Comparison of the visage of Gabriel in Merajnameh of Avicenna and Mir Heydar from the philosophical and visual aspects

One of the most important subjects used in the works of the Iranian- Islamic artists is the Merajnameh of Prophet Mohammed. Many of the Iranian artists of miniature painters have created various pictures in the form of Merajnameh, the most distinguished of which can be mentioned is the Merajnameh of Mir Heydar. It is obvious that the painters have paid attention to the visual aspects of Meraj (Ascension to Heaven). In order to illustrate this event, they have shaped visual forms of different elements of the story, including the angels such as Gabriel with different sizes, colors, and special aspects. On the other hand, the Iranian philosophers and theologians, too, analyzed and examined the real theorical ascension.The present article tends to give an answer to this question that “what relationship is there between the picture of Gabriel in various scenes of Meraj, which can be seen in the Merajnameh of Mir Heydar, and Avicenna’s theoretical descriptions of Gabriel in his treatise of Merajnameh? It is illustrated in this article that in spite of time difference, and the different approaches of the creators of these two works (the visual approach and the philosophical approach) we can consider these two works as two different narrations but adaptable from the Gabriel illustration in Meraj.