabriel showed
me two cities on Mount Qaf. One was in the east and
“I saw some people with chains around their necks. one was in the west. One’s name was Jabalsa, and the
Angels were pouring poison down their throats and other’s name was Jabalqa. Each city had a thousand gates.
torturing them cruelly. I asked: ‘Who are these people?’ From one gate to another gate was the distance of a
Gabriel answered: ‘These drank wine and died without league. All of their [the inhabitants’] houses were of the
seeking repentance.” same size. Their places of prayer were far from their
houses, but their burial grounds were at the gates of their
“Then at the gate of hell, I saw some coffins in a place. houses.”
Inside them snakes and scorpions were emerging and
entering again. When I asked Gabriel [about them], he “I asked: ‘Who are these people?’ Gabriel answered:
answered: ‘These are people who are proud of heart, ‘These are Moses’s communities.’ Gabriel then said to
evil of nature, and haughty. These snakes and scorpions them: ‘This is Muhammad.’ They all said: ‘Thanks be to
torment them until Resurrection. They remain in agony.” the Lord Most High, Who has shown us your blessed
beauty.’ They embraced the faith. I then asked: ‘Why are
The Prophet, peace be upon him, says: “Oh my your houses the same size?’ They answered: ‘It is so
communities, always weep for fear of hell and perform because among us there is neither jealousy nor conceit.’
48 This statement is related to Qur’an 50:56: “God is closer to man than the jugular vein.”
367
I then asked: ‘Why are your places of prayer far away We protect ourselves from evil. Now, oh Muhammad,
and your burial grounds close by?’ They answered: ‘We give us [your] advice and suggestion[s].’ I said: ‘You must
built the places of prayer far away so that our rewards fear the Lord Most High. Do not have proud heart[s], and
will be many, [and] we placed the burial grounds close submit to [God’s] command.’ They all accepted.”
by so that we will no forget death.”
“I passed through and saw them all. They all believed
“Then they said: ‘Oh Muhammad, we perform prayer, in me. May the Lord Most High grant them success in
we hold fast, we are charitable to each other, we do not performing good deeds and devotions. May He deliver
have evil thoughts, we do not seek vengeance, we do them from hell’s torments and make them rejoice [in]
not speak behind [people’s backs], we respect our fathers paradise. Amen, oh Lord of the Worlds.”
and mothers, and we do not cause sorrow in their hearts.
368
A P P E N D I X II
C ATA L O G U E OF THE M A N U S C R I P T ’ S PA I N T I N G S
F. 3v: Gabriel appears to the Prophet Muhammad in F. 15r, lower: The Prophet Muhammad meets the
Mecca and announces his ascension. prophets John and Zachariah.
F. 5r: The Prophet Muhammad (on al-Buraq) and F. 15v: The Prophet Muhammad proceeds to the third
Gabriel on their journey from Mecca to Jerusalem. heaven, made of ruby.
F. 5v: The Prophet Muhammad enters the mosque (al- F. 17r: The Prophet Muhammad is welcomed by a
masjid al-aqsa) in Jerusalem, where he is welcomed by group of angels.
five prophets.
F. 17v: The Prophet Muhammad meets the prophets
F. 7r: The Prophet Muhammad leads six prophets in Jacob and Joseph.
prayer in Jerusalem.
F. 19r: The Prophet Muhammad speaks to the prophets
F. 7v: The Prophet Muhammad flies past a sea called David and Solomon.
Kawthar.
F. 19v: The Prophet Muhammad observes the
F. 9r: The Prophet Muhammad ascends to the first polycephalous angel of prayer.
heaven made of turquoise-colored enamel.
F. 22r: The Prophet Muhammad proceeds to the fourth
F. 9v: The Prophet Muhammad meets the prophet heaven.
Adam.
F. 22v, upper: In the fifth heaven, The Prophet
F. 11r: The Prophet Muhammad encounters the celestial Muhammad speaks with the prophets Ishmael, Isaac,
white rooster. Aaron and Lot.
F. 11v: The Prophet Muhammad observes the angel F. 22v, lower: The Prophet Muhammad on the shores
of half-fire and half-snow, holding two rosaries. of the Sea of Fire.
F. 13r: The Prophet Muhammad arrives at the second F. 24r: The Prophet Muhammad arrives at the sixth
heaven, made of white pearl. heaven, made of pearl.
F. 13v: The Prophet Muhammad meets the angel who F. 24v: The Prophet Muhammad approaches the prophet
apportions the sustenance of all creatures. Moses.
F. 15r, upper: The Prophet Muhammad encounters F. 26r: Moses and his followers at a structure.
the polycephalous angel of prayer.
371
F. 26v: The Prophet Muhammad encounters the prophets F. 47r: The Prophet Muhammad enters paradise.
Noah and Enoch.
F. 49r: The Prophet Muhammad observes the
F. 28r: The Prophet Muhammad flies through the amusements of the huris.
seventh heaven, made of light.
F. 49v: The Prophet Muhammad observes the huris
F. 28v: The Prophet Muhammad observes the prophet riding camels on Fridays.
Abraham, seated on a minbar.
F. 51r: The Prophet Muhammad encounters Rumaysa’,
F. 30r: The Prophet Muhammad leads prayer for the accompanied by other women in cUmar’s pavilion.
good Muslims (in white robes), while the bad Muslims
(in white- and black-striped robes) remain outside. F. 53r: The Prophet Muhammad arrives at the gate of
hell, guarded by Malik.
F. 30v: The Prophet Muhammad observes a black sea,
into which angels dive and where they reproduce through F. 53v: The Prophet Muhammad sees the zoomorphic
water droplets. tree of hell (Zaqqum) and the punishment of corrupt
culama’ (cutting of tongues).
F. 32r: The Prophet Muhammad with the polycephalous

angel of prayer. F. 55r: The punishment of hypocrites (cutting of flesh).
F. 32v: The Prophet Muhammad encounters the F. 55v: The punishment of the greedy (inflated bellies).
tetramorphic angel.
F. 57r: The punishment of those who sow discord
F. 34r: The Prophet Muhammad arrives at the Lote (spearing).
Tree of the Limit (sidrat al-muntaha).
F. 57v: The punishment of the religious hypocrites
F. 34v: The Prophet Muhammad undergoes the testing (hanging).
of the cups.
F. 59r: The punishment of women who showed their
F. 36r: The Angel Gabriel returns to his primordial hair to the na-mahram (hanging by hair).
form.
F. 59v: The punishment of women who nag their
F. 36v: The Prophet Muhammad prostrates in God’s husbands (hanging by tongues).
presence.
F. 61r: The punishment of those who steal the wealth
F. 38v: Moses intercedes to help the Prophet Muhammad of orphans (force-feeding of poison).
bargain for a reduction (takhfif) of the daily prayers from
fifty to five. F. 61v: The punishment of adulterous women (hanging
by breasts).
F. 42r: The Prophet Muhammad, helped by angels,
crosses seventy thousand veils. F. 63r: The punishment of those who do not pay alms
(yokes).
F. 42v: The Prophet Muhammad sees seven hundred
thousand tents. F. 63v: The punishment of flatterers (fettered and with
blackened faces).
F. 44r: The Prophet Muhammad prays at the the base
of God’s throne. F. 65r, upper: The punishment of those who are fearless
(pigs’ heads).
F. 45v: The Prophet Muhammad arrives at the gates
of paradise.
372
C ATA L O G U E OF THE M A N U S C R I P T ’ S PA I N T I N G S
F. 65r, lower: The punishment of those who shed F. 67v: The punishment of the haughty (coffins with
blood (cyclical killing). snakes and scorpions).
F. 65v: The punishment of those who drink wine

(force-feeding of poison).
373
A P P E N D I X III
C ATA L O G U E OF THE OTTOMAN INSCRIPTIONS

