Eastern Interpretation of Mir Heidar Mirajnameh

The history of painting in Iran involves different schools æ all of which have been affected both by East and West. The heyday of this art is in the Timurid era at 15 c.e, Herat school, and Far East art influence is one of the prominent features of this school. Most of left works of Herat studio resulted in Herat school was founded by Shah Rukh. Mir Heidar Mirajnameh was one of these books. This edition, compared to other editions of Mirajnameh such as those attributed to Ahmed Musa belonging to the Ilkhanid, have the special motifs and elements of Far East. It is noteworthy that this influence is not limited to the art style and visual elements but they enter to painter’s mental imaginary in interpretation of Miraj and different beings that prophet Mohammad (pbuh) faces within his journey. Now the question is whether this is just a version in Timurid school with eastern elements or these effects have been entered in the content of works and basically they can be considered as an eastern interpretation of ascension of prophet (pbuh)? In this study, which is done with analytical method according to deduction of evidence and available resources, first, the 13-18 verses of Najm Surah, Esra`a Surah and narratives about the ascension of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) will be considered to determine differences between picture frames on Shah Rukh Mirajnameh and the ones in Quran and Hadith. Then, through a study of equivalent elements in eastern religions especially Tibetan Buddhism and comparing them to images of Mirajnameh, it is concluded that the painter is indebted to eastern concepts in presentation of creatures and elements of narration.