Colour and Analysis of its Grounds of Symbolic Interpretation in Haft Paykar

Interpretation of colour in Haft Paykar is of fundamental importance. Colour is a major sign of narrative way of Nizami to express his attitude towards ontology. Thus, colour has a symbolic and interpretable field and understanding its symbolic meaning requires recognition of its interpretive background. Identification of such a background leads to understanding the symbolic link between colour and its origin, light. Relation between light and colour in Nizami’s narration has attracted other elements such as seven stars, seven domes, seven climates, seven ladies, seven metals, Bahram, time etc which have external and internal relations with colour. This relation in its symbolic interpretation has made the “Creator’ as light and “man” as colour; colour and light as unity and multiplicity.This paper explains Nizami’s viewpoint about symbolic interpretation of colour, external and internal relation between colour and form and the content of the story narrated in each coloured dome and their interpretive backgrounds.