Note: This appendix brings together all of the Ottoman F. 5v: The place where, on his Apostolic Majesty’s
inscriptions in the Micrajnama, both those located on ascent, he encounters Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
the manuscript’s original folios1 and those written on F. 7r: The place where his Majesty the Messenger leads
twenty-five pages inserted either immediately before or the aforementioned prophets in prayer in Jerusalem.
after each painting.2 If no Ottoman inscription is included
on the manuscript’s original folio, the Arabic caption is F. 7v: His Majesty the Messenger leaves Jerusalem and
transcribed instead and is noted as: “(Arabic caption sees a ladder in the furthest reaches of heaven. He also
only).” sees a black sea they call Kawthar, which is suspended
in the air.
F. 3v (top): The place where Gabriel comes to the F. 9r: The Messenger of God reaches a place that is
Messenger of God3 and informs him, saying, “Tonight is turquoise in color and made of lapis lazuli, whose width
the night of ascent. God invites you to his noble presence. is a five-hundred-year journey.
Heaven’s gate is opened, and all the angels are waiting
for you.” F. 9v: During his Apostolic Majesty’s ascent he meets
the prophet Adam in the first heaven. When he greets
F. 3v (bottom): The place where Gabriel informs the him, Adam says, “Peace be with you, my pious son, my
Messenger of God, saying, “Tonight is the night of the pious prophet.” He accepts this greeting with pride.
ascent. God summons you to his noble presence. The
gates of the seven heavens are opened, and all the angels F. 11r: When the Messenger of God reached the first
are waiting for you.” heaven, he saw at the throne a white rooster, whose
head was beneath the throne and whose feet were resting
F. 4v: The Messenger of God arrived at a place whose upon the earth.
color (was) turquoise and (which was) made of rock
crystal. That is the location. F. 11v: The Messenger of God saw between the first
and second heavens an angel (made) half of snow and
F. 5r: The place where the Messenger of God mounts half of fire. In one hand was a rosary of snow and, in
al-Buraq and the angels stand in attendance to his right the other, one of fire. The heavens’ rumbling is the sound
and left beneath the banner. of that rosary.
1 Ottoman inscriptions located on the manuscript’s original folios are transcribed and translated into English in Thackston, “The Paris Micrajnama,” 286-
299.
2 Ottoman inscriptions on the manuscript’s inserted pages are transcribed and translated into English in Gruber, “The Prophet Muhammad’s Ascension
(Micraj) in Islamic Art and Literature, 1300-1600,” Appendix III, 387–412; and Scherberger, “Weitere osmanische Paraphrasierungen der Pariser Handschrift
des Miragname.”
3 The Prophet Muhammad’s name is followed with the expression “peace be upon him” or “prayers of God and peace be upon him.” For the sake of
brevity, these expressions are not included in the English translation.
377
F. 13r: The place where the Messenger of God passes F. 24v and 26r: The place where the most noble
through the second heaven, which is made of white pearl. Messenger saw the prophet Moses, who, having requested
of God exalted degrees for which none of the prophets
F. 13v: The place in the second heaven where the had ever asked, was weeping. After the Messenger of
Messenger of God reached the angel who apportions the God left, God addressed Moses, saying, “O Moses, I have
sustenance of all creatures. given you much respect and excellence. Are you not
satisfied, and are you not thankful? You ask not for a
F. 15r: The place in the second heaven where the station more exalted than any of my prophets has ever
Messenger of God saw a huge angel with seventy heads, requested.”
in each of which were seventy tongues, each of which
was reciting a tasbih. F. 26v: The place where the Messenger of God meets
Noah and Enoch and converses with them.
F. 15v: The place where the Messenger reached a
white sea, around which were many angels. F. 28r: The noble place where the Messenger of God
arrives at the seventh heaven and, along with al-Buraq,
F. 16v: The Messenger of God saw in the second sky is drenched in light.
a large angel with seventy heads, each head had seventy
tongues, each one praising God the Almighty, praised F. 28v: The noble place where the Messenger sees the
be He, with various tasbihs. That is the location. prophet Abraham, who is preaching on a pulpit of emerald.
F. 17r: The noble place where the Messenger goes up F. 30r: The place where the Messenger of God sees
to the third heaven on the night of the ascent and where two groups in the seventh heaven. One group was wearing
the angels are standing in rows, clapping their hands white clothes, and the other was wearing blotched clothes.
and saying, “Welcome, welcome, o Messenger of God.” Gabriel permits those wearing white to proceed with the
Messenger of God. He does not give permission to the
F. 17v: The noble place where, in the third heaven, the group wearing blotched clothes.
Messenger sees the prophet Jacob and the prophet Joseph.
F. 30v: The place where the Messenger of God sees
F. 19r: The place where the Messenger of God speaks a black sea filled with angels and asks Gabriel, “What
with the prophet David and the prophet Solomon. sort of sea is this?” Gabriel replies, “Aside from God no
one knows.” The Messenger of God also sees on the
F. 19v: The place where the Messenger of God sees shore of that sea an angel whose head is below the throne
a large angel with seventy heads on the shore of a sea. and whose feet are resting upon the earth.
F. 22r: The place where the Messenger of God passes F. 32r: The place where the Messenger of God sees
to the sixth4 heaven, which God has created of pure gold. an angel with seventy heads as tall as the world. In each
head were seventy tongues, and every tongue praises
F. 22v: The place where the Messenger sees Ishmael, God. He sees another angel [so large that] if all the seas
Isaac, and Lot, and where he also sees a sea of fire, and on earth were poured into one of his eyes, it would not
Gabriel informs him, saying, “On the Day of Resurrection, reach the other.
this sea will be cast into hell.”
F. 32v: The place where the Messenger of God sees
F. 24r: The place where the Prophet arrives at the fifth an angel diving into and emerging from the black sea.
heaven, and likewise at the sixth heaven, which is made It opens its wings and shakes itself, and from every drop
of pearl. God creates an angel. He also sees an angel with four
4 The Arabic caption reads “fifth.”
378
heads, one of a human, one of a lion, one of a phoenix, seventy times as large as the world, and the distance
and one of an ox. between every two was a seventy-thousand-year journey.
In every tent were fifty thousand angels occupied with
F. 34r: The most noble Messenger, arriving at the Lote devotional acts.
Tree of the Limit (sidrat al-muntaha), saw that it had
large roots, some of emerald and some of pearl, and its F. 43r: (Arabic caption only) The Messenger of God
leaves resemble elephants’ ears. It had abundant fruit, saw seventy thousand tents around the throne and each
and four rivers of gold were flowing [from it]. tent (was) seventy times the size of the earth. The distance
between each tent was a journey of seventy thousand
F. 34v: Three angels standing at the Frequented House years. In each tent, fifty thousand angels were busy with
(Bayt al-Macmur) offer the Messenger three cups: one obediences and worship. (This is) the place.
of milk, one of wine, and one of honey. He took the
milk and drank it only. Gabriel praised the Messenger F. 43v: The Messenger of God arrived at God above
of God and said, “Well done. You did not drink the wine. the throne, (where) he prostrated. That is an elevated
If you had drunk your community would have fallen into place.
error.”
F. 44r: (Arabic caption only) The arrival of the Prophet
F. 36r: The Messenger reaches a station where Gabriel and his prostration to God above the throne.
says, “Messenger of God, we are not permitted to pass
beyond this station. This is the station of proximity.” So F. 45v: The Prophet sees the pool of Kawthar, which
saying, [Gabriel] returns to his original form. is made of ruby, emerald, and partly of pearl.
F. 36v: Muhammad reaches the station of proximity, F. 46r: The Messenger of God visited the Kawthar Pool
and Gabriel indicates that this is the station of proximity (and) saw the high domes. Some were made of ruby,
and says, “Prostrate yourself.” The Messenger prostrates some of emerald, and some of white pearl. That is the
to God and says, “I saw God with my heart’s eye.” noble location.
F. 38v: Moses asks Muhammad what he was commanded F. 47v: (Arabic caption only) The Prophet comes to
to do when he saw God. Muhammad said, “He commanded the gate of paradise, the gatekeeper opens the gate, and
fifty prayers at fifty times [a day].” When [Moses] said, the Prophet rejoices in paradise.
“Your community is not capable of this much. Ask for a
reduction,” Muhammad requested that it be reduced. As F. 48r: The Prophet arrived in the middle of heaven.
this request was repeated several times, forty-five were The pavilions were of ruby and their balconies of emerald.
forgiven, ten at a time, and the five times were established. That is the noble location.
F. 41v: The Messenger of God saw seventy thousand F. 48v: The Messenger of God saw a garden in the
veils, some of light, some of rubies, some of pearls, and middle of paradise, in which there were many huris.
some of gold. At each veil, there were seventy thousand Some were sitting on chairs and some were playing with
angels, each of whom took the Pophet of God´s hand and each other. That is the location.
made him pass from one veil to the next veil. That is the
location. F. 49r: (Arabic caption only) The Prophet also sees in
the midst of paradise a orchard in which is a large group
F. 42r: (Arabic caption only) The Prophet sees seventy of huris, some seated on chairs and others playing together.
thousand veils, some of light, some of fire, some of
ruby, some of pearl, and some of gold. Within each veil F. 49v: The Prophet sees the huris on Friday as they
were seven thousand angels, and each of the angels are riding on camels, laughing, and calling out welcome
took the Prophet by the hand and led him from that to each other as they proceed.
veil to the next.
F. 50r: The Messenger of God saw the huris in paradise
F. 42v: (Arabic caption only) The Prophet sees around on Friday. They were riding camels, greeting one another,
the throne seventy thousand tents, each of which was laughing, playing, and strolling around.
379
F. 50v: The Messenger of God saw a great pavilion in F. 56v: These are the depictions of that group (of men)
paradise, in which there were many huris. He asked: that inform oppressors against Muslims, causing them
“Whose place is this?” They answered: “It is cUmar’s.” undeserved punishment. It is also the description of
people who cause civil discords between Muslims and
F. 51r: (Arabic caption only) The Prophet sees a huge pit them one against another. This is the way they suffer
palace in which is a large group of beautiful huris. He torment on the Day of Resurrection.
asks, “Whose is this palace?” They say, “It is Umar’s.”
F. 57r: (Arabic caption only) A description of men
F. 52v: This is a description of the gate of hell and a who slander Muslims in order to seize their property
depiction of the demon of hell. The Lord of the Prophets unjustly, and of those who cast sedition among Muslims.
talked to the demon and told him: “Stir up the fire of
hell once.” When it moved, various fires surfaced. The F. 57v: (Arabic caption only) A description of men
Prophet and Gabriel were astonished. That is the location. who pray hypocritically and without sincerity.
F. 53r: (Arabic caption only) A description of the gate F. 58r: The descriptions of those people who pray
of hell and a picture of Malik. The Prophet says, “Malik, hypocritically in the face (of others), but neglect it while
make the fire of hell blaze up once.” The Prophet and alone. This is the way they suffer torment on the Day of
Gabriel are overcome by awe. Resurrection. God help us!5
F. 53v: A description of the Zaqqum tree. Its branches F. 58v: These are the descriptions of those women
resemble spears, and its fruits resemble scorpions’ and who do not hide from the na-mahram, do not hide their
lions’ heads. Also a description of those who do not act hair locks, let their hair grow long on their necks, not
in accordance with their knowledge and who, disregarding covering it and showing it to people. They do not avoid
good advice, do not eschew their bad actions. illicit and unreasonable acts.
F. 54r: The description of the Zaqqum tree. Its branches F. 59r: A description of those women who do not flee
resemble spears and its fruit looks like the heads of from the na-mahram and those who do not cover their
scorpions and lions. (Here) are the images of those who tresses and display the hair on the back of their head to
do not behave with knowledge, do not follow the people and who do not refrain from irrational, unlawful
admonitions of the culama’, and seek carnal desires. crimes. On (the Day of) Resurrection they [the demons]
will torment them in this manner.
F. 54v: This is a description of that group (of people)
who smile at peoples’ faces, commit evil acts behind F. 59v: On (the Day of) Resurrection, they [the demons]
their backs, and carry out hypocrisy. will torment in this manner those women who wag their
tongues at their husbands, go out without permission,
F. 55r: (Arabic caption only) A description of men and engage in corrupt acts.
who laugh and joke at people and who gossip about
them hypocritically. F. 60r: These are the women who lash out their tongues
at their husbands, leave without permission, and are
F. 55v: (Arabic caption only) A description of men who involved in corrupt acts. This is the way they suffer
give their gold for usury and who reap the profits of usury. torment on the Day of Resurrection.
F. 56r: These are the depictions of that group (of people) F. 60v: These are the depictions of those who swallow
who use their possessions in transaction and gain interest. up the possessions of orphans. Torment is caused by
This is the way they suffer torment on the Day of Resurrection. pouring Zaqqum (liquid) down their throats.
5 Arabic: “God forbid,” or, “We seek refuge in God” (nacudhu billah).
380
F. 61r: Pictures of how tormentors on (the Day of) F. 64v: The wrongful witnesses again burn in hell
Resurrection will pour Zaqqum (liquid) down the throats on the Day of Resurrection. Their heads become like
of those who expropriate the possessions of orphans. pigs’ heads. Their tongues hang one karıs to the side
and they have tusks one karıs long.6 They pant and
F. 61v: (Arabic caption only) A description of women some [demons] wind up their tongues, roll back their
who bear children by someone other than their lawful necks and beards by their hands. They assail them with
husbands and allow them to inherit. drawn [literally, “naked”] swords and torment them in
various ways.
F. 62r: These are the depictions of the kind of women
who commit adultery with others and force their husbands F. 65r: (Arabic caption only) A description of men
to feed the bastard by telling them it is theirs. When their who give false testimony and bear false witness.
men die, they help the bastard they acquired (at the
detriment) of the rightful heirs. This is the way they suffer F. 65v: (Arabic caption only) A description of men
torment on the Day of Resurrection. They hang them on who die unrepentant of [having imbibed] wine.
hooks from their breasts. It is appropriate and deserved.
F. 66r: On the Day of Resurrection, may they pour
F. 62v: These are the descriptions of those who do not Zaqqum (liquid) down the throats of those who drink
give alms on their possessions. That demon gathers them wine and die without repenting.
together, heats them up with fire, makes rings around
their necks, which burn like branding. That is the way F. 66v: These are the descriptions of that kind of
torture in hell should occur. God help us, God help us! (people) proud and haughty toward others and whose
moral qualities are useless. When they die with these
F. 63r: (Arabic caption only) A description of men degraded qualities, may God torment them with snakes
who have not given alms on their possessions. and scorpions on the Day of Resurrection.
F. 63v: (Arabic caption only) A description of men F. 67v: (Arabic caption only) A description of men
who honor princes hypocritically. who are haughty and whose morals are bad and who
are overbearing with people. When they die, God will
F. 64r: These are those who hypocritically show respect torment them with scorpions and snakes on the Day of
to rulers and the culama’. They feel animosity in their Resurrection.
hearts and act with hypocrisy. On the Day of Resurrection,
chains [are attached] to their necks and feet, and their
faces are blackened.
6 The karıs is a span equal to the space between the tip of the outstretched thumb and that of the little finger.
381
A P P E N D I X IV
T H E M I CR A J N A M A ’ S R E C E P T I O N IN FRENCH
S C H O L A R LY C I R C L E S
Annie Berthier
Curator, Department of Manuscripts
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
THE MANUSCRIPT’S ARRIVAL IN FRANCE of the King’s Library that is visible on several pages of
the manuscript dates prior to 1735.
“Jeudy 14 janvier, je fis marché pour Son Excellence
d’un livre intitulé: Les merveilles des créatures, écrit en PÉTIS DE LA CROIX’S DESCRIPTION OF THE MANUSCRIPT
charactères kiufi, avec 66 figures représentant diverses
actions fabuleuses de Mahomet. Il fut acheté 25 piastres.”1 François Pétis de La Croix (1653–1713), the King’s
secretary-interpreter of Oriental languages, was asked
With these words Antoine Galland (1646–1715) recorded by Colbert to write a description of the manuscript.
the circumstances under which the Timurid Micrajnama Although Pétis de La Croix, like Galland, was an
was acquired in Constantinople in 1672. At this time indefatigable traveler through many countries in the
Galland was in the Ottoman city for diplomatic reasons, Middle East and a capable speaker of numerous languages,
in the service of “His Excellency,” Marquis Charles-François he was unable to decipher the manuscript’s Uighur script.
Olier de Nointel, French ambassador to the Sublime Porte. Instead, he based his description of the paintings on the
Principally known for his French translation of The Arabic captions included in the volume, as well as on
Thousand and One Nights, published in 1704, Galland the Ottoman Turkish inscriptions on the pages inserted
is not always given due credit for his many contributions into the manuscript at a later date. Pétis’ description of
to the growing field of Oriental studies. He played a key about thirty pages was bound into the volume at the
role in acquiring manuscripts for the King’s Library and end of the seventeenth century, and, until 1980, it
the library of Minister Colbert, and he belonged to a circle comprised folios 266r to 283v of the manuscript. (Pétis’
of scholars who were passionately interested in texts description can still be seen in the microfilm that was
written in languages and scripts not widely read in Europe. made prior to this date.) In 1980 the manuscript was
In order to make these texts known to their contemporaries, restored and Pétis description removed, at which time
these scholars wrote a number of grammar books and the description was classified separately as “Supplément
dictionaries. In turn, these Oriental texts were the objects turc 190 bis.” The Bibliothèque nationale de France
of intense research because they frequently posed problems (BnF) also holds a more legible copy of Pétis’ description,
of interpretation and translation. Although still in its produced by Michel Le Roux and dated 1740, classified
formative stage, scholarship produced at this time bears as “Français 25383.”
witness to the deep interest in furthering the discipline
of Oriental studies. Pétis’ description is of interest for two reasons: first,
because it testifies to the history of the manuscript’s
In 1675 the Micrajnama manuscript, which was offered scholarly study and, second, because it provides evidence
by Nointel to Colbert, entered the latter’s library under of the folios’ organization when the manuscript first
accession number 2367. In 1732 it entered the King’s arrived in France. Furthermore, the document also helps
Library (Bibliothèque du Roi) once the minister’s library us to identify the subjects of paintings that have since
was absorbed into the royal collections. The seal impression disappeared.
1 Galland, Voyage à Constantinople (1672–1673), vol. 1, 29.
385
Pétis himself wrote notes in minute script next to Not counting its initial sarloh (folio 1v), the Micrajnama
the paintings on the original folios of the manuscript. in its present form includes sixty paintings on fifty-seven
His annotations assign numbers to each painting, and, folios, that is, fifty-four folios decorated with a single
on one occasion (on folio 282r), he also points out that painting and three folios decorated with two paintings
there is a four-folio lacuna in the manuscript. He writes: (folios 15r, 22v, and 65r). Pétis’ text describes sixty-four
“2367. Codex Tartaricus seu Mogolicus in quo describitur paintings, while Galland’s counts a total of sixty-six
iter Mohammedis ad coelum authore Ferdad eddin (probably because he includes the two illuminated sarlohs
Aktar. Absolvitur figuris 64 sed desiderantur 4, nimirum in his tally). Therefore, four paintings are missing today,
19m, 20m, 21m, 22m. Scriptus est ante annos 300 aut and this four-folio lacuna (folios 19, 20, 21, and 22) is
etiam 400. Juxta Cl. v. D de La Croix, videtur ad mentioned in the Latin description of the manuscript.
Ginguiscani datum tempus referendus. Quoad characterem
vida Hydam in alphabethis. Sunt autem Tartaricâ ac The manuscript retains an older system of foliation
ninchanâ praesertim scripturâ Libri quam plurimi in written in Arabic numerals, running from numbers 1 to
Bibliothecâ Regiâ.” 35, of which folios 10 and 11 are missing. For a concordance
of folio numbers, see the chart at the end of this appendix.
THE MANUSCRIPT AND ITS PAINTINGS IN 2007
SCHOLARSHIP ON THE MICRAJNAMA
The manuscript is held in the Department of Oriental
Manuscrits at the BnF as “Supplément turc 190.” It is a In the preface to his edition of the Micrajnama published
single volume measuring 34 x 24.5 cm and containing in 1882,2 Pavet de Courteille offers a brief synopsis of
265 folios. The manuscript is covered in an Ottoman scholarship concerning the manuscript during the few
binding of brown morocco, which is decorated with a decades prior to his own research. His motivation for
dry-stamped central medallion shaped like a mandorla. surveying historical responses to the volume seems to
The volume includes two texts in Chaghatay Turkish, have been to underscore the many problems related to
both of which are transcribed in Uighur script: the manuscript’s language and script. He notes that the
Micrajnama prompted a series of questions, to which a
1) The illustrated Micrajnama, which bears neither number of scholars active both in France and abroad put
an author’s nor a translator’s name. It comprises folios themselves to the task of answering. Copies of the
1v to 68r. Of these folios, thirty-three are pages inserted manuscript were sent to scholars of Oriental literature
at a later date, while the remaining thirty-five are original in the Middle East; these queries, however, remained
to the manuscript. unanswered. In France, Etienne Fourmont (1683–1745),
author of the first Chinese grammar (1742), thought that
2) A second text, which is much longer and unillustrated, the manuscript was written in Tartar-Manchu. Finally, the
comprises folios 69v to 264v. The text is a Turkish sinologist J. P. Abel-Rémusat (1788–1832), curator of
translation of the Tazkirat al-Awliya’ of the Persian poet Oriental manuscripts at the BnF (at this time known as
Farid al-Din cAttar. It is only at the end of this second the Royal Library) in 1824, appears to have been the first
text, on folio 264v, that we find a colophon with the scholar to finally decipher parts of the Uighur text.
name of the scribe, Haru Malik Bakhshi (Malik Bakhshi Thereafter, Amédée Jaubert (1779–1847), Director of the
of Herat), the date of completion (10 Jumada II 840, or College of Oriental Languages (Ecole des langues orientales)
December 1436 to January 1437), and the city of production, in 1838, included excerpts of the Uighur text in Arabic
Herat. transliteration in his Eléments de grammaire turque,
published in 1823 and 1833.
Both texts bear identical text frames, and their illuminated
sarlohs (headpieces) appear to have been executed by According to an inventory of the Turkish collections
a single hand. In both works, the sarlohs include titles (Supplément turc 1233) undertaken by Joseph-Toussaint
transcribed in Uighur script, quite possibly by the same Reinaud (1795–1867), curator in the department of Oriental
calligrapher. Manuscripts at the BnF (at this time known as the Imperial
2 See Pavet de Courteile, Mirâdj-Nâmeh (1882); and idem, Mirâdj-Nâmeh (1975).
386
T H E M I CR A J N A M A ’ S R E C E P T I O N I N F R E N C H S C H O L A R LY C I R C L E S
Library), we know that the volume still included sixty- livre Leilet el Mirage, écrit en caractère extraordinaire,
four paintings around 1855. On folios 161–162 of his qui est de la Bibliothèque de Monseigneur Colbert. Par
inventory note, Reinaud writes: “Manuscrit en caractères La Croix, Secr. Interprète du Roy“.
ouïgours. Ce volume précieux renferme deux ouvrages.
Le premier est la relation de la nuit du Miradj ou de Leilet el Mirage. La Nuit de l’Ascension.
l’ascension nocturne de Mahomet au ciel ... traduite de
l’arabe. La version turque est accompagnée de figures Ce livre traitte de la Religion Mahométane et de l’histoire
enluminées au nombre de soixante-quatre. Chaque figure de Mahommed : L’on en juge non seulement par les
est accompagnée de l’explication en langue turque, mais inscriptions turquesques et arabesques qui y sont, mais
répétée deux fois en caractères arabes et en caractères encore par les mots que l’on a pû lire dans le caractere
ouïgours. Cette explication diffère même en quelques extraordinaire dont il est écrit ; par exemple on lit assez
points. Les titres en caractères arabes ont été traduits en aisément au quarante quatrième et quarante cinquième
français par Pétis de La Croix. On en trouve un exemplaire tableau la profession de foy des mahométans, qui est
écrit de la main de Pétis de La Croix à la fin du volume. peinte dans la mignature en lettres majuscules. Le caractère
Les figures enluminées représentent les diverses avantures en est fondamentalement arabe et est ancien, non pas
[sic] qui arrivèrent à Mahomet dans son voyage miraculeux. de celuy que nous appelons ordinairement ancien arabe,
Les objets qui s’y trouvent s’éloignent quelquefois de dont l’on a quelques livres écrits de cinq à six cents ans,
l’opinion commune ; par exemple, on y voit Mahomet mais d’une autre ancienne écriture qu’on appelle Coufique,
parcourant les divers cieux, monté sur la jument alborak, dont les peuples de Coufa se servoient pour le distinguer
tandis que la plupart des auteurs arabes rapportent que des autres arabes ; et plusieurs figures de leurs lettres
cette jument fut laissée par Mahomet à Jérusalem et que approchoient beaucoup du caractère Caldaïque qui étoit
le prophète ne la revit qu’après être descendu du ciel ; originairement syriaque. La ville de Coufa est située sur
de plus, on y représente Mahomet le visage découvert les rives de l’Euphrate au 31e degré 30 minutes de latitude
au lieu qu’ordinairement on lui couvre par respect la et éloignée de Bagdad d’environ cinq petites journées
figure. Une autre histoire de l’ascension nocturne de de caravane : Le païs de Coufa a presque toujours tenu
Mahomet en vers turcs se trouve dans l’ancien fonds de pour le party d’Aly contre celuy des autres Kalifes ; ce
la Bibliothèque du roi ; voyez au n° 257. On pourrait fut à environ deux lieues de Coufa que la grande querelle
comparer les deux ouvrages. Le second ouvrage renfermé pour le Kalifat fut décidée par la mort de Hussein fils
dans ce volume est intitulé Tezkiret el-evliya ou Vie de d’Aly, tué par les gens du Kalife usurpateur qui étoit de
saints. C’est une espèce de biographies de soixante et la famille d’Ommie : Le lieu ou la chose arriva étoit
douze scheikhs et imams qui se sont distingués dans la nommé Kerbela : C’est un des principaux pelerinages
voie du Seigneur [...] On peut consulter sur le manuscrit des Persans et autres Schaïs, et on le nomme dans le païs
ouïgour les recherches sur les Tartares par Mr Abel- presentement Imam Hussein parce que le tombeau de
Rémusat, p. 252, 259 et suivantes. Ce savant a pris la ce Prince y est : et il y en a mesme qui veulent qu’Aly y
peine de lire tout l’ouvrage pour se faire une juste idée soit enterré. Le premier traitté de ce livre se nomme Leilet
de la phraséologie des ouïgours dans le 15e siècle de el Mirage, la Nuit de l’Ascension. C’est la description d’un
notre ère. Mr Jaubert a cité des fragmens [sic] du même voyage que Mahommed se vante d’avoir fait de La Mecque
ouvrage à la suite de sa grammaire turque ...” en [sic] Jérusalem et au Ciel et il l’a voulu faire croire à
ses sectateurs comme un de ses plus grands miracles :
It is thanks to Abel Pavet de Courteille that the Il est marqué dans l’Alcoran, mais il n’y est pas particularisé
manuscript’s script and language were finally solved. He et ce sont les Commentateurs et les faux dévots des
transcribed the text into Arabic script and published it Musulmans qui y ont adjouté toutes les badineries dont
alongside a French translation in 1882. His study has les tableaux de ce livre sont remplis : Il y en a soixante
since been republished (1975) and remains an essential et quatre, en voicy l’interprétation.
work for scholars today.
1er Tableau [f. 3r] : Ce tableau représente l’Ange
TRANSCRIPTION OF PÉTIS DE LA CROIX’S DESCRIPTION OF Gabriel qui vient annoncer à Mahommed que cette mesme
THE MANUSCRIPT (BNF, SUPPLÉMENT TURC 190 BIS) nuit en laquelle il luy parloit étoit celle de son ascension
en Ciel; Dieu (luy dit-il) t’ordonne de paroitre devant sa
“Traduction des inscriptions en langue turquesque, Majesté ; la Porte des Sept Cieux est ouverte et tu es
qui marquent le sujet des soixante et quatre tableaux du attendu par tous les Anges ; lève toy de ton lit, ô Envoyé
387
de Dieu et nous en allons. [in the margins] : Il y a dans Ciel du trône et dont les pieds touchoient le terre. [in the
le texte : “Gabriel sur qui soit le salut. Mahommed sur margins] : Les Mahométans croient que quand ce Coq
qui soit la miséricorde et la paix” ce que je ne répéteray chante, il fait chanter tous les Coqs du monde. Ils ont
plus pour Mahommed, non plus que les termes figurés pris cela des Juifs.
qui sont employés pour le nommer.
9e Tableau [f.11v] : Mahommed étant entre le premier
2e Tableau [f. 9r] : Mahommed est représenté dans et le second Ciel vit un Ange dont la moitié étoit de neige
un lieu qui étoit de la couleur des turquoises ; Il y trouva et l’autre moitié de feu ; ce mesme Ange tenoit en l’une
une pierre naturellement émaillée et dont l’élévation et de ses mains un chapelet aussy de neige et en l’autre un
la hauteur étoient telles qu’il auroit falu cinq cents journées qui étoit de feu ; et l’inscription marque que le bruit du
de marche pour arriver à son sommet. tonnerre vient du mouvement des grains de ces chapelets
lorsque l’Ange s’en sert.
3e Tableau [f.7r] : Le tableau qui est le 3e en ordre
est transposé ; il le faut mettre le sixième. Mahommed 10e Tableau [f.19r] : La conférence que Mahommed
est peint dans Jérusalem au milieu de plusieurs Prophètes eut avec les prophètes Daniel et Salomon est représentée
qu’il y rencontra. [in the margins] : Les commentateurs dans ce tableau. [in the margins] : Sur lesquels soit la
disent que ces Prophètes y avoient été envoyés de Dieu paix.
exprès pour l’y recevoir.
11e Tableau [f.19v] : Mahommed étant arrivé au bord
4e Tableau [f.7v] : Mahommed est représenté sortant d’une Mer apperceut un Ange d’une grandeur extraordinaire
de Jérusalem et l’inscription marque que ce fut en ce lequel avoit soixante et dix testes.
temple qu’il vit une échelle qui touchoit les Cieux et une
Mer noire Guther qui étoit suspendue dans les airs ; [in 12e Tableau [f.13r] : Mahommed est représenté arrivant
the margins] : L’échelle n’est point peinte dans le tableau. au second Ciel que Dieu avoit créé d’une perle blanche.
5e Tableau [f.5r] : Mahommed sur son Borac a sous 13e Tableau [f.13v] : Mahommed alla voir dans ce
son enseigne à droite et à gauche quantité d’Anges prêts second Ciel l’Ange qui a la commission de pourvoir aux
à luy rendre tous les services dont il aura besoin. [In the nécessitéz de toutes les créatures.
margins] : Borac est la monture sur laquelle les Mahometans
croient que Mahommed fit son voyge ; Il est marqué 14e Tableau [f.13r] : Dans ce second Ciel, Mahommed
dans le livre Kitab Agar, cité par Guadagnole, que cet apperceut un Ange qui avoit soixante et dix testes, chaque
animal étoit blanc, qu’il étoit plus grand qu’un âne et teste soixante et dix langues, et chaque langue proférant
plus petit qu’un mulet, et qu’il seroit le premier des soixante et dix sortes de louanges en honneur de Dieu.
animaux qui jouiroit de la gloire du Paradis ; d’autres
outre cela luy donnent un visage de fille. 15e Tableau [f.13r] : L’inscription de ce tableau n’est
ny en turc ny en arabe.
6e Tableau [f.9v] : Mahommed étant monté trouva
dans le premier Ciel le Prophète Adam qu’il salua et avec 16e Tableau [f.15v] : L’on a représenté Mahommed
lequel il eut quelque entretien ; Adam luy rendant le en ce tableau comme prenant son chemin vers la Mer
salut luy souhaitta la paix en l’appelant son fils et le Blanche au bord de laquelle il trouva plusieurs Anges.
reconnoissant pour Prophète ; et c’est cette honorable
réception qui est peinte en ce tableau. 17e Tableau [f.17r] : Mahommed en cette mesme nuit
de son ascension monta au troisième Ciel où il vit plusieurs
7e Tableau [f.5v] : La visite et l’entretien que Mahommed troupes d’Anges mis en ordre pour l’y recevoir et le
qui est l’appuy de la prophétie eut dans son ascension féliciter sur sa bienvenue.
avec Abraham, avec Moïse et avec Jésus Christ sont
représentés dans ce tableau. [in the margins] : Il y a dans 18e Tableau [f.17v] : Ce fut dans ce troisième Ciel où
le texte “sur lesquels soit la Paix”. Mahommed vit les Prophètes Jacob et Joseph.
8e Tableau [f.11r] : Dans le premier Ciel où étoit arrivé 19e Tableau [lacuna] : L’on voit dans ce tableau
Mahommed, il vit le Coq blanc qui avoit la teste sous le comme Mahommed arriva au quatrième Ciel et comme
388
les Anges qui s’y rencontrèrent demeurèrent en sa présence

les mains croisées à la manière des Esclaves devant leurs 29e Tableau [f.22v] : Et la seconde partie marque une
Maîtres. Mer de feu que l’Ange Gabriel dit à Mahommed devoir
s’épandre et couler dans les Enfers au jour du jugement.
20e Tableau [lacuna] : Mahommed passa jusques à
un Palais qui est nommé dans le titre de ce tableau Beit 30e Tableau [f.28r] : L’on voit en ce Tableau Mahommed
el Mamoureh, maison de visite et d’habitation, où il qui entre dans le Septième Ciel avec son Borac et il est
conféra avec Jésus Christ et où il trouva une troupe de comme abymé dans la lumière dont ce Ciel est composé.
soixante et dix mille Anges qui tous les jours faisoient
garde à l’entour de ce Palais. 31e Tableau [f.28v] : Mahommed est représenté comme
assistant à un sermon que faisoit Abraham assis sur un
21e Tableau [lacuna] : Mahommed étant sorty du trône d’émeraudes.
Palais qui est peint dans le tableau précédent alla s’entretenir
avec l’Ange Izraiil, et c’est la conférence qu’ils eurent qui 32e Tableau [f.30r] : Ce tableau fait voir deux sortes
est figurée dans celuy-cy. de gens que Mahommed vit entrer dans le septième Ciel
; il y en avoit une troupe toute habillée de blanc, et une
22e Tableau [lacuna] : Mahommed étant prest d’entrer autre vêtue d’alagea, c’est-à-dire d’étoffes de différentes
en une Mer toute blanche, l’Ange Gabriel l’avertit que couleurs ; la première eut permission de l’Ange Gabriel
cette Mer étoit composée de neige. de suivre Mahomed là où il iroit, mais la seconde ne
pouvant pas l’obtenir ne passa pas outre. [in the margins]
23e Tableau [f.24r] : L’inscription de ce tableau ne : C’est la raison principale pourquoy les Mahométans
marque point ce que Mahommed fit au cinquième Ciel portent le Turban blanc et ne permettent point aux autres
; il y a seulement qu’après avoit été au cinquième Ciel, de le mettre.
il alla au sixième, et que ce cinquième étoit composé de
perles. 33e Tableau [f.30v] : L’on a représenté en ce tableau
une Mer noire toute remplie d’Anges ; Mahommed
24e Tableau [f.24v] et 25e Tableau [f.26r] : Le Peintre a demanda à l’Ange Gabriel quelle mer c’étoit, mais il n’en
voulu marquer dans ce tableau et dans celuy qui le suit, eut point d’autre réponse sinon qu’il n’y avoit que Dieu
qui ne doivent faire qu’un, la jalousie que Moïse conceut qui le sceut ; et aussy tôt qu’il fut arrivé sur ses bords, il
voyant la gloire où Dieu élevoit Mahommed ; lequel ne fit apperceut un Ange d’une grandeur si prodigieuse que
point paroitre lorsqu’il vit Moïse qu’il espérât aucune chose la tête touchoit le Ciel empirée et ses pieds étoient sur
ny de luy, ny des autres Prophètes, parce qu’il attendoit la terre.
tout de Dieu ; Moyse en pleura et quand Mahommed n’y
fut plus, Dieu luy fit un discours dans lequel il luy représenta 34e Tableau [f.32r] : Il est marqué dans ce tableau
tous les grands avantages qu’il luy avoit faits, sans qu’il l’en que Mahommed vit un autre Ange aussy grand que le
eut remercié comme il faut ; et ce pendant qu’il ne laissoit Monde, qui avoit soixante et dix testes, chaque teste
pas de vouloir encore obtenir des degréz d’honneur et de soixante et dix langues avec chacune desquelles il louoit
gloire qu’aucun des Prophètes n’avoit jamais demandés. la Majesté de Dieu en toute sorte de langage ; mais outre
cela, il en vit un autre qui épandoit les eaux de toutes
26e Tableau [f.26v] : Ce tableau représente l’entretien les Mers devant ses yeux, affin de joindre en sa présence
de Mahommed avec le Patriarche Noë et avec Enoc, qui l’un et l’autre Monde.
y est nommé Edris.
35e Tableau [f.32v] : Il paroit deux Anges en ce tableau,
27e Tableau [f.22r] : L’entrée de Mahommed au sixième l’un que Mahommed vit presque abymé dans la Mer noire
Ciel est figurée dans ce tableau et l’inscription marque qui s’élevoit en batant des ailes, et l’autre qui avoit quatre
que ce Ciel avoit été créé de pur or. faces, l’une d’homme, l’autre de lion, la troisième d’aigle
et la quatrième de taureau.
28e Tableau [f.22v] : L’inscription turquesque de ce
tableau sert pour deux ; et ainsy a deux parties; la première 36e Tableau [f.34r] : Cet arbre si célèbre nommé Seder
représente seulement la visite que Mahommed rendit el munteha que Mahommed vit dans le Paradis est peint
dans ce Ciel à Ismaël, à Isaac et à Loth. dans ce tableau ; une partie de ses branches étoit
389
d’émeraudes et l’autre de nacques [sic] de perles et ses temps auxquels les Mahométans prient. [f. 42 has been
fueilles [sic] ressembloient aux oreilles des chameaux ; omitted by Pétis]
il y avoit beaucoup de beaux fruits et quatre grands
fleuves couloient sous l’étendue de ses branches. [in the 41e Tableau [f.42v] : L’inscription de ce tableau porte
margins ] : Cet arbre est nommé ailleurs Chedger el toula, que Mahommed vit aux côtéz du trône de Dieu soixante
le grand arbre par excellence, parce qu’il doit couvrir et dix mille pavillons, chacun desquels étoit soixante et
tout le paradis selon les Mahométans. dix mille fois aussy spacieux que le monde et l’autheur
dit que chaque pavillon étoit éloigné de celuy qui luy
37e Tableau [f.34v] : Ce tableau fait voir trois anges étoit le plus proche d’autant de chemin que l’on en
du Palais nommé Beit mamour qui tiennent en leurs pourrait faire en soixante et dix mille ans, et que tous
mains les trois tasses de lumière qu’ils présentèrent à ceux qui étoient sous ces pavillons étoient continuellement
Mahommed ; dans la première il y avoit du laict, dans occupez a exécuter les ordres de Dieu et à l’adorer.
la seconde du vin, et dans la troisème du miel ; Mahommed
prit seulement celle où il y avoit du laict qu’il but sans [42e Tableau has been omitted by Pétis]
toucher aux deux autres ; Gabriel l’en félicita et luy dit
qu’il avoit bien fait de n’avoir point beu de vin parce 43e Tableau [f.44r] : L’inscription de ce tableau fait
que s’il en avoit bu, son peuple assurément seroit tombé entendre que Mahommed adora la Majesté de Dieu sur
dans l’erreur. [in the margins] : Cette fable appuye le son trône et que pour cela il monta sur ce trône au côté
dogme qui deffend l’usage du vin aux Mahométans. mesme de la divine Majesté.
38e Tableau [f.36r] : Ce Tableau représente Mahommed 44e Tableau [f.45v] : Ce tableau représente Mahommed
arrivé en un lieu au delà duquel il ne devoit pas aller en se promenant et se divertissant sous la conduitte de l’Ange
l’équipage où il étoit ; l’Ange Gabriel luy dit : “O Messager dans un lieu de plaisir dont les apartemens avoient des
de Dieu, ne passés pas outre en la posture où vous êtes domes voutéz et étoient bâtis de pierres précieuses ; les
; il ne vous est pas permis ; le lieu où vous avés à entrer uns étoient de rubis, les autres d’émeraudes, et les autres
est le Moqam Qaribet, c’est-à-dire le lieu qui est destiné de la matière des perles ; ce palais est nommé dans le
pour les plus familiers amis de Dieu ; et cet avertissement Turc Haouz Gutheri et dans l’Arabe Haoud el Guther ou
fut cause qu’il se remit en son premier état. el Kibab ; et c’est en ce lieu qu’étoit le réservoir des eaux
du Paradis fournies par un fleuve nommé Guther lequel
39e Tableau [f.36v] : Quand Mahommed fut dans le étoit estimé comme la source de tous les autres fleuves.
Moqam Qaribet qui est marqué dans ce tableau, l’Ange
l’avertit que c’étoit le lieu d’adoration ; et Mahommed 45e Tableau [f.47v] : Mahommed est peint dans ce
en mesme temps se prosternant, adora Dieu, s’écriant : tableau au milieu du Paradis où étant arrivé il ne vit que
“Mon coeur a ressenty la Majesté de Dieu et mes yeux salons, galleries et autres tels lieux agréables, tous bâtis
l’ont veue”. de rubis et d’émeraudes.
40e Tableau [f.38v] : Ce tableau représente la visite 46e Tableau [f.49r] : En ce mesme lieu du Paradis ou
que Moyse rendit à Mahommed et l’entretien qu’il eut Mahommed étoit arrivé, il y vit un beau jardin dans lequel
avec luy sur le fait de la prière ; Moyse luy ayant demandé étoient quantité de jeunes filles d’une rare beauté nommées
ce qui luy avoit été ordonné de Dieu, il répondit qu’il Houry, dont les unes étoient assises sur des sièges et les
luy étoit commandé de faire faire à son peuple l’oraison autres jouoient et se divertissoient ensemble à divers
cinquante fois par jour avec les inclinations qui doivent jeux. [in the margins] : Les Houry. En ce Paradis que les
l’accompagner ; mais Moyse luy ayant fait connoitre que Mahométans figurent, ces filles doivent y estre toujours
le peuple ne le pourroit pas et qu’il falloit qu’il retournât en la fleur de leur âge et en perfection de beauté.
pour en demander diminution, Mahommed retourna, et
les cinquante fois furent réduites à quarante cinq ; mais, 47e Tableau [f.49v] : Ce tableau représente Mahommed
comme ils trouvèrent que c’étoit encore trop, il y alla qui est encore dans le jardin du Paradis où au jour de
tant de fois que Dieu diminuant toujours, les cinquante vendredy, il vit toutes les belles Houry montées sur des
fois furent enfin réduites à Cinq ; et ces cinq temps de chameaux se fêtoyant et régalant les unes les autres et
prières ont été depuis fort exactement observés par les riant et jouant ez promenades qu’elles faisoient ez endroits
bons Musulmans. [in the margins] : Origine des Cinq les plus délicieux.
390
48e Tableau [f.51r] : Mahommed vit dans ce mesme monde sous l’apparence d’une fervente piété et qui
jardin un grand kioschk ou salon considérable dans lequel pourtant dans le particulier sont paresseux et abandonnent
il apperceut quantité de ces belles auxquelles il demanda la prière ; la manière de leurs peines y est figurée.
à qui étoit cet appartement, et elles luy répondirent que
c’étoit au Seigneur Omar. 55e Tableau [f.59r] : Mahommed examine en ce tableau
les supplices destinés au jour du jugement pour les
HELL femmes lesquelles n’auront point évité les choses qui
peuvent faire tomber dans le péché, quoy qu’elles ne
49e Tableau [f.53r] : Ce tableau représente la porte soient pas entièrement défendues de Dieu ; comme sont
de l’Enfer telle que Mahommed la vit, et aussy la figure celles par exemple qui ne se mettent point en peine de
du Démon qui a la commission de faire brûler les damnéz cacher leurs moustaches et qui laissant des cheveux au
; et ce fut à ce Commissionnaire d’Enfer que Mahommed derrière de leur teste sur le col, ne prennent pas garde
s’addressa pour luy dire qu’il remuât une fois seulement qu’elles les montrent aux hommes, et ainsi négligent de
le feu qui étoit là ; ce qui ayant été fait, il parut diverse s’abstenir des actions qui ne sont point de la loy et qui
sorte de feux si terribles que l’Ange Gabriel mesme tout sont déraisonnables.
surpris aussy bien que Mahommed en eut une terreur
épouventable. 56e Tableau [f.59v] : Ce tableau marque le supplice
préparé aux femmes qui tirent la langue en derrière de
50e Tableau [f.53v] : L’Arbre infernal que Mahommed leurs maris pour se mocquer d’eux et qui, sans leur
admire dans ce tableau se nomme Zekom ; ses branches permission sortant de leurs maisons pour s’aller promener,
sont comme des épines et les fruits qu’il porte ressemblent s’appliquent à faire des actions criminelles.
à des testes de scorpions, de lions et autres animaux ;
et ces hommes dont les portraits se voient dans les flames 57e Tableau [f.61r] : Mahommed regarde dans ce
sont ceux qui ont négligé de faire leurs actions selon la tableau de quelle manière doivent estre châtiéz au jour
science de la religion, ou qui ont méprisé les conseils du jugement ceux qui auront mangé le bien des orphelins
des Doctes pour suivre leur passion et leur sensualité. ; et la liqueur qu’on leur verse dans le gosier est une
boisson exprimée de l’arbre nommé Zekom qui est peint
51e Tableau [f.55r] : Les Damnéz qui sont peints dans au 49e [50e] tableau.
ce tableau que Mahommed regarde, sont ceux qui portent
un faux semblant sur leur visage et qui se moquent de 58e Tableau [f.61v] : Les femmes que Mahommed
la ruine des gens en médisant en leur absence. considère en ce tableau sont celles qui ayant eu affaire
à d’autres hommes qu’à leurs maris n’auront pas laissé
52e Tableau [f.55v] : Le Peintre en ce tableau où est de leur faire nourrir et élever les enfants qu’elles auront
Mahommed a prétendu représenter ceux qui, donnant conceus en adultère, comme étant provenus d’eux ; et
leur argent à usure, font un commerce honteux de cet après la mort de leurs maris auront fait passer ces
argent, et il marque la manière dont ils seront chatiéz au Bâtards pour Héritiers légitimes de leurs biens qu’ils
jour du jugement. avoient gagnéz avec grande peine pour leurs propres
Enfants. Les peines que ces femmes souffriront au jour
53e Tableau [f.57r] : Les figures qui sont dans ce du jugement sont d’estre pendues à des crocs de fer
tableau, que Mahommed ne voit qu’avec dédain, sont par les mamelles.
celles de ceux qui auront faussement accusé des Musulmans
envers les Tyrans et les Concutionnaires, affin d’en tirer 59e Tableau [f.63r] : Ce tableau marque les peines
des amendes contre la justice et l’équité ; il y a aussy des que ceux qui n’auront point donné l’aumône et payé les
représentations de certaines gens qui auront semé des décimes de ce qui leur aura appartenu souffriront dans
discordes entre les Musulmans, pour mettre la confusion les Enfers ; au jour du jugement, ils seront contraints
entre eux, et faire en sorte qu’ils se ruinent les uns les d’assembler tous leurs biens, de les jetter dans le feu
autres ; le genre de punition qui leur est destiné au temps d’Enfer où, étant en masse et devenus rouges, ils en
du jugement dernier y est dépeint. feront des manières de boules qu’ils coigneront comme
l’on feroit des pierres de montagnes pour les ajuster à
54e Tableau [f.57v] : Mahommed considère en ce leurs cols en forme de colets ; et ils demanderont sans
tableau ceux qui par hypocrisie prient Dieu devant le cesse le secours de Dieu.
391
60e Tableau [f.63v] : Ceux que Mahommed regarde Actual Folios Pétis nos Séguy nos Arab nos
en ce tableau sont des gens qui, ayant seulement fait 1v° / 1
semblant de rendre les honneurs et les respects qu’ils 3v° 1o 2 [1v°]
devoient aux Grands et aux Doctes, étoient à deux visages 5 5o 3 3?
et les haïssoient dans leurs coeurs ; tels hypocrites au 5v° 7 o 4
jour du jugement seront enchaînéz par le col et auront 7 3o 5 4?
des entraves aux pieds et leurs visages seront noirs. 7v° 4 o 6
9 2 o 7 2
61e/62e Tableaux [f.65r] : Les gens que Mahommed 9v° 6 o 8
examine en ces deux tableaux sont des faux témoins 11 8o 9 5
dont les testes seront au jour du jugement semblables à 11v° 9 o 10
des testes de pourceau, et qui brûlant dans les Enfers, 13 12 o 11 7
tireront d’un côté une langue longue d’une palme, et de 13v° 13 o 12
l’autre une dent de pareille longueur ; et ces gens tâcheront 15 14 o/15 o 13 8
avec de grands cris de rafraîchir leurs bouches altérées 15v° 16 o 14
; il y en a qui ont la langue rompue, l’on voit sur d’autres 17 17 o 15 9
l’épée nue et preste à les charger, et on tient les autres 17v° 18 o 16
au gosier et à la barbe, leur faisant ainsy souffrir diverse 19 10 o 17 6?
sorte de peines. 19v° 11 o 18
lacuna [11 y 12 ?]
63e Tableau [f.65v] : Mahommed considère en ce 22 27 o 19 14
tableau les yvrognes et Beuveurs de vin, lesquels étant 22v° 28 o/29 o 20
morts sans pénitence, auront le déplaisir d’avaller d’une 24 23 o 21 12
boisson tirée de l’arbre infernal nommé Zekom qu’au 24v° 24 o 22
jour du jugement l’on versera dans le gosier de ces 26 25 o 23 13
misérables ; sans toutefois qu’ils soient exempts de feu 26v° 26 o 24
d’Enfer dont ils seront encore bruléz ; ce sont là les 28 30 o 25 15
grandes peines qui sont destinées à telles gens. 28v° 31 o 26
30 32 o 27 17
64e Tableau [f.67r] : Ce tableau que Mahommed 30v° 33 o 28
examine représente les serpens [sic] et les scorpions que 32 34 o 29 [16 ? ]
Dieu a destinéz pour châtier au jour du jugement dans 32v° 35 o 30
les Enfers les orgueilleux parmi lequels ils seront mêléz, 34 36 o 31 18
ceux particulièrement qui, ayant eu l’Ame élévée par la 34v° 37 o 32
superbe, seront morts dans ce péché après avoir, par 36 38 o 33 19
leur mauvaise humeur, traitté de haut en bas le reste des 36v° 39 o 34
hommes. 38texte 20
38v° 40 o 35 [20v°]
Fin des Tableaux 40 text / 21
42 omitted 36 22
CONCORDANCE 42v° 41 o (42 o) 37
44 43 o 38 23
Note: this chart provides a concordance between 1) 45 text / 24
the manuscript’s actual folios; 2) Pétis’ table numbers, 3) 45v° 44 o 39 [24v°]
Séguy’s plate numbers;3 and 4) the Arabic numerals written 47 text 39A 25
on the manuscript’s original folios.
3 For which, see Séguy, The Miraculous Journey of Mahomet.
392
Actual Folios Pétis nos Séguy nos Arab nos

