Handicrafts of Great Khorasan

Handicrafts of Great Khorasan

Analyzing the “Bankrupt who fell in love with the king of Egypt” painting, based on Abd al-Rahman Sulami Neyshaburi's point of view

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Fatemeh Gholami Houjeghan 1
Hassan Bolkhari Ghehi 2
Mina Sadri 3
1 Ph.D. in Comparative and Analytical History of Islamic Art, Department of Advanced Studies of Art, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Professor, Department of Advanced Studies of Art, Faculty of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3 Associate Professor, Department of Painting and Sculpture, Faculty of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/hgj.2026.575957.1060
Abstract
Throughout past centuries, painters were engaged with mystical discussions and texts, so their works consciously or unconsciously became a medium for the emergence of mystical teachings and the ideas of mystics. An exquisite and illustrated version of Mantiq al-Tayr by Attar of Nishabur was produced during the Timurid period, which is currently kept in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and its illustrations provide a suitable platform for studying the mystical influences and opinions of thinkers in this field. Among the eight illustrations in this edition, “Bankrupt who fell in love with the king of Egypt” offers considerable potential for scholarly analysis. In the present qualitative research, the aforementioned illustration was analyzed with a descriptive-analytical approach and using library resources (real: books and articles and virtual: related websites), and the presence of the mystical views of Abd al-Rahman Sulami Nishaburi (one of the mystics of Greater Khorasan) in the illustration was searched for. It should be noted that in the Jawami Adab al-Sufiyya, Sulami left behind teachings in the field of practical mysticism, and this research, With the aim of examining the visual manifestations of al-Salami's teachings and identifying their relationship with the behavior of the characters and elements represented in the painting, conducted a comparative study of those teachings with the aforementioned illustration. In general, it can be said that the present study attempted to examine and explain how the teachings of practical mysticism of Sulami Nishaburi were illustrated in the painting "Bankrupt who fell in love with the king of Egypt." The results of the study showed that the characters, in terms of behavior, actions, and positive speech, were highly consistent with the manners proposed from al-Sulami's perspective, and the movements and postures of the only negative character in the story (the beggar) were in complete opposition to al-Sulami's teachings, indicating that Sulami and Attar, as educated in the mystical school of Greater Khorasan, were referring to the same points.
Keywords
The Conference of the Birds (Mantiq al-Tayr)
Persian painting
practical mysticism
Abd al-Rahman Sulami Nishaburi
Subjects
_        Holy Quran (H. Ansarian, Trans.). (2023). Tehran: Yase Behesht.
_        Attar, F. al-D. (2011). Mantiq al-Tayr (3rd ed.). Qom: Mubin Andisheh.
_        Azhand, Y. (2008). Herat school of painting. Tehran: Farhangestan-e Honar.
_        Bahari‎, E.‫ (1996). Bihzad: Master of Persian painting. London: I. B. Tauris.  
_        Bireae, S. H. (2016). Translation and research of two treatises by Abu Abd al-Rahman Sulami: The collections of Sufi ethics and illnesses of the soul and their treatments. [Master’s thesis, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad]. (In Persian with English abstract).
_        Gholami Houjeghan, F., Bolkhari Ghehi, H., & Sadri, M. (2025). Narrative analysis of Quranic verses and the mentions (dhikr) taken from them in the painting "The insolvent who fell in love with the king of egypt" by Mantiq ul-Tayr, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Journal of Visual and Applied Arts, 18(47). (In Persian with English abstract).  https://doi.org/10.30480/vaa.2025.5657.1964
_        Hojatizadeh, R. (2016). Sama in the works of Sulami and Ghazali; Based on verbal presuppositions. Mytho-Mystic Literature, (44)12, 127-165. (In Persian with English abstract).
_        Hosseini, T. (2015). Description, analysis, and interpretation of eight illustrations from the Mantiq al-Tair edition of the Metropolitan Museum. [Master’s thesis, Tehran University of Art]. (In Persian with English abstract).
_        Jami, N. A. (1977). Jami's Complete Divan; With an extensive introduction to the literary, philosophical, and political history of the ninth century and a critical discussion of Jami's life, works, and criticism of his poems. (H. Razi, Ed.). Tehran: Pirouz. 
_        Kazemi Mousavi, A. (1992). A critique of the works of Abu Abd Allah al-Sulami, parts of the Haghayegh al-Tafsir and other treatises. Journal of Islamic Research, (2), 105-112. (In Persian).
_        Kia, Ch. (2009). Image, text, and the discourse of Sufism in Iran. [Doctoral dissertation, Columbia University]. 
_        Majedi, A. (2011). A critique of the book of History of Sufism by Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami. Ketab-e Maah Adabiyyat, (165), 99-103. (In Persian).
_        Mohajeryzadeh, Gh. (2009). History of Sufism: Translation of Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami's book). Maarif Journal, (68)23, 69-86.
_        Saadi Shirazi, M. A. (2011). Kolliyat-e Saadi, (M. A. Foroughi, Rev.). Tehran: Esharat-e Talaei.
_        Sajjadi, S.J. (2004). Dictionary of mystical terms and expressions. (S. S. Sajjadi, Ed.). Tehran: Tahouri.
_        Shahpasand, E., Iravani Najafi, M., Akbari, S. A., & Pirouzfar, S. (2015). A study on Abu Abd al-Rahman Sulami and his Rijal personality. Ketab-e Ghayyem, (12), 171-194. (In Persian).
_        Shahsavari, M. (2005). A study of some of the facts of Abu Abd al-Rahman Sulami’s interpretation from the perspective of manuscripts and his other works, Ketab Mah Koliyyat, (92, 93), 72-97. (In Persian).
_        Sobout, A. (2017). Al-Sulami, Abu Abd al-Rahman Mohammad ibn Hossein, Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, (24), 339-344.
_        Souri, M. (2018). Abu Abd al-Rahman Sulami Nishaburi’s treatise on criticizing the knowledge of theology, Ettelaat Hekmat va Marefat, (1), 51-56. (In Persian).
_        Tabataba'i, S. M. H. (1995). Tafsir al-Mizan (S. M. B. Mousavi Hamedani, Trans.; Vols. 14 & 17). Qom: Daftar-e Entesharat-e Eslami.
_        Toraji, M. (2009). Study of the illustrations of the Mantiq Al-Tair of Attar in the Herat school. [Master’s thesis, University of Tehran]. (In Persian with English abstract).
_        Zamani, M. (2013). Mantiq Al-Tair in prose. Tehran: Eghbal.
_        Url1: https://dehkhoda.ut.ac.ir (Access date from Oct. 2018 - Sep. 2024)
_        Url2: https://fa.wikishia.net/view/ (Access date from Jul. 2023 - Sep. 2023)
_        Url3: https://fa.wikifeqh.ir/ (Access date from Jul. 2023 - Sep. 2023)
_        Url4: https://www.metmuseum.org/ (Access date from Oct. 2018 - Sep. 2024)
_        Url5: https://www.bl.uk/ (Access date from Oct. 2018 - Sep. 2024)
_        Url6: https://www.delgarm.com/ (Access date Jun. 2023)
_        Url7: https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/ (Access date May. 2023)

  • Receive Date 17 September 2025
  • Revise Date 12 October 2025
  • Accept Date 10 November 2025