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For centuries, al-Burāq, the heavenly steed of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, inspired some of the Islamic world’s most beautif...
27/09/2026

For centuries, al-Burāq, the heavenly steed of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, inspired some of the Islamic world’s most beautiful manuscript paintings.

From Herat and Tabriz to Istanbul and Mughal India, artists pictured the sacred journey through skies filled with angels, swirling clouds and golden light, giving painted form to the wonders of the unseen.

The Shama’il of Imam Ali (a), veiled in divine light. Qajar Persia, early 20th century.Filled with divine invocations, t...
26/09/2026

The Shama’il of Imam Ali (a), veiled in divine light. Qajar Persia, early 20th century.

Filled with divine invocations, this composition unfolds through layers of sacred inscription that give form to Imam Ali’s (a) spiritual virtues.

The lower section presents panels depicting the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ upon Buraq and two mounted lancers, possibly Mukhtar (RA), avenger of the slain innocents and Salman Al Farsi (RA) the first Persian convert to Islam.

Lucknow produced some of the most beautiful arms and armour ever made. Today, I wanted to share this extraordinary examp...
24/09/2026

Lucknow produced some of the most beautiful arms and armour ever made.

Today, I wanted to share this extraordinary example from the early nineteenth century, now in the Wallace Collection.

Blue and green enamel gleams over silver, tracing delicate scales across the hilt. Along the velvet scabbard, a fish appears to swim towards the hand that once held the blade.

Within the sciences of the Islamicate world, the heavens were read for signs of earthly destiny…The Fālnāma (“Book of Om...
23/09/2026

Within the sciences of the Islamicate world, the heavens were read for signs of earthly destiny…

The Fālnāma (“Book of Omens”) belonged to this tradition. Compiled by different hands, some versions were attributed to Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, a name that carried immense authority in the esoteric sciences.

After prayer, seekers opened the book at random, hoping its images and verses might disclose something of the fate concealed from them.

Is there any material more beautiful than lapis lazuli?Mined for millennia in the mountains of Badakhshan, in present-da...
21/09/2026

Is there any material more beautiful than lapis lazuli?

Mined for millennia in the mountains of Badakhshan, in present-day Afghanistan, it has long been prized for its deep blue colour and golden flecks of pyrite.

Carved and polished into hilts, the stone brings a natural richness of its own, complemented by delicate goldwork and gleaming steel.

The Miʿrājnāma, or “Book of Ascension”, is one of the most extraordinary manuscripts of the Timurid world.Created in Her...
20/09/2026

The Miʿrājnāma, or “Book of Ascension”, is one of the most extraordinary manuscripts of the Timurid world.

Created in Herat in the 1430s under the patronage of Shah Rukh, son of Amir Timur, its paintings visualise the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ journey through the seven heavens and the celestial cosmos, encountering angels, prophets, paradise and hell.


In the workshops of Persia and India, the kulāh khūd became a canvas for the armourer’s art.Steel bowls carried flowing ...
19/09/2026

In the workshops of Persia and India, the kulāh khūd became a canvas for the armourer’s art.

Steel bowls carried flowing inscriptions and intricate floral designs worked in gold and silver, while other examples bore painted scenes or faces framed by sweeping horns.

These kulāh khūd helmets show how differently armourers could approach the same form.

These depictions of angels appear in an Ottoman manuscript of ʿAjāʾib al-Makhlūqāt, “Wonders of Creation”, by the thirte...
18/09/2026

These depictions of angels appear in an Ottoman manuscript of ʿAjāʾib al-Makhlūqāt, “Wonders of Creation”, by the thirteenth-century scholar Zakariyyā al-Qazwīnī.

Born in Qazvin, in present-day Iran, he brought together astronomy, natural history and religious traditions in an account of the cosmos.

His work invited readers to contemplate the wonders of creation, from the angels of the heavens to the smallest creatures on earth.

These extraordinary astrological illustrations come from the 14th-century Kitāb al-Bulhān (“Book of Wonders”), compiled ...
16/09/2026

These extraordinary astrological illustrations come from the 14th-century Kitāb al-Bulhān (“Book of Wonders”), compiled by ʿAbd al-Ḥasan al-Iṣfahānī and drawing upon the older tradition of the great Persian astrologer Abū Maʿshar al-Balkhī.

In the medieval Islamic world, the night sky was a realm to be studied, mapped and interpreted. The twelve signs formed part of a vast celestial order of stars and wandering planets.

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