47v° 45 o 40
49 46 o 41 26
49v° 47 o 42
51 48 o 43 27
51v° text 43A
53 49 o 44 28
53v° 50 o 45
55 51 o 46 29
55v° 52 o 47
57 53 o 48 30
57v° 54 o 49
59 55 o 50 31
59v° 56 o 51
61 57 o 52 32
61v° 58 o 53
63 59 o 54 33
63v° 60 o 55
65 61 /62
o o 56 34
65v° 63 o 57
67 64 o 58 35
68 text /
393
I N S T I T U T I O N A L A B B R E V I AT I O N S
I NS T I T U T I O N A L A B B R E V I AT I O NS
Astan-i Quds Kitabkhana-yi Astan-i Quds-i Razavi, Mashhad, Iran

Beinecke Beinecke Library, Yale University, New Haven, Conn., USA
BL British Library, London, England
BnF Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, France
Bodleian Bodleian Library, Oxford University, England
CBL Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland
CUL Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, England
EUL Edinburgh University Library, Edinburgh, Scotland
Freer Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., USA
CGF Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
GP Gulistan Palace Library, Tehran, Iran
Keir Keir Collection, London, England
LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, Calif., USA
Louvre Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
Majlis-i Shura Kitabkhana-yi Majlis-i Shura, Tehran, Iran
MIK Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, Germany
MInK Museum für Indische Kunst, Berlin, Germany
NYPL New York Public Library, New York, N.Y., USA
PML Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, N.Y., USA
SBB Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
SK Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Istanbul, Turkey
TSK Topkapı Sarayı Kütüphanesi, Istanbul, Turkey
TvIEM Türk ve Islâm Eserleri Müzesi, Istanbul, Turkey
397
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
S ELECTED B IBLIOGRAPHY
Note: Articles from the Encyclopedia of Islam (new edition) are cited in full in the footnotes with the abbreviation
“E.I.2.” They are not included in the bibliography. Sources with little relation to the present study are cited in full in the
text’s footnotes. Works in the bibliography are grouped into primary and secondary sources, listed in alphabetical order
by author’s last name. Authors’ names beginning with “al-” or “el-” are alphabetized according to the first letter of the
name after the hyphen. For example, al-Bukhari appears under the letter “B” and el-Izniki under the letter “I.” The
abbreviation “np” stands for “no publisher” listed and “nd” for “no date” of publication available.
PRIMARY SOURCES:
Abu’l-Futuh al-Razi. 1382/1963. Tafsir-i Rawh al-Jinan wa Ruh al-Janan. Tehran: Kitab Furushi-yi Islamiyya.
Ali, Ahmed. 1998. Al-Qur’an: a Contemporary Translation, revised edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Anonymous. 685/1286. Micrajnama. SK Aya Sofya 3441.
cAttar,
Farid al-Din. 1998. The Speech of the Birds, Concerning Migration to the Real, the Mantiqu’t-tair, trans. Peter
Avery. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society.
———. 1957. Mantiq al-Tayr. Isfahan: Intisharat-i Sana’i.
Al-Baghawi. 1987. Masabih al-Sunna, 4 volumes. Beirut: Dar al-Qalam.
Al-Bukhari. nd. Sahih al-Bukhari/The Translation of the Meanings of Sahih al-Bukhari, ed./trans. Muhammad M. Khan,
9 volumes. Medina: Dar Ahya al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya.
———. 1417/1996. Kitab Rafc al-Yadayn fi’l-Salah, ed. Badic al-Din al-Rashidi. Beirut: Dar Ibn Hazm.
Al-Damiri, Muhammad b. Musa. 1415/1994. Hayat al-Hayawan al-Kubra, ed. Ahmad Hasan Basaj, 2 volumes. Beirut:
Dar al-Kutub al-cIlmiyya.
———. 1906. Hayât al-Hayâwân, a Zoological Lexicon, trans. A. S. G. Jayakar. London: Luzac.
De Rubrouck, Guillaume. 1985. Voyage dans l’Empire Mongole (1253–1255), trans. Claude and René Kappler. Paris:
Payot.
Eckmann, János (ed./trans.). 1995. Nehcü’l-Feradis, 3 volumes. Ankara: Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu.
Galland, Antoine. 2002. Voyage à Constantinople (1672–1673), ed. Charles Schefer. Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose.
401
Al-Ghayti. 1962. “The Story of the Night Journey and the Ascension by the Imam Najm al-Din al-Ghaiti,” in A Reader
on Islam, trans. Arthur Jeffery, 621–639. The Hague: Mouton.
Al-Ghazali. 1963. Book XX of al-Ghazali’s Ihya’ cUlum al-Din, trans. Leon Zolondek. Leiden: Brill.
Ghiyathuddin Naqqash. 2001. “Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking,” in
Album Prefaces and Other Documents on the History of Calligraphers and Painters, Studies and Sources in Islamic Art
and Architecture, Supplement to Muqarnas 10, 53–67. Leiden, New York, and Cologne: Brill.
Gürtunca, Mehmet (ed./trans.). 1977. Kitab-ı Siyer-i Nebi: Peygamber Efendimizin Hayatı, 3 volumes. Istanbul: np.
Hafiz-i Abru. 1970. A Persian Embassy to China, Being an Extract from Zubdatu’t Tavarikh of Hafiz Abru, ed./trans.
K. M. Maitra. New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corp.
Ibn cAbbas. 1994. “al-Isra’ wa’l-Mi’raj,” in Tatriz al-Dibaj bi-Haqa’iq al-Isra’ wa’l-Mi’raj, ed. Muhyi’l-Din al-Tucmi, 9–33.
Beirut: Dar wa Maktabat al-Hilal.
Ibn Ishaq. 2001. La vie du Prophète Muhammad, l’Envoyé d’Allâh, trans. ‘Abdurrahmân Badawî, 2 volumes. Beirut:
Éditions Albouraq.
———. 1955. The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, trans. Alfred Guillaume. Lahore,
Karachi, and Dacca: Oxford University Press, Pakistan Branch.
Ibn Sina. 1366/1987. Micrajnama, ed. Shams al-Din Ibrahim Abarquhi. Mashhad: Astan-i Quds-i Razavi.
El-Izniki. 1986. Mi’rac, trans. Hikmet Özdemir. Istanbul: Yaylacık Matbaası and Gonca Yayınevi.
Al-Izniqi. 1095/1684. “Kitab al-Micraj,” Marmara University, Ilahiyat Ogüt 1229.
Khwandamir. 1994. Habibu’s-Siyar, tome 3 (The Reign of the Mongol and the Turk), part 2 (Shahrukh Mirza-Shah
Ismail), Sources of Oriental Languages and Literatures 24 and Central Asian Sources 1, ed. Wheeler Thackston. Cambridge,
Mass.: Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University.
Hyatte, Reginald (trans.). 1997. The Book of Muhammad’s Ladder of 1264. Leiden, New York, and Cologne: Brill.
Al-Kisa’i. 1978. The Tales of the Prophet of al-Kisa’i, trans. Wheeler Thackston. Boston: Twayne.
Liber Scale Machometi/ Le Livre de l’Échelle de Mahomet. 1991, trans. Gisèle Besson and Michèle Brossard-Dandré.
Paris: Librairie Générale Française.
Al-Maybudi. 1331/1952–53. Kashf al-Asrar wa cUddat al-Abrar. Tehran: University of Tehran Press.
Mir cAli Shir Nava’i. 1996. Muhakamat al-Lughatayn, trans. Robert Devereux. Leiden: Brill.
———. 1323/1944. Majalis al-Nafa’is, ed. cAli Asghar Hikmat. Tehran: Bank-i Milli-yi Iran.
Nava’i, cAbd al-Husayn. 1341/1963. Asnad va mukatibat-i tarikh-i Iran az Taymur ta Shah Ismacil. Tehran: Bungah-i
Tarjuma va Nashr.
Nicholson, Reynold. 1989. The Mystics of Islam. London: Arkana.
402
———. 1926. “An Early Arabic Version of the Mi’raj of Abu Yazid al-Bistami,” Islamica 2/3, 402–415.
Nizami Ganjavi. 1995. The Haft Paykar, a Medieval Persian Romance, trans. Julie Scott Meisami. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Pavet de Courteille, Abel. 1882. Mirâdj-Nâmeh, Récit de l’Ascension de Mahomet au Ciel Composé A.H. 840/1436–1437.
Amsterdam: Philo Press.
———. 1975. Mirâdj-nâmeh, Publié pour la Première Fois d’après le Manuscript Ouïgour de la Bibliothèque Nationale,
Publications de L’École del Langues Orientales Vivantes, 2nd series, volume 6. Paris: E. Leroux.
Qadi Ahmad. 1959. Calligraphers and Painters, a Treatise by Qadi Ahmad, son of Mir Munshi, circa A.H. 1015/A.D.
1606, Freer Gallery of Art Occasional Papers 3/2, trans. Vladimir Minorsky. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
Al-Qushayri, Abu al-Qasim. 1994. “Kitab al-Micraj,” in Tatriz al-Dibaj bi-Haqa’iq al-Isra’ wa’l-Micraj, ed. Muhyi al-Din
al-Tucmi, 115–188. Beirut: Dar wa Maktabat al-Hilal.
———.1384/1964. Kitab al-Micraj, ed. cAli Hasan cAbd al-Qadir. Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-Hadith.
Al-Rabghuzi. 1995. The Stories of the Prophets: Qisas al-Anbiya’, an Eastern Turkish Version, eds. H. E. Boeschoten et
al., 2 volumes. Leiden, New York, and Cologne: Brill.
Ranjabar, Ahmad. 1372/1952. Chand Micrajnama. Tehran: Amir Kabir.
Rossabi, Moris. Fall 1963. “A Translation of Ch’en Ch’eng’s Hsi-Yü Fan-Kuo Chi,” Ming Studies 17, 49–59.
Sadiqi Beg. 1981. “The Canons of Painting by Sadiqi Bek,” in The Houghton Shahnameh, eds. Martin Dickson and
Stuart Cary Welch, vol. 1, 259–269. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Al-Sara’i. ca. 1465. Nahj al-Faradis, illustrated manuscript dedicated to the Timurid ruler Abu Sacid Gurgan. Private
collection.
Al-Sulami. 2006. The Subleties of the Ascension: Early Mystical Sayings on Muhammad’s Heavenly Journey, trans.
Frederick Colby. Louisville: Fons Vitae.
Surabadi. 1347/1968. Qisas-i Qur’an-i Majid. Tehran: University of Tehran Press.
Al-Suyuti. 1994. “al-Aya al-Kubra fi Sharh Qissat al-Isra’,” in Tatriz al-Dibaj bi-Haqa’iq al-Isra’ wa’l-Micraj, ed. Muhyi
al-Din al-Tucmi, 189–219. Beirut: Dar wa Maktabat al-Hilal.
Thackston, Wheeler. 2001. Album Prefaces and Other Documents on the History of Calligraphers and Painters, Studies
and Sources in Islamic Art and Architecture, Supplement to Muqarnas 10. Leiden, New York, and Cologne: Brill.
———. 1994. “The Paris Micrajnama,” Journal of Turkish Studies 18, 263–299.
Al-Thaclabi. 2002. cAra’is al-Majalis fi Qisas al-Anbiya’ or “Lives of the Prophets,” Studies in Arabic Literature 24, trans.
William Brinner. Leiden, Boston, and Cologne: Brill.
Al-Yahsubi, Qadi cIyad b. Musa. 1992. Muhammad, Messenger of Allah: Ash-Shifa of Qadi cIyad, trans. Aisha Abdarrahman
Bewley, 2nd ed. Granada, Spain: Madinah Press.
403
———. 1977. Kitab al-Shifa bi-Tacrif Huquq al-Mustafa, ed. cAli Muhammad al-Bajawi. Cairo: Matbacat cIsa al-Babi al-
Halabi wa-Shuraka.
SECONDARY SOURCES:
cAbd al-Muncim, cAmru. 1413/1993. Al-Sahih min Qissat al-Isra’ wa’l-Micraj. Tanta: Dar al-Sahaba.
Affifi, A. E. 1955. “The Story of the Prophet’s Ascent (Mi’raj) in Sufi Thought and Literature,” Islamic Quarterly 2,
23–27.
Akar, Metin. 1987. Türk Edebiyantında Manzum Mi’râc-Nâmeler. Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlıgı.
Akiko Motoyoshi, Sumi. 2004. Description in Classical Arabic Poetry: Wasf, Ekphrasis, and Interarts Theory, Brill Studies
in Middle Eastern Literatures 25. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali. 1996. “L’Imam dans le ciel. Ascension et initiation (aspects de l’Imamamologie duodécimaine
III),” in Le voyage initiatique en terre d’Islam: ascensions célestes et itinéraires spirituels, ed. idem, 99–116. Louvain: Peeters.
Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali (ed.). 1996. Le voyage initiatique en terre d’Islam: ascensions célestes et itinéraires spirituels.
Louvain: Peeters.
Amitai-Preiss, Reuben. 2001. “The Conversion of Tegüder Ilkhan to Islam,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 25,
15–43.
———. 1999. “Sufis and Shamans: Some Remarks on the Islamization of the Mongols in the Ilkhanate,” Journal of the
Economic and Social History of the Orient 42/1, 27–46.
Ando, Shiro. 1992. Timuridische Emire nach dem Mu’izz al-ansâb, Untersuchung zur Stammesaristokratie im 14. und
15. Jahrhundert. Berlin: Klaus Schwartz.
Arat, Rahmeti. 1940. “Un yarlik de Mehmed II, Le Conquérant,” Annali RISON 18, 25–68.
———. 1937. Uygur Alfabesi. Istanbul: Bozkurt Matbaası.
———. 1935. “Fatih Sultan Mehmed’in Yarlıgı,” Türkiyat Mecmuası 5, 285–322.
Asín Palacios, Miguel. 1977. Islam and the Divine Comedy, trans. Harold Sunderland. Lahore: Qausain.
Atasoy, Nurhan. 1972. “Illustrations Prepared for Display during Shahname Recitations,” in The Memorial Volume of
the 5th International Congress of Iranian Art and Archaeology, Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz, 11–18 April, 1968, vol. 2,
262–272. Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Arts.
cAthamina, Khalil. 1992. “Al-Qasas: its Emergence, Religious Origin and its Socio-Political Impact on Early Muslim
Society,” Studia Islamica 76, 53–74.
Atıl, Esin. 1993. “The Story of an Eighteenth-Century Festival,” Muqarnas 10, 181–200.
Aubin, Jean. 1957. “Le Mécénat Timouride à Chiraz,” Studia Islamica 8, 71–88.
Aydın, Hilmi. 2004. Pavilion of the Sacred Relics: the Sacred Trusts, Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul. Istanbul: Kaynak
Kitaplıgı.
404
El-Azma, Nazeer. 1982. al-Micraj wa’l-Ramz al-Sufi. Beirut: Dar al-Bahith.
———. April 1973. “Some Notes on the Impact of the Story of the Mi’raj on Sufi Literature,” The Moslem World 63/2,
93–104.
Babinger, Franz. 1978. Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time, trans. Ralph Manheim and ed. William Hickman. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.
Badahdah, cAli b. cUmar b. Ahmad. 1994. al-Madkhal ila Sharh al-Sunna lil-Imam al-Baghawi, 3 volumes. Jidda: Dar
al-Andalus al-Khadra‘.
Bagci, Serpil. 2000. “From Translated Word to Translated Image: the Illustrated Sehnâme-i Türki Copies,” Muqarnas
17, 162–176.
Beffa, Marie-Lise. 1978. “Référence directe et connotation: remarques sur les noms des couleurs en turc et en chinois,”
in Voir et nommer les couleurs, ed. Serge Tornay, 249–257. Nanterre: Laboratoire d’Ethnologie et de Sociologie Comparative.
(multiple authors). 2006. Ben Mehmed Siyah Kalem: Insanlar ve Cinlerin Ustası, Mehmed Siyah Kalem, Master of
Humans and Demons. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları.
Bevan, Anthony Ashley. 1914. “Mohammed’s Ascension to Heaven,” in Studien zur Semitischen Philologie und
Religionsgeschichte (for Julius Wellhausen on the Occasion of his 70th birthday, May 17, 1914), ed. Karl Marti, 51–61.
Giessen: Verlag von Alfred Töpelmann.
Biran, Michal. Oct.–Dec. 2002. “The Chaghadaids and Islam: The Conversion of Tarmashirin Khan (1331–34),” Journal
of the American Oriental Society 122/4, 742–752.
Birnbaum, Eleazar. 1976. “The Ottomans and Chaghatay Literature: An Early 16th Century Manuscript of Nava’i’s Divan
in Ottoman Orthography,” Central Asiatic Journal 20, 157–190.
Blair, Sheila. 2004. “Rewriting the History of the Great Mongol Shahnama,” in Shahnama: The Visual Language of the
Persian Book of Kings, Varie Occasional Papers 2, ed. Robert Hillenbrand, 35–50. Hants, England: Ashgate.
———. 2000. “Color and Gold: the Decorated Papers Used in Manuscripts in Later Islamic Times,” Muqarnas 17,
24–36.
———. 1996. “Patterns of Patronage and Production in Ilkhanid Iran: The Case of Rashid al-Din,” in The Court of the
Ilkhans 1290–1340, eds. Julian Raby and Teresa Fitzherbert, 39–62. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———. 1995. A Compendium of Chronicles: Rashid al-Din’s Illustrated History of the World, The Nasser D. Khalili
Collection of Islamic Art 27. London: Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press.
Boeschoten, Hendrik and Marc Van Damme. 1998. “Chaghatay,” in The Turkic Languages, eds. Lars Johanson and Éva
Csató, 166–178. London and New York: Routledge.
Böwering, Gerhard. 1996. “From the Word of God to the Vision of God: Muhammad’s Heavenly Journey in Classical
Sufi Qur’an Commentary,” in Le voyage initiatique en terre d’Islam: ascensions célestes et itinéraires spirituels, ed. Mohammad
Ali Amir-Moezzi, 205–221. Louvain: Peeters.
———. 1980. The Mystical Vision of Existence in Classical Islam: the Qur’anic Hermeneutics of the Sufi Sahl At-Tustari.
Berlin and New York: De Gruyter.
405
Bussagli, Mario. 1979. Central Asian Painting. Geneva: Albert Skira.
Busse, Heribert. 1991. “Jerusalem in the Story of Muhammad’s Night Journey and Ascension,” Jerusalem Studies in
Arabic and Islam 14, 1–40.
Çagman, Filiz and Zeren Tanındı. 1996. “Remarks on Some Manuscripts from the Topkapi Palace Treasury in the
Context of Ottoman-Safavid Relations,” Muqarnas 13, 132–148.
———. 1986. The Topkapı Sarayı Museum: The Albums and Illustrated Manuscripts, ed./trans. J. M. Rogers. Boston:
Little, Brown and Company.
Carboni, Stefano and Linda Komaroff (eds.). 2002. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western
Asia, 1256–1353. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Chamberlayne, John. January 1962. “The Development of Kuan Yin: Chinese Goddess of Mercy,” Numen 9/1, 45–52.
Chelkowski, Peter. 1998. “Popular Arts: Patronage and Piety,” in Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch, 1785–1925,
eds. Layla Diba and Maryam Ekhtiar, 90–97. London: I. B. Tauris; and New York: Brooklyn Museum of Art.
———. 1989. “Narrative Painting and Painting Recitation in Qajar Iran,” Muqarnas 6, 98–111.
Ch‘en, Kenneth. 1973. The Chinese Transformation of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Chodkiewicz, Michel. 1993. Seal of the Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn cArabi, trans. Liadain
Sherrard. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society.
Clauson, G. L. M. 1928. “A Hitherto Unknown Turkish Manuscript in “Uighur” Characters,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society, 99–130.
Colby, Frederick. Forthcoming (Spring 2009). “The Role of Early Imami Shici Narratives in the Construction of and
Contestation over the Story of Muhammad’s Ascension,” in The Prophet Explores Other Worlds: New Studies on Muhammad’s
Ascension, eds. Christiane Gruber and idem. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
———. Forthcoming (2008). Narrating Muhammad’s Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn cAbbas Ascension
Discourse. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press.
———. 2002. “Constructing an Islamic Ascension Narrative: the Interplay of Official and Popular Culture in Pseudo-
Ibn ‘Abbas,” Ph.D. dissertation, Duke University.
———. 2002. “The Subtleties of the Ascension: al-Sulami on the Mi’raj of the Prophet Muhammad,” Studia Islamica
94, 167–183.
Dean-Otting, Mary. 1984. Heavenly Journey: a Study of the Motif in Hellenistic Jewish Literature. Frankfurt and New
York: P. Lang.
De Fouchécour, Charles-Henri. 2000. “The Story of the Ascension (Mi’raj) in Nizami’s Work,” in The Poetry of Nizami
Ganjavi: Knowledge, Love, and Rhetoric, eds. Kamran Talatoff and Jerome Clinton, 179–188. New York: Palgrave.
Deny, Jean. 1964. Philologiae Turcicae Fundamenta, volume 2. Wiesbaden: Aquis Mattiacis, Steiner.
———. 1957. “Un Soyurgal du Timouride Shahrukh en écriture ouigoure,” Journal Asiatique 245, 253–266.
406
DeWeese, Devin. 1994. Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba Tükles and Conversion to Islam
in Historical and Epic Tradition. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Diba, Layla. 1998. “Images of Power and the Power of Images: Intention and Response in Early Qajar Painting
(1785–1834),” in Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch, 1785–1925, eds. Layla Diba and Maryam Ekhtiar, 30–49.
London: I. B. Tauris; and New York: Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Doerfer, Gerhard. 1963–75. Türkische und mongolische Elemente in Neupersischen, 4 volumes. Wiesbaden: Steiner
Franz Verlag.
Dols, Michael. 1977. The Black Death in the Middle East. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Dott, Brian. 2004. Identity Reflections: Pilgrimages to Mount Tai in Late Imperial China. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Asia Center.
Dutton, Yasin. February 1996. “cAmal v. Hadith in Islamic Law: the Case of Sadl al-Yadayn (Holding one’s Hands by
one’s Sides) when Doing the Prayer,” Islamic Law and Society 3/1, 13–40.
Eberhard, Wolfram and Pertev Naili Boratav. 1953. Typen Türkisher Volksmärchen. Wiesbaden: F. Steiner.
Eckmann, János. 1964. “Die Literatur von Chwarezm und der Goldenen Horde,” in Philologiae Turcicae Fundamenta,
ed. Jean Deny, volume 2, 275–296. Wiesbaden: Aquis Mattiacis, Steiner.
Eichenbaum Karetzky, Patricia. 2004. Guanyin. New York: Oxford University Press.
Esin, Emel. 1981. “Muhammad Siyah Qalam and the Inner Asian Turkish Tradition,” Islamic Art 1, 90–109.
———. 1979. “The Bakhshi in the 14th to 16th Centuries: The Masters of the Pre-Muslim Tradition of the Arts of the
Book in Central Asia,” in The Arts of the Book in Central Asia, 14th–16th Centuries, ed. Basil Gray, 281–94. Boulder, Colo.:
Shambhala Publications.
———. 1972. “Four Turkish Bakhshi active in Iranian Lands,” The Memorial Volume of the Vth International Congress
of Iranian Art and Archaeology, April 11–18, 1968, volume 2, 53–73. Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Arts.
———. 1970. “The Turkish Baksi and the Painter Muhammad Siyah Kalam,” Acta Orientalia 32: 81–114.
———. 1967. Antecedents and Development of Buddhist and Manichean Turkish Art in Eastern Turkestan and Kansu,
The Handbook of Turkish Culture, Supplement to Volume 2. Istanbul: Millî Egitim Basımevi.
———. 1966. “Isrâ Gecesi ‘Uygur Mi‘râc-nâmesi’nde cennet tasvîrleri,” Türk Kültürü 47, 111–121.
Ethé, Hermann. 1889. Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî and Pushtû Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library.
Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ettinghausen, Richard. 1966. “An Illuminated Manuscript of Hafiz-i Abru in Istanbul, Part I,” Kunst des Orients 2, 30–44.
———. 1957. “Persian Ascension Miniatures of the Fourteenth Century,” Convegno di Scienze Morali Storiche e
Filologiche, Symposium on Orient and Occident during the Middle Ages, May 27–June 1, 1956, 360–383. Rome: Accademia
nazionale dei Lincei (republished in Ettinghausen, Islamic Art and Archaeology: Collected Papers, ed. Myriam Rosen-
Ayalon, 244–268. Berlin: G. Mann Verlag, 1984).
407
———. 1954. “Some Paintings in Four Istanbul Albums,” Ars Orientalis 1, 91–103.
Fletcher, Joseph. 1995. “China and Central Asia, 1368–1884,” in Studies on Chinese and Islamic Inner Asia, ed. Beatrice
Forbes Manz, II, 206–224 and 337–368. Aldershot, England: Variorum.
Floor, Willem. 1999. “Art (Naqqashi) and Artists (Naqqashan) in Qajar Persia,” Muqarnas 16, 125–154.
Fontana, Maria Vittoria. 1994. L’Iconografia dell’Ahl al-Bayt: Immagini di Arte Persiana dal XII al XX Secolo, Supplemento
n. 78 agli Annali. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale.
Forbes Manz, Beatrice. 2007. Power, Politics, and Religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———. 1999. The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge and London: Cambridge University Press.
Frye, Richard. 1948. “Two Timurid Monuments in Herat,” Artibus Asiae 11/3, 206–213.
Fujieda, Akira. 1981. “Une reconstruction de la ‘bibliothèque’ de Touen-Houang,” Journal Asiatique 269/1–2, 65–68.
———. 1966 and 1969. “The Tun-huang Manuscripts: A General Description,” Zinbun: Memoirs of the Research Institute
for Humanistic Studies, Kyoto University 9, 1–32 and 10, 17–39.
Gabain, Annemarie von. 1987. Die Formensprache der Uigurischen Malerei. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
———. 1973. Das Leben in Uigurischen Königsreich von Qoco (850–1250). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
———. 1973. “Ksitigarbha-Kult in Zentralasien, Buchillustrationen aus den Turfan-Funden,” in Indologen-Tagung:

