Investigating the Semantic relationship between the Flower and Bird (Gol-o Morgh) Elements in the Qajar Period Miniature with Rumi's Mysticism

During the Qajar period, with the tendency of people and artists towards mystical literature, painters, by influencing this space and using symbols (elements of nature), created pure images of these themes. Rumi, in conveying his transcendental and mystical thoughts by using the symbolic elements of nature, considers the bird as a symbol of the human’s soul (lover), the flower as a symbol of heaven and God (beloved), and the garden as the sheltering world of the soul to achieve unity. The purpose of the present study is to analyze the semantic relationship between the elements of nature in the flower and bird paintings of the Qajar period with the mystical images created by these elements in the thought and poetry of Rumi. The main question of the research is: What is the semantic relationship between the flower and the bird’s paintings in the Qajar period and Rumi’s mysticism? This research is descriptive-analytical and has been done based on the flower and bird works of the Qajar period and a comparative study with Rumi's mystical poems. Therefore, as Rumi looks at the symbol of the bird from the perspective of the manifestation of the soul and lover and considers the symbol of the rose as an allegory of the manifestation of love, lasting paradise, and the manifestation of God, also, in the Qajar period, the elements of Iranian paintings (the flower and the bird) symbolically and full of secrets and the presence of meaning are depicted with the same concepts that are mentioned in Rumi's mystical poems.

The romantic relationship between the flower and the bird in these paintings is a mystic symbol of the relationship between humans and God, which is also manifested in the mystic thought and literature of Persian poetry and prose and is a symbol of the mystic’s love for the divine essence. The bird has appeared in the form of a nightingale that found his lost peace again in the arms of his beloved flower (God). The flower bush in the painting of flower and bird is a symbol of scenic trees, and aromatic and mesmerizing flowers of paradise, where birds (a symbol of believers) have reached peace among its branches and have enjoyed the infinite blessings of God.
Rumi expresses his heavenly thoughts, moods, and inner experiences using elements of nature such as different kinds of flowers and birds in terms of symbols to create vivid, dynamic, and artistic images in the reader’s mind. Considering that many images of flowers and birds of the Qajar era are rooted in literary concepts and semantic symbols, painters have aesthetically embodied these two symbols in pictures full of code and meaning. The present research aims to analyze the semantic relationship of the elements of nature in the painting of flowers and birds of the Qajar era with mystical images created from these elements in the thought and poetry of Rumi. The main question of this paper is: “what semantic relationship can be found between the works of flowers and birds of the Qajar era and Rumi’s mysticism?”. According to the literature on the theme of the flower and bird, so far, the theme of the symbol in the paintings of the flower and bird of the Qajar period mixed with mystical literature has not been studied so that their semantic relationship can be discovered and expressed aesthetically.

Review of the Literature2.1 The Symbolic Relationship of Iranian Flower and Bird Painting with Mystical Literature (Rumi)
Bird features have a long history in Iranian art. In the ritual culture of Islam, birds that speak in human language have brilliant effects (Shahdadi, 2005, p. 78). The image of a flower and bird is first shown as the tree of life and bird in the paintings. The tree of life in the written texts and pictures of the Sassanid era in different forms of a bush or tree, from three thousand years BC to the first manifestations of birds in the bibliography of Iranian art, is called the Baghdad school, which found more natural manifestations in the paintings of the 8th century AH and continued until the periods of Tabriz schools in Shiraz, Herat, and Bukhara.
In the Isfahan school, birds that play a role in poems with story elements are shown as symbols of the human spirit (Machiani, 2002, pp. 18-24). An Iranian artist portrays the truth of the holy world with a mysterious expression using symbols such as flowers and birds to convey mystical concepts and meanings. His soul flies to the truth in the form of a bird and sits beside a beautiful flower that symbolizes the beauty of paradise. There, he engages in worship by singing. The Iranian flower and bird painting, in one aspect of its symbolism, is indicative of the poetic concept of a romantic relationship between the nightingale and the flower, in which the description and the story of separation and reunion, love, demands, and romantic lamentations of the nightingale, and on the other hand, depicts the coquetry, disdain, and the romantic charms of the flower. According to Rumi, a flower has received help from a friend’s flower garden; therefore, it is indestructible and has grace, perfection, and good qualities (Hosseinpour Chafi, 2006, p. 165). In Rumi’s opinion, all these descriptions are a symbol of a perfect human being who has reached the flower garden of the unseen world, so we can embrace him and reach the flower garden of truths:Taking the skirt of the flower and accompanying the flower, dancing together, we will reach the root and seedling of the flower (Abbasi, 1991).
In Divan Shams Tabrizi, the bird is a symbol of the soul or spirit, a mystic, and a seeker (Akhtaryar, 2013, p. 146). Some of Rumi’s interpretations of the symbol of the bird in his poems are related to concepts such as 1) the human soul and spirit, 2) the soul of a bird, 3) a mystic and a seeker, 4) perfect humans and inferior humans, 5) claimants of truth, and 6) a sign of human inner qualities.
The illustrated states in Gol-o Morgh’s [flower and bird] painting of the Qajar period and their symbolic relation with the mystical poems of Rumi are as follows:The Birds sitting on the flower branch;
Painters of the Qajar period always illustrated the birds on the flower stem sitting, motionless, and watching the rose.
While singing (seeking love, praise, moaning and wailing, separation from beloved)
The nightingale continuously sings and tries to raise pity and attract the attention of the beloved to reach and be unified with it.
While sleeping (mushahede [intuition])
The sleeping birds in Gol-o Morgh’s [flower and bird] painting indicate being in meditating [observation], leaving the material world, perceiving the divine mysteries, and in inner (moshahede [intuition]) and khamushi [silence].
While hunting insects and butterflies
It usually considers young disciples who have no mukashefe [intuition] and their ears are often busy with worldly speech and their intelligence and senses do not pay attention to the flower.
the bird on the rose branch;
In the works of the Qajar period, the rose is usually used to indicate the main position of Morgh [bird].
The branch of the Iris flower;
As the main flower, the iris is always placed at the center of the image from the point of growth up to the peak of Gol-o Morgh’s [flower and bird] painting, just like the tree of life which was very important and the rose is illustrated on a lower level than branch iris. In combination with other elements, the iris is the largest flower and is often illustrated with darker colors in order to be highlighted compared with other flowers.
The importance of Gol than Morgh [bird];
The flowers are illustrated larger at the top of the miniature with enchanting and attractive colors, while the bird (as the lover and embodiment of need) is illustrated with neutral colors (with the color of the human skin because it is the symbol of the human soul) at the bottom of the miniature smaller than normal and facing the flower.
Variety and number of flowers and birds in composition
The composition of illustration components is more active in Gol-o Morgh’s [flower and bird] painting of the Qajar period compared with previous periods. It is as if the miniaturist has depicted a piece of paradise or a large garden with more variety and more flowers and different types of birds.

This research has been done by the descriptive-analytical method and has qualitatively examined the data obtained from the samples of the flower and the bird of the Qajar period based on a comparative study with the mystical poems of Rumi.

The painting of a flower and bird is a poem of flowers. According to painters, the bird is a symbol of the human spirit. This world is an indicator of his cage and all his efforts to reach the heavenly world. The red flower is a symbol of the beloved, the essence of omnipotence, the allegory of heaven, and the perfect human being. In Persian poems, the flower is a symbol of affection and the nightingale is a symbol of demand, which is in search of the beloved and an eternal flower. In the paintings of Islamic art, there is a close relationship between images and mystical poetry.
During the Qajar era, with the spread of mystical stories and texts (such as the story of Sheikh Sanan written by Attar and Masnavi by Maulavi) and the tendency of people and artists toward these themes, the painters of flowers and birds emerged from the world of imagination and allegory of the mystical poet to discover these meanings and concepts. Influenced by this atmosphere, they created pure images. As a result, paintings full of meaning and mystery are observable on many everyday items such as pencil cases, mirror frames, covers of religious texts (Quran and prayer books), dishes, walls, and ceilings of buildings. In Rumi’s poetry, the garden of life joins the garden of nature and the images of this world are interpreted as the spiritual world. What he means by the garden is the caged soul, and the garden of this world is a ray of the garden of the heavenly and imaginal world. One of the most important symbolic meanings of the bird is the soul or spirit, which means that the soul is constantly trying to fly to the world of the heavens (the original home). This bird in love sings in the dream of gaining the love of the flower, so the red flower will appear and lead his soul to the world of meaning. In his opinion, a flower is the love symbol of the world (God) that guides man (bird, soul) to the essence of his existence. He believes that every part of nature is a manifestation of God’s presence and considers art to be an imitation of the imaginal world and the reminder of memories of heaven. Thus, the hypothesis stated at the beginning of the paper is acceptable.