The Manifestation of Fireand Lightinthe Icons of Mir-Heidar’s Miraj Nameh

Abstract

According to the bases of the art if the East, the artist tries to manifest the absolute essence of God in his artistic works, and the imaginary motifs and forms depicted in his works narrate the light of God. In principle, the artist is not bound to imitate nature and uses symbol to represent the metaphysical universe and its existing truths. Symbol represents a transcendental reality embracing deep concepts, whose cognition helps to understand the substance of the Islamic thoughts and to be enjoyed of its internal beauty. Illustration and iconography of fire is the depiction of one of these symbols. Indeed, the fire painted in Iranian miniature is not the representative of fire as one of the four elements, rather a symbol of the sacredness and light of the saints of God. In this research, it is aimed the study the mystical attitudes towards light and fire in order to understand better the meanings of fire. Among the different miniature manuscripts narrating this story, MirajNameh has been selected for this purpose, since this book contains illustrations of the material world, seven heavens, paradise, and hell simultaneously. This research aims to prove that the artist has been visually aware of the different types of fire and light, although it cannot be claimed that he was fully informed of the mystical meaning of such distinction. It is however clear that this attitude followed in the visual tradition of Iranian bookmaking is of great significance.