Verhandlungen der Indologischen Arbeitstagung im Museum für Indische Kunst Berlin 7–9 Oktober, 1971, eds. Herbert
Härtel and Volker Moeller, 47–71. Wiesbaden: Steiner Verlag.
———. 1972. “The Purgatory of the Buddhist Uighurs: Book Illustrations from Turfan,” in Mahayanist Art after A.D.
900 (A Colloquy held 28 June to 1 July 1971), Colloquies on Art and Archaeology in Asia 2, ed. William Watson, 25–35.
London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Gandjeï, Tourkhan. 1964. “Note on the Colophon of the ‘Latafat-nama’ in Uighur Characters from the Kabul Museum,”
Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 14, 161–164.
———. 1962. “Note on an Unknown Poem of Haidar in Uighur Characters,” in A Locust’s Leg: Studies in Honour of S.
H. Taqizadeh, eds. W. B. Henning and Ehsan Yarshater, 64–69. London: Percy Lund, Humphries & Co. Ltd.
Gaoji, He. 2002. “Shahalu qian shi zhonggup ji,” in idem, Haitung xingji, Eduolike dong you lu, Shahalu qian shi
Zhongguo ji. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju chu ban.
Garrett Fisher, Carol. 1984. “A Reconstruction of the Pictorial Cycle of the Siyar-i Nabi of Murad III,” Ars Orientalis 14,
75–94.
———. 1981. “The Pictorial Cycle of the Siyer-i Nebi: a Late Sixteenth Century Manuscript of the Life of Muhammad,”
Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University.
Gaster, Moses. 1893. “Hebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3rd series, 571–611.
Gaulier, Simone et al. 1976. Buddhism in Afghanistan and Central Asia. Leiden: Brill.
408
Ghose, Rajeshwari. 1998. In the Footsteps of the Buddha: An Iconic Journey from India to China. Hong Kong: University
of Hong Kong.
Giès, Jacques et al. 1995. Les arts de l’Asie Centrale: la collection Paul Pelliot du Musée National des Arts Asiatiques–Guimet,
2 volumes. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux.
Gilliot, Claude. 1996. “Coran 17, Isra’, 1 dans la recherche occidentale: de la critique des Traditions au Coran comme
texte,” in Le voyage initiatique en terre d’Islam: ascensions célestes et itinéraires spirituels, ed. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi,
1–26. Louvain: Peeters.
Ginzberg, Louis. 1937–56. The Legends of the Jews, trans. Henriette Szold, 7 volumes. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication
Society of America.
Gobard, Henri. 1976. L’aliénation linguistique: analyse tétraglossique. Paris: Flammarion.
Golden, Peter. 2005. “The Turks: A Historical Overview,” in Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600–1600, ed.
David Roxburgh, 18–31. London: Royal Academy of Arts.
———.1998. “Religion among the Qipcaqs of Medieval Eurasia,” Central Asiatic Journal 42, 180–227.
Goldziher, Ignac. 1971. “The Hadith as a Means of Edification and Entertainment,” in idem, Muslim Studies, ed. S. M.
Stern and trans. C. R. Barber and S. M. Stern, volume 2, 145–163. Chicago: Aldine Publication Company.
Golombek, Lisa. 1995. “The Gardens of Timur: New Perspectives,” Muqarnas 12, 137–147.
Golombek, Lisa and Donald Wilber (eds.). 1988. The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
Grabar, Oleg. 2000. Mostly Miniatures: an Introduction to Persian Painting. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Grabar, Oleg and Mika Natif. 2003. “The Story of the Portraits of the Prophet Muhammad,” Studia Islamica 96, 19–38.
Gray, Basil. 1986. “The Pictorial Arts of the Timurid Period,” in The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. Peter Jackson,
volume 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods, 843–876. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gray, Basil (ed.). 1979. The Arts of the Book in Central Asia, 14th–16th Centuries. Boulder, Colo.: Shambhala Publications.
Grube, Ernst. 1968. The Classical Style in Islamic Painting: the Early School of Herat and its Impact on Islamic Painting
of the Later 15th, 16th, and 17th Centuries. Venice: Edizioni Oriens.
———. 1965. “The Siyar-i-Nabi of the Spencer Collection in the New York Public Library,” Atti del Secondo Congresso
Internazionale di Arte Turca, 149–176. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, Seminario di Turcologia.
Grube, Ernst with Eleanor Sims, “The School of Herat from 1400 to 1450,” in The Arts of the Book in Central Asia,
14th–16th Centuries, ed. Basil Gray, 147–178. Boulder, Colo.: Shambhala Publications.
Gruber, Christiane. 2005. “The Prophet Muhammad’s Ascension (Micraj) in Islamic Art and Literature, 1300–1600,”
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.
———. February 2005. “The Keir Mi’raj: Islamic Storytelling and the Picturing of Tales in the Fifteenth Century,” Central
Eurasian Studies Review 4/1, 35–39.
409
———. Summer 2004. “The Prophet Muhammad’s Ascension (Mi’raj) in Islamic Painting and Literature: Evidence from
Cairo Collections,” Bulletin of the American Research Center in Egypt 185, 24–31.
———. Fall & Winter 2003–4. “L’Ascension (Mi’raj) du Prophète Mohammad dans la peinture et la littérature islamiques,”
Luqman: Annales des Presses Universitaires d’Iran 39/1, 55–79.
Gruber, Christiane and Frederick Colby (eds). Forthcoming (Spring 2009). The Prophet Explores Other Worlds: New
Studies on Muhammad’s Ascension. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Guillaume, Alfred. 1953. “Where was al-Masjid al-Aqsa?,” al-Andalus 18/2, 323–336.
Günther, Sebastian. 1998. “Fictional Narration and Imagination within an Authoritative Framework: Toward a New
Understanding of Hadith,” in Story-telling in the Framework of non-Fictional Arabic Literature, ed. Stefan Leder, 433–471.
Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Hagen, Gottfried. 2003. “Translations and Translators in a Multilingual Society: a Case Study of Persian-Ottoman
Translations, Late Fifteenth to Early Seventeenth Century,” Eurasian Studies 2/1, 95–134.
Halperin, David. 1995. “Hekhalot and Mi’raj: Observations on the Heavenly Journey in Judaism and Islam,” in Death,
Ecstasy, and Other Worldly Journeys, eds. John Collins and Michael Fishbane, 269–288. Albany, N.Y.: State University of
New York Press.
Härtel, Herbert and Marianne Yaldiz. 1982. Along the Ancient Silk Routes: Central Asian Art from the West Berlin State
Museums. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Hasson, Izhak. 1996. “The Muslim View of Jerusalem— the Qur’an and Hadith,” in The History of Jerusalem: the Early
Muslim Period, 638–1099, eds. Joshua Prawer and Haggai Ben-Shammai, 349–385. New York: New York University Press.
Hecker, Felicia. 1993. “A Fifteenth-Century Chinese Diplomat in Herat,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3rd series,
3/1, 85–98.
Hillenbrand, Robert. 2002. “The Arts of the Book in Ilkhanid Iran,” in The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and
Culture in Western Asia, 1256–1353, eds. Stefano Carboni and Linda Komaroff, 134–167. New York and New Haven:
Metropolitan Museum of Art with Yale University Press.
Himmelfarb, Martha. 1983. Tours of Hell: An Apocalyptic Form in Jewish and Christian Literature. Philadelphia: University
of Pennsylvania Press.
Hodgson, Marshall. 1974. The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization, 3 volumes. Chicago
and London: University of Chicago Press.
Huart, Claude. 1972. Les calligraphes et les miniaturistes de l’Orient musulman, 2nd ed. Osnabrück: Otto Zeller Verlag
(reprint of 1908 edition).
———. 1914. “Le ghazel heptaglotte d’Abou-Ishaq Halladj,” Journal Asiatique 4, 629–637.
Husam al-Din. 2002. Khavaran Nameh: A Masterpiece of Iranian Literature and Painting. Tehran: Ministry of Culture
and Islamic Guidance, and Cultural Heritage Organization.
Ibn Dihya, Abu’l-Khattab. 1417/1996. al-Ibtihaj fi Ahadith al-Micraj. Ed. Rafact F. cAbd al-Muttalib. Cairo: Maktabat al-
Khaniji.
410
Ibn Sina. 1992. Allegory and Philosophy in Avicenna (Ibn Sînâ), with a Translation of the Book of the Prophet Muhammad’s
Ascent to Heaven, trans. Peter Heath. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Inal, Günar. 1992. “Miniatures in Historical Manuscripts from the Time of Shahrukh in the Topkapi Palace Museum,”
in Timurid Art and Culture: Iran and Central Asia in the Fifteenth Century, eds. Lisa Golombek and Maria Subtelny,
103–115. Leiden, New York, Cologne: Brill.
Inalcık, Halil. 1973. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age, 1300–1600, trans. Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber.
New York: Praeger.
Irwin, Robert. 1994. The Arabian Nights: A Companion. London: Penguin.
Jahn, Karl. 1964. “The Still Missing Works of Rashid al-Din,” Central Asiatic Journal 9, 113–122.
Jera-Bezard, Robert. 1983. “Une bannière de Dunhuang inédite et datée au Musée Guimet,” La Revue du Louvre 3,
171–178.
Jera-Bezard, Robert and Monique Maillard. 1989. “Le rôle des bannières et des peintures mobiles dans les rituels du
bouddhisme d’Asie centrale,” Arts Asiatiques 44, 57–67.
Karamagaralı, Bayhan. 1981. “The Siyah Qalam Paintings and their Relation to Esoteric Muslim Sects,” Islamic Art 1,
106–109.
Karatay, Fehmi Edhem. 1966. Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi Farsça Yazmalar Katalogu. Istanbul: Topkapı Sarayı
Müzesi Kütüphanesi.
Karimzadeh Tabrizi, Muhammad cAli. 1985. The Lives and Art of Old Painters of Iran, 3 volumes. London: np.
Kauz, Ralph. 2005. Politik und Handel zwischen Ming und Timuriden: China, Iran und Zentralasien im Spätmittelalter,
Iran-Turan 7. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.
Klimburg-Salter, Deborah. 1977. “A Sufi Theme in Persian Painting: The Divan of Sultan Ahmad Jalayir,” Kunst des
Orients 11, 44–84.
Köprülü, Mehmet Fuat. 2003. Türk Edebiyatı Tarihi, 5th ed. Istanbul: Akçag Yayınları.
———. 1945. “Çagatay Edebiyatı,” Islâm Ansikopledisi, volume 3, 270–323. Istanbul: Millî Egitim Basımevi.
Lee, Sherman and Wai-Kam Ho. 1959. “A Colossal Eleven-Faced Kuan-Yin of the T’ang Dynasty,” Artibus Asiae 22/1–2,
121–137.
Leemhuis, F. et al. (ed./trans.). 1986. The Arabic Text of the Apocalypse of Baruch. Leiden: Brill.
Lentz, Thomas and Glenn Lowry. 1989. Timur and the Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century.
Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Lukens-Swietochowki, Marie. 1979. “The School of Herat from 1450–1506,” in The Arts of the Book in Central Asia,
14th–16th Centuries, ed. Basil Gray, 179–214. Boulder, Colo.: Shambhala Publications.
MacDonald, J. Dec. 1966. “Paradise,” Islamic Studies 5/4, 331–383.
411
———. 1964. “The Angel of Death in Late Islamic Tradition,” Islamic Studies 3, 485–519.
Mahır, Banu. 1999. “A Group of 17th Century Paintings used for Picture Recitation,” in Turkish Art: 10th International
Congress of Turkish Art, 443–455. Geneva: Max Van Berchem Foundation.
Mair, Victor. 1998. Painting and Performance: Chinese Picture Recitation and its Indian Genesis. Honolulu: University
of Hawaii Press.
———. 1986. “Records of Transformation Tableaux (Pien-Hsiang),” T’oung pao 72, 3–43.
Marefat, Roya. Spring 1993. “Timurid Women: Patronage and Power,” Asian Art 6/2, 29–47.
Masuya, Tomoko. December 2007. “The Mi’radj-nama Reconsidered”, Artibus Asiae 67/1, 39-54.
Mayel-Heravi, Najib. 1996. “Quelques mecrajiyye en persan,” in Le voyage initiatique en terre d’Islam: ascensions célestes
et itinéraires spirituels, ed. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, 199–203. Louvain: Peeters.
Melville, Charles. 1990. “Padshah-i Islam: the Conversion of Sultan Mahmud Ghazan Khan,” in Persian and Islamic
Studies in Honour of P. W. Avery, Pembroke Papers 1, ed. idem, 159–177. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.
Millie, Julian. 2004. “The Narrative Potential of Mi’râj: Two Contexts for its Interpretation,” in Epic Adventures: Heroic
Narrative in the Oral Performance Traditions of Four Continents, eds. Jan Jansen and Henk Maier, 128–139. Münster,
Germany: LIT Verlag.
Morris, James. 1987 and 1993. “The Spiritual Ascension: Ibn ‘Arabi and the Mi’raj, Parts I and II,” Journal of the American
Oriental Society 107, 629–652 and 108, 63–77.
Mosin, Vladimir. 1973. Anchor Watermarks, Monumenta Chartae Papyraceae Historiam Illustrantia (or the Collection
of Works and Documents Illustrating the History of Paper), eds. J .S .G. Simmons and B. J. van Ginneken-van de Kasteele.
Amsterdam: Paper Publications Society.
Neuwirth, Angelika. 2003. “From the Sacred Mosque to the Remote Temple: Surat al-Isra’ between Text and Commentary,”
in With Reverence for the Word: Medieval Scriptural Exegesis in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, eds. Jane McAuliffe et
al., 376–407. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Neville, Tove. 1999. Eleven-Headed Avalokitesvara, Chenresigs, Kuan-yin or Kannon Bodhisattva: its Origin and
Iconography. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.
Nicholson, Reynold. 1989. The Mystics of Islam. London: Arkana.
Noel, William and Daniel Weiss (eds). 2002. The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library’s Medieval Picture
Bible. Baltimore: The Walters Art Museum.
Nünlist, Tobias. 2002. Himmelfahrt und Heiligkeit im Islam: eine Studie unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Ibn
Sinas Micraj-nameh. Bern: Peter Lang.
O’Kane, Bernard. 1993. “From Tents to Pavilions: Royal Mobility and Persian Palace Design,” Ars Orientalis 23, 239–268.
Overmyer, Daniel. June 1990. “Buddhism in the Trenches: Attitudes toward Popular Religion in Chinese Scriptures
Found at Tun-huang,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 50/1, 197–222.
412
Özdemir, Hikmet. 1980. “Musa b. Hacı Hüseyin el-Izniki: Hayatı ve Eserleri,” Ph.D. dissertation, Faculty of Theology,
Ankara University.
Palmer, Martin and Jay Ramsay. 1995. Kuan Yin: Myths and Revelations of the Chinese Goddess of Compassion. London:
Thorsons.
Parman, Talat. 2006. “Insanın Esi Olarak Demon/The Demon as Human Double,” Ben Mehmed Siyah Kalem: Insanlar
ve Cinlerin Ustası, Mehmed Siyah Kalem, Master of Humans and Demons, 129–134. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları.
Pedersen, Johannes. 1953. “The Criticism of the Islamic Preacher,” Die Welt des Islams, n.s., 2/4, 215–231.
(anonymous). 1985. Persian Art in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Persin, Margaret. 1997. Getting the Picture: The Ekphrastic Principle in Twentieth-Century Spanish Poetry. Lewisburg,
Pa.: Bucknell University Press.
Pfeiffer, Judith. 1999. “Conversion Versions: Sultan Öljeytü’s Conversion to Shi’ism (709/1309) in Muslim Narrative
Sources,” Mongolian Studies 22, 35–67.
Piemontese, Angelo. 1987. “Le voyage de Mahomet au paradis et en enfer: une version persane du micraj,” in Apocalypses
