Digital Rare Book :
The secret rose garden of Sad ud din Mahmud Shabistari
By Florence Lederer
Published by John Murray, London - 1920

Image :
Folio from a Divan (collected poems) by Hafiz (d. 1390); recto: Sufi dance
Herat, Afghanistan

This illustration belongs to an early-sixteenth- century copy of the Divan of the great Persian poet Hafiz. Known for his ghazals (lyrical odes), Hafiz's verses elaborate on abstract themes, such as beauty and love, and are infused with a distinct mystical content. The painting illustrates a group of Sufis or Islamic mystics in an ecstatic dance. According to Sufism, dancing, especially in a circle, is considered one of the means of achieving spiritual fulfillment and is still practiced by the whirling dervishes of Turkey and other mystical sects. In this animated composition, the men are portrayed in varying stages of spiritual abandon. Even the swaying branches of the trees in the background echoes their mood.

Source : Smithsonian Museum