Applying Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic concepts to artistic and literary interpretation often involves ambiguity regarding when a concept enters the reading and how shifting the starting point impacts the outcome. This study investigates how the gaze, desire, and jouissance inform the interpretation of Kamal al-Din Behzad’s miniature The Escape of Joseph from Zulaikha alongside its Quranic and literary intertexts (Surah Yusuf via Tafsir al-Mizan, Saadi’s Bustan, and Jami’s poetry). Employing a qualitative Lacanian framework, the findings demonstrate that defining the subject’s position critically governs conceptual application and interpretive results. Regarding the gaze, a Lacanian reading illuminates the palace as the locus where the discrepancy between Zulaikha’s scheme and her encounter with Joseph is exposed; within her orchestrated space, Zulaikha becomes the object of vision, failing to receive her desired response despite maximum proximity. Concerning desire, physical contact pairs bodily closeness with the unreachability of the Other’s desire, rendered tangible through the interplay of architecture and figural movement. Finally, regarding jouissance, Joseph’s movement gains clarity through his divine devotion, where comparing his escape to spiritual ecstasy highlights how renouncing earthly union enables participation in a higher realm of transcendental belonging.