Laylat al-Qadr — the Night of Power — commemorates the night during which the first verses of the Holy Qur’an were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
In his Khamsa (Quintet – musical composition) the renowned Persian poet Amir Khusraw Dihlavi depicts the story of a saint who made a failed attempt to stay awake until the “Night of Power”.
The painting appears to be a continuous narrative, on the right illustrating the saint in his efforts to remain awake, and then, on the left, after he has fallen asleep. Along with its narrow horizontal format, the saturated pigments used to colour the image recall the painting styles of both Mamluk Egyptian and 14th Century Iranian (in particular, Shiraz), but some scholars believe that the script style of this manuscript dates it to the second half of the fifteenth century.
Read more about Laylat al-Qadr here: http://www.theismaili.org/festival/laylat-al-qadr
via Aga Khan Museum.
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