"The Anecdote of the Man Who Fell into the Water", Folio 44r from a Mantiq al-Tayr (Language of the Birds)
Farid al-Din `Attar|Sultan 'Ali al-Mashhadi
dated A.H. 892/1487 CE · Opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper · Islamic Art
This painting from Attar’s Mantiq al‑Tair illustrates the parable told by the hoopoe in which a man’s pride in his exceptionally long beard causes him to drown in the sea—teaching that pride in worldