Mirajnameh [The Book of the Prophet’s Ascension], Herat, c. 1436, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Supplément Turc 190, f. 34v.
The illustration from folio 34v of the Mirajnameh depicts a monumental celestial being encountered by the Prophet Muhammad during his nocturnal journey. Characterized by multiple tiers of human heads emerging from a single set of shoulders, the figure represents an angel of immense proportions and linguistic capacity. According to the accompanying text, the angel possesses seventy heads, each equipped with seventy tongues, allowing it to praise the Divine in seventy thousand different languages simultaneously.
The angel's multi-colored wings and the stylized cloud-scrolls (t'chi) at the top of the frame are direct stylistic borrowings from Yuan and Ming Chinese iconography, integrated into a Persianate theological context. The deep lapis lazuli background serves not only as a representational 'sky' but as a symbolic space for the miraculous. The hierarchical importance of the angel is further signaled by the intricate, polychrome layering of its plumage and the gold-leaf detailing on its garments.
That being said, fuck all gods and fuck all nations. This world is dystopian and I feel like I am in a constant state of mourning trapped in a state of inbetweeness.
The illustration from folio 34v of the Mirajnameh depicts a monumental celestial being encountered by the Prophet Muhammad during his nocturnal journey. Characterized by multiple tiers of human heads emerging from a single set of shoulders, the figure represents an angel of immense proportions and linguistic capacity. According to the accompanying text, the angel possesses seventy heads, each equipped with seventy tongues, allowing it to praise the Divine in seventy thousand different languages simultaneously.
The angel's multi-colored wings and the stylized cloud-scrolls (t'chi) at the top of the frame are direct stylistic borrowings from Yuan and Ming Chinese iconography, integrated into a Persianate theological context. The deep lapis lazuli background serves not only as a representational 'sky' but as a symbolic space for the miraculous. The hierarchical importance of the angel is further signaled by the intricate, polychrome layering of its plumage and the gold-leaf detailing on its garments.
That being said, fuck all gods and fuck all nations. This world is dystopian and I feel like I am in a constant state of mourning trapped in a state of inbetweeness.
