Symbolic Concepts of the Miniatures in the Story of “Black Gonbad” of Haftpeykar: An Analysis of an Illustrated Manuscript of Khamseh Nezami

In an illustrated manuscript, symbols are usually used to transfer concepts from a literary text to an image. This research deals with how the cryptic and hidden concepts of Haftpeykar’s story are reflected on the illustrated manuscript kept in Shahid Motahari University, based on the analytical-descriptive method. The results show that symbols are used in the illustrated manuscript based on the symbolic meanings of the text of the poem. In other words, symbols have been selected to convey the main message of the story, but they do not follow just the literary text but the choice of symbols in the illustrated manuscript is also related to the cultural proportions of their time. The research method in this study is documentary and analytical and the data are collected using a library research method.In mystical literature, deep meanings are expressed using symbols. The symbol displays the theme of the imagination artistically, because it is interpretable. Since Iranian painting has a long history with Persian poetry and literature, over time it merged with Old Iranian wisdom and Islamic mysticism in a way that literary texts became the basis for the creativity of Iranian painters. Nizami’s Haftpeykar is the most mysterious collection of his five versified stories. Haftpeykar’s message is spiritual excellence. Every Gonbad’s story contains a teaching for Bahram Goor to enlighten his soul. The miniature (attached image) narrates a section of the story in which the protagonist, after discovering the secret of the black-wearing people of the city, meets Lady Parizadegan.According to the results, in the miniatures of the “Black Gonbad” story of Haftpeykar from Nizami’s Khamseh (5 poetries or treasures) kept in Shahid Motahari University, symbols are divided into three categories regarding the text. The first group consists of symbols that are used exactly in the text of the poem and symbolic concepts are expressed with their help. The second group contains the symbols that do not appear in the text of the poem, but the miniature is used to convey the symbolic meanings of the story. Finally, the third category includes the symbols that are not a reflection of meanings of the text of the poem but they are influenced by factors outside the text and work to express concepts beyond the text of the poem.