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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileMuhammad encountering the angel of fire and ice
The scene is set against a dark blue background filled with golden starbursts. On the left, a large, winged angel sits on a golden cloud; the angel's body is vertically bisected, with the left side composed of textured, golden-brown flames and the right side rendered as a pale, smooth white form representing ice or snow. Beside the angel, Muhammad—depicted with a flame-like halo and wearing a green robe and white turban—rides Buraq, a creature with the body of a horse and the crowned head of a human. Between them kneels an intermediary angel with multi-colored wings, wearing a patterned blue tunic and green trousers. The figures are framed within a rectangular miniature typical of Persian manuscript illumination.
This illumination illustrates the Mi'raj (the Night Journey) of the Prophet Muhammad, specifically the encounter with a celestial being representing the paradox of divine nature. It is associated with the 'Mirajnama' tradition, a genre of Islamic literature detailing the Prophet’s ascent to heaven and his observations of the celestial realms.
حضرت رسول عليه السلام اول نصفى يار دن و نصفى اردن خلق اولنان ملکی کور ديد كه آنوك بر النده ناردن و بر النده قاردن تسبیح وار در و كوك كوزونك آنك تسبيحي صوتيدر
Translation
The Prophet (peace be upon him) saw an angel, half created of fire and half of snow, who held fire in one hand and snow in the other, and the sound of his prayer was like the sound of thunder.
Mirajnama
This work is a classic illustration of the accounts found in Timurid-era Mirajnama manuscripts.
Object
miniature (painting)
parchment
Timurid period
Persian
manuscript-illumination
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
407 × 548 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview on April 20, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.