muhammad's ascension to heaven (1. muhammad visits the hell for misers; 2. muhammad's encounter with an angel in the shape of a gigantic white cock who keeps track of time and calls the faithful to prayer; 3. muhammad at the gates of hell)
miniatures from a copy of mahmud al-bulgari's nahj al-faradis (the paths of paradise), a work dealing with the prophet muhammad’s mystical ascension to heaven, which takes him to both paradise and hell. on his journey, muhammad is mounted on the winged creature buraq and accompanied by the archangel gabriel/jibril. this particular (since dismembered) manuscript was commissioned by the timurid ruler abu said mirza and created by al-sarai in herat (timurid empire, modern day afghanistan), c. 1465
sources: Copenhagen, The David Collection, Inv. 13/2012, Inv. 14/2014; Christie's