et voyages dans l’au-delà, ed. Claude Kappler, 293–320. Paris: Éditions du Cerf.
Pink, Elisabeth. 1968. Die Uiguren von Kan-chou in der früheren Sung Zeit, 960–1028. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
Plessner, Martin. 1957. “Muhammed’s Clandestine cUmra in the Dhu’l-Qacda 8 H. and Sura 17,1,” Festschrift für Guiseppe
Furlani, Revista degli Studi Orientali (RSO) 32, 525–530.
Rasheed, Ghulam. January 1965. “The Development of Na’tia Poetry in Persian Literature,” Islamic Culture 39/1, 53–69.
Redhouse, James. 1996. A Turkish and English Lexicon. Beirut: Librairie du Liban.
Richard, Francis. 1997. Splendeurs Persanes: Manuscrits du XIIe au XVIIe siècle. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale.
Riddell, Peter. 1997. “The Transmission of Narrative-Based Exegesis in Islam: al-Baghawi’s Use of Stories in his
Commentary on the Qur’an, and a Malay Descendent,” in Islam: Essays on Scripture, Thought and Society: A Festschrift
in Honour of Anthony H. Johns, eds. Peter Riddell and Tony Street, 57–80. Leiden, New York, and Cologne: Brill.
Ritter, Helmut. 1958. “Philologika XIV. Fariduddin ‘Attar. II,” Oriens 1/1–76.
Robillard, Valerie and Els Jongeneel. 1998. Pictures into Words: Theoretical and Descriptive Approaches to Ekphrasis.
Amsterdam: VU University Press.
Robinson, Basil. 1991. Fifteenth-Century Persian Painting: Problems and Issues. New York and London: New York
University Press.
Rogers, Michael. 1968. “The Genesis of Safawid Religious Painting,” in Vth International Congress of Iranian Art and
Archaeology, Tehran-Isfahan-Shiraz, 11th–18th April 1968, volume 2, 167–188. Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Arts
(republished in Iran 8 [1970], 125–140).
Rossabi, Morris. 1975. China and Inner Asia from 1368 to the Present Day. New York: Pica Press.
413
Roxburgh, David. 2005. The Persian Album, 1400-1600: From Dispersal to Collection. New Haven and London: Yale
University Press.
———. 2005. “The Timurids and Turkmen: The Timurid and Turkmen Dynasties of Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia,
c. 1370–1506,” in Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600–1600, ed. idem, 190–257. London: Royal Academy of Arts.
———. 2001. Prefacing the Image: The Writing of Art History in Sixteenth-Century Iran, Studies and Sources in Islamic
Art and Architecture, Supplement to Muqarnas 9. Leiden, Cologne, and Boston: Brill.
———. Winter 2001. “Baysunghur’s Library: Questions Related to its Chronology and Production,” Journal of Social
Affairs 18/2, 11–41.
———. 2000. “The Study of Painting and the Arts of the Book,” Muqarnas 17, 1–16.
———. 2000. “Kamal al-Din Bihzad and Authorship in Persianate Painting,” in Muqarnas 17, 119–145.
Roxburgh, David (ed.). 2005. Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600–1600. London: Royal Academy of Arts.
Rubin, Uri. 1993. “The Shrouded Messenger: On the Interpretation of al-Muzzammil and al-Muddaththir,” Jerusalem
Studies in Arabic and Islam 16, 96–107.
———. 1975. “Pre-Existence and Light: Aspects of the Concept of Nur Muhammad,” Israel Oriental Studies 5, 62–119.
Rypka, Jan. 1968. History of Iranian Literature. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel.
Safwat, Nabil. 1996. The Art of the Pen: Calligraphy of the 14th to 20th Centuries, the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of
Islamic Art 5, ed. Julian Raby. Oxford: Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press.
Saleh, Walid. 2004. The Formation of the Classical Tafsir Tradition: The Qur’an Commentary of al-Tha‘libi (d. 427/1035).
Leiden and Boston: Brill.
Al-Samarrai, Qassim. 1968. The Theme of Ascension in Mystical Writings: a Study of the Theme in Islamic and non-
Islamic Mystical Writings. Baghdad: National Printing and Publishing Co.
Schamiloglu, Uli. 2004. “The Rise of the Ottoman Empire: The Black Death in Medieval Anatolia and its Impact on
Turkish Civilization,” in Views From the Edge: Essays in Honor of Richard W. Bulliet, ed. Neguin Yavari et al., 255–279.
New York: Columbia University Press.
———. 2002. “The Islamic High Culture of the Golden Horde,” in The Golden Cycle: Proceedings of the John D. Soper
Commemorative Conference on the Cultural Heritage of Central Asia, October 1–4, 1998, ed. András Bodrogligeti, 200–215.
Central Asia Information Project, np: Sahibqiran.
———. 1995. “Mongol or Not? The Rise of an Islamic Turkic Culture in Transoxiana,” in Samarcande, 1400–1500: La
cité-oasis de Tamerlan: coeur d’un empire d’une renaissance, ed. Vincent Fourniau, 191–203. Paris: Autrement.
———. 1993. “Preliminary Remarks on the Role of Disease in the History of the Golden Horde,” Central Asian Survey
12/4, 447–457.
Scherberger, Max. 2005. “Weitere osmanische Paraphrasierungen der Pariser Handschrift des Miragname,” Materialia
Turcica 25, 285–302.
414
———. 2003. Das Micrajname: die Himmel- und Höllenfahrt des Propheten Muhammad in der osttürkischen Überlieferung,
Arbeitsmaterialien zum Orient 14. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag.
Schimmel, Annemarie. 1974. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press.
Séguy, Marie-Rose. 1977. The Miraculous Journey of Mahomet: Miraj Nameh, BN, Paris Sup Turc 190, trans. Richard
Pevear. New York: G. Braziller.
Sells, Michael. 1996. Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Qur’an, Mi’raj, Poetic and Theological Writings. New York: Paulist
Press.
Serifolu, Ömer and and Zeynep Sanlıer (eds.). 2004. Erol Akyavas ve Miraçnamesi. Istanbul: grataNoNgrata.
Sertkaya, Osman Fikri. 1977. Islâmî Devrenin Uygur Harfli Eserlerine Toplu Bir Bakıs. Bochum: Ruhr-Universität.
———. 1974. “Some New Documents Written in Uigur Script in Anatolia,” Central Asiatic Journal 18/3, 180–192.
———. 1970. Osmanlı Sâirlerinin Çagatayca Siirleri. Istanbul: Edebiyat Fakültesi Matbaası.
Simpson, Marianna Shreve. 20002. “Shah ‘Abbas and his Picture Bible,” in The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan
Library’s Medieval Picture Bible, eds. William Noel and Daniel Weiss, 121–141. Baltimore: The Walters Art Museum.
———. 1982. “The Production and Patronage of the Haft Awrang in the Freer Gallery of Art,” Ars Orientalis 13, 93–119.
Sims, Eleanor et al. 2002. Peerless Images: Persian Painting and its Sources. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Soucek, Priscilla. 1998. “Timurid Women: A Cultural Perspective,” in Women in the Medieval Islamic World, ed. Gavin
Hambly, 199–226. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
———. 1992. “The Manuscripts of Iskandar Sultan: Structure and Content,” in Timurid Art and Culture: Iran and
Central Asia in the Fifteenth Century, Studies in Islamic Art and Architecture 6, eds. Lisa Golombek and Maria Subtelny,
116–131. Leiden: Brill.
———. 1988. “The Life of the Prophet: Illustrated Versions,” in Content and Context of Visual Arts in the Islamic World:
Papers from a Colloquium in Memory of Richard Ettinghausen, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2–4 April 1980,
ed. idem, 193–218. University Park and London: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Soucek, Svat. 2000. A History of Inner Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Spuler, Bertold. 1972. History of the Mongols. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
Stein, M. Aurel. 1921. Serindia: Detailed Report of Explorations in Central Asia and Westernmost China, 5 volumes.
Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Steingass, Francis. 2000. A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.
Subtelny, Maria. Forthcoming (Spring 2009). “The Islamic Ascent Narrative as Missionary Text: the Timurid Mi’raj-
nameh,” in The Prophet Explores Other Worlds: New Studies on Muhammad’s Ascension, eds. Christiane Gruber and
Frederick Colby. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
415
———. 1994. “The Sunni Revival under Shah-Rukh and its Promoters: a Study for the Connection between Ideology
and Higher Learning in Timurid Iran,” in Proceedings of the 27th Meeting of Haneda Memorial Hall Symposium on Central
Asia and Iran, August 30, 1993, 14–23. Kyoto: Institute of Inner Asian Studies, Kyoto University.
Subtelny, Maria and Anas Khalidov. April–June 1995. “The Curriculum of Islamic Higher Learning in Timurid Iran in
the Light of the Sunni Revival under Shah-Rukh,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 115/2, 210–236.
Swemer, S. 1948. “The Hairs of the Prophet,” in I. Goldziher Memorial Volume 1, eds. Samuel Löwinger and Joseph
Somogyi, 48–54. Budapest: np.
Talbot Rice, David. 1976. The Illustrations to the “World History” of Rashid al-Din, ed. Basil Gray. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press.
Tanındı, Zeren. 2000. “Additions to Illustrated Manuscripts in Ottoman Workshops,” Muqarnas 17, 147–161.
———. 1984. Siyer-i Nebî: Islam Tasvir Sanatında Hz. Muhammedin Hayatı. Istanbul: Hürriyet Vakfı Yayınları.
Teiser, Stephen. 2003. The Scripture of the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism,
Kuroda Institute Studies in East Asian Buddhism 9. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
———. 1993. “The Growth of Purgatory,” in Religion and Society in T’ang and Sung China, eds. Patricia Buckley
Ebrey and Peter Gregory, 115–143. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
———. December 1988. “‘Having Once Died and Returned to Life’: Representations of Hell in Medieval China,” Harvard
Journal of Asiatic Studies 48/2, 433–464.
Tekin, Sinasi. 1993. Eski Türklerde Yazı, Kagıt, Kitap ve Kagıt Damgaları. Istanbul: Eren.
(no author). 1980–82. Tonko Bakukokutsu: Dunhuang wen wu yan jiu suo (Dunhuang Mogao Caves: Dunhuang
Institute of Cultural Artifacts), 5 volumes. Tokyo: Heibonsha in cooperation with the Dunhuang Institute of Cultural
Artifacts.
al-Tucmi, Muhyi al-Din (ed.). 1994. Tatriz al-Dibaj bi-Haqa’iq al-Isra’ wa’l-Micraj. Beirut: Dar wa Maktabat al-Hilal.
Uluç, Lale. 1999. “Ottoman Book Collectors and Illustrated Sixteenth Century Shiraz Manuscripts,” Revue des Mondes
Musulmans et de la Méditerranée 87–88 (Livres et Lecture dans le Monde Musulman), 85–107.
Vámbéry, Ármin. 1867. Cagataische Sprachstudien. Leipzig: Brockhaus.
Van Damme, Marc. 1991. “Rabghuzi’s Qisas al-Anbiya’ Reconsidered in the Light of Western Medieval Studies: Narrationes
Vel Exempla,” De Turcicis Aliisque Rebus, Commentarii Henry Hofman Dedicati, Utrecht Turcological Series 3, 7–37.
Utrecht: Instituut voor Oosterse Talen.
———. 1985. “Some Remarks to the Narratological and Non-Narratological Levels in Rabghuzi’s Qisas al-Anbiya’ (The
Tales of the Prophets),” Besinci Milletler Arası Türkoloji Kongresi, Tebligler II. Türk Edebiyatı, 45–59. Istanbul: Edebiyat
Fakültesi Basımevi.
Vandier-Nicolas, Nicole et al. 1974–76. Bannières et peintures de Touen-Houang conservées au Musée Guimet, 2 volumes.
Paris: Librairie Adrien-Maisonneuve.
416
Van Ess, Josef. 1996. “Le micraj et la vision de Dieu dans les premières spéculations théologiques en Islam,” in Le
voyage initiatique en terre d’Islam: ascensions célestes et itinéraires spirituels, ed. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, 27–56.
Louvain: Peeters.
Vuckovic, Brooke Olson. 2005. Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mi‘raj in the Formation of
Islam. New York: Routledge.
Wang-Toutain, Françoise. 1998. Le bodhisattva Ksitigarbha en Chine du Ve au XIIIe siècle, Monographies no. 185. Paris:
Presses de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient.
Watson, William. 1981. “Chinese Styles in the Paintings in the Istanbul Albums,” Islamic Art 1, 69–76.
Watt, James and Denise Patry Leidy. 2005. Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth-Century China. New York:
Metropolitan Museum of Art; and New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Waugh, Earle. 1985. “The Popular Muhammad: Models in the Interpretation of an Islamic Paradigm,” in Approaches
to Islam in Religious Studies, ed. Richard Martin, 41–58 and 215–218. Tucson, Ariz.: The University of Arizona Press.
Weitzmann, Kurt. 1971. “The Narrative and Liturgical Gospel illustrations,” in Studies in Classical and Byzantine
Manuscript Illumination, ed. Herbert Kessler, 247–270. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
———. 1970. Illustrations in Roll and Codex, A Study of the Origin and Method of Text Illustration, 2nd ed. Princeton:
Werner, Edward. 1932. A Dictionary of Chinese Mythology. Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, LTD.
Wheeler, Brannon. 2002. Moses in the Quran and Islamic Exegesis. London: Routledge Curzon.
Whitfield, Roderick. 1982–85. The Art of Central Asia: The Stein Collection in the British Museum, 3 volumes. Bunkyo-
ku, Tokyo: Kodansha International in co-operation with the British Museum.
Whitfield, Roderick et al. 2000. Cave Temples of Mogao: Art and History on the Silk Road. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty
Trust.
Whitfield, Roderick and Anne Farrer. 1990. The Caves of the Thousand Buddhas: Chinese Art from the Silk Route.
London: The British Museum Press.
Whitfield, Susan and Ursula Sims-Williams. 2004. The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith. Chicago: Serindia
Publications.
Wolfson, Elliot. 1994. Through a Speculum that Shines: Vision and Imagination in Medieval Jewish Mysticism. Princeton:
Wriggins, Sally Hovey. 1996. Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim on the Silk Road. Boulder Colo.: Westview Press.
Yarshater, Ehsan. 1988. “The Development of Iranian Literatures: Historical Perspective,” in Persian Literature, ed.
idem, 3–37. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press.
———. 1962. “Some Common Characteristics of Persian Poetry and Art,” Studia Islamica 16, 61–72.
417
Yazbeck Haddad, Yvonne. 1981. The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection. Albany, N. Y.: State University
of New York Press.
Yü, Chün-fang. 2001. Kuan-Yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara. New York: Columbia University Press.
Zhang, Xiusheng et al. (eds.). 2000. Zhengding Long xing si. Beijing: Wen wu chu ban she.
(multiple authors). 1990. Zhongguo bi hua quan ji: Dunhuang (The Complete Collection of Mural Paintings of China:
Dunhuang), 11 volumes. Shenyang Shi: Liaoning mei shu chu ban she.
Zieme, Peter. 2005. “Religions of the Turks in the Pre-Islamic Period,” in Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years,
600–1600, ed. David Roxburgh, 32–37. London: Royal Academy of Arts.
Zürcher, Erik. 1972. The Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaptation of Buddhism in Early Medieval China,
Sinica Leidensia 11. Leiden: Brill.
418

The Timurid Book of Ascension Mirajnama

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Timurid Book of Ascension Mirajnama

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mahoma English C. 02-07-08.

qxd:Historia 15/7/08 02:35 Página 237

A STUDY OF TEXT AND IMAGE

Pour mon Papa et ma Maman,

Publisher’s preface ............................................................................................ 245

Preface Francis Richard.................................................................................... 247

Institutional Abbreviations .............................................................................. 395

Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 399

JOSÉ ASPAS ROMANO

T H E P R O P H E T ’ S M I CR A J IN TEXTS AND IMAGES

O N the night of 27 Rajab, the Prophet Muhammad was

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

THE PROPHET’S M I CR A J IN TEXTS AND IMAGES

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

THE PROPHET’S M I CR A J IN TEXTS AND IMAGES

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

35 To my knowledge, no autonomous illustrated Micrajnama manuscripts survive from this period.

THE PROPHET’S M I CR A J IN TEXTS AND IMAGES

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

and “unrefined” polity–as it had been under Shahrukh’s

1 Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 69.

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

E S TA B L I S H I N G THE M I CR A J N A M A ’ S TIMURID CONTEXT

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

23 Huart, “Le ghazel heptaglotte d’Abou-Ishaq Halladj,” 629–630.

E S TA B L I S H I N G THE M I CR A J N A M A ’ S TIMURID CONTEXT

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

E S TA B L I S H I N G THE M I CR A J N A M A ’ S TIMURID CONTEXT

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

E S TA B L I S H I N G THE M I CR A J N A M A ’ S TIMURID CONTEXT

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

E S TA B L I S H I N G THE M I CR A J N A M A ’ S TIMURID CONTEXT

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

E S TA B L I S H I N G THE M I CR A J N A M A ’ S TIMURID CONTEXT

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

subtle ways in which the Micrajnama’s text includes such

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

13 Cited in Dols, The Black Death in the Middle East, 114–115.

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

22 Badahdah, al-Madkhal ila Sharh al-Sunna lil-Imam al-Baghawi, vol. 1, 144.

28 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1: X–XI.

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

32 Eckmann, Nehcü’l-Feradis, vol. 1, 41.

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

85 Subtelny, “The Islamic Ascent Narrative as Missionary Text.”

TEXT AS EXEMPLUM Muslims would have grasped the larger implications of

of royal manuscripts, or do they define a “mature” style?

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

20 Millie, “The Narrative Potential of Mi’râj.”

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

37 See al-Ghazali, Book XX of al-Ghazali’s Ihya’ cUlum al-Din, 70.

43 Steingass, A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, 114.

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

frequently in textual sources, that is conveyed visually words:

(MacDonald, “The Angel of Death in Late Islamic Tradition”).

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )

67 Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, 169.

THE TIMURID “B O O K OF ASCENSION” (M I C R A J N A M A )