Mystical Analysis of Color in the Weavings of Five Miniatures in Haft Tanan Tekyeh Based on Abu al-Mafakhir Yahya Bakharzi’s Views in the Fusus al-Adab

Haft Tanan Tekyeh in Shiraz, Iran is one of the public buildings built during the Zand period. Its architecture and decorations invite different studies as certain ornaments appeared in different historical periods. Accordingly, murals were among the prominent decorations of the building in the Zand period. This is confirmed by the five miniatures in the Haft Tanan mansion hall. The paintings have ritualistic-mystical themes, which correspond with the mystical function of a tekyeh, since they amplify the spiritual atmosphere. The subjects of the miniatures in the hall are, from right to left, the old dervish, Moses while shepherding, Sheikh San’an and daughter of Teresa, Abraham (Ibrahim) sacrificing Ishmael (Ismail), and the young dervish. Given that the mystical beliefs were rooted in Ishraq (Illuminationism) and no predetermined framework seemed to be applied, finding a specific theory and method as the theoretical background was the most difficult part of this study. Nevertheless, a treatise from the eighth century AH / fourteenth century AD was found in the literature review. The main purpose of the study was mystical analysis of color in the weavings of five miniatures in Haft Tanan mansion hall based on Abu al-Mafakhir Yahya Bakharzi’s views in the Fusus al-Adab. The weavings were categorized in two ways: first, “dari” (loom-made) and “dastgahi” (machine-made), and second, “clothing” and “not clothing”. Next, color was analyzed in clothes, curtains, and sacks based on Bakharzi’s theory. The main research question was: How could the colors used in the miniatures be explained from a mystical view? It seems that the colors used in the five “majlis” of Haft Tanan are influential in conveying a mystical feeling since they are among the most frequent Islamic colors. This basic qualitative study had a descriptive-analytical design, and the data were collected from direct observation, photographing, and video recording of the five paintings and indexing of library sources. The five miniatures were studied using non-probability sampling. It seems likely that the painter had chosen the colors according to the function and mystical atmosphere of the building purposefully. To prove this assumption, first, the weavings of each miniature were categorized. Then, the colors were determined and analyzed in the context of Bakharzi’s mystical notions in his Fusus al-Adab. The significance of the study was fulfilling the lacuna in research based on the views of Iranian Islamic scholars, particularly with regard to scarce resources from the Zand period. Non-courtly art and architecture in different historical periods in Iran have not been sufficiently studied. Moreover, the review of literature showed the scarcity of research on mystical meaning of colors based on the views of Iranian Islamic mystics and scholars. Several studies were found on the paintings in Haft Tanan mansion in Shiraz, Iran, but none had covered the topic and aims of this study. The results indicated that all of the colors were meaningful in Iranian Islamic mysticism according to the Fusus al-Adab. Going against the grain, Karim Khan Zand turned to non-courtly arts, which led to new approaches in art during the second half of the twelfth century AH / eighteenth century AD. When popular art that included popular and common themes were highlighted, artworks were created that were different from their predecessors. The paintings in the Haft Tanan mansion hall are among the non-courtly works that portray mystical themes from the Zand period in Iran. The colors in the weavings were analyzed in the five miniatures in Haft Tanan Tekyeh based on Iranian Islamic mystical principles, particularly Bakharzi’s views in his Fusus al-Adab. The weavings were categorized in two ways: first, “dari” (loom-made) and “dastgahi” (machine-made) and second, “clothing” and “not clothing”. The instances of traditional weavings were studied in three groups of clothes, curtains, and sacks. Centering on Bakharzi’s ideas in the Fusus al-Adab, the views of other mystics such as Najm ad-Din Kubra and ‘Ala’ al-Dawla Simnani were integrated in the discussion. Although there is a four-century break between Bakharzi’s treatise in the eighth century AH and the creation of the miniatures in Haft Tanan in the twelfth century AH, the perennial memory and dominance of the spirit of Iranian culture could explain the relative congruence of the contents of the book and the miniatures. Each one of the miniatures describe a certain level of the mystical “seyr-o soluk” (journey). According to Bakharzi, the color of clothes was among the crucial factors of identifying the state of mystics in the past. In this respect, each miniature was analyzed based on the Fusus al-Adab and the results revealed that the the old and young (Shah Abbas) dervishes, Sheikh San’an and daughter of Teresa, and Abraham and Moses were colored purposefully. The white cloak of Moses, the green robe of Abraham, the white shirt of Ishmael, the red shirt of daughter of Teresa, the blue dress of the young handmaid to daughter of Teresa, and the green and gray shades in the garments of Sheikh San’an, the old and the young dervishes. and the old servant all had mystical meanings and were according to the levels of “soluk” based on Bakharzi’s Fusus al-Adab. Future studies are recommended to use the views and works of Iranian scholars in addition to international chromotology sources in analyzing artworks as it appears that both include a common origin, memory, and historical influence.