I should like to draw attention to a number of unpublished or little-known Persian paintings of Muhammad's ascension and visit to Paradise dating from the XIVth century. When in 1949 Professor Cerulli published his great work "Il Libro della Scala" e la Questione delle Fonti arabo-spagnole della Divina Commedia", he presented a number of early western translations of a lost Arabic Kitab al Mi'ra^^j - nameh, with written in Ugarit scrpt in Heart in 840 H/1436, and now one of the treasures of Biblithèque Nationale in Paris. Splendid as this manuscript is as an artistic creation, especially owing to its rich iconography of Paradise and Hell, it is neverthless a rather late example within this tradition. However, at the time of publication of Professor Cerulli's book no other series of ascension scenes was known (only one earlier miniature showing Muhammad on the Buraq and many later versions of the single subject) and nothing all of the other paintings showing the Prophet's descent to Hell. The first of these paintings shows Muhammad riding in a green robe on a reddish Buraq with golden flame wings and peacock feather tail; they are flying over land and a body of water. The historical parallel with all western literature goes even further, because just as Dante Alighieri was quite possibly influenced by Muslim ideas (see Maria Corti, Dante and Islam, and lately, Luciano Gargan, Liber Scalae; see also Casalino Pierluigi, Dante and Islam, "in poche righe", Ennepilibri and "l'Asino Rosso").
Casalino Pierluigi, on August 27th, 2014.
Casalino Pierluigi, on August 27th, 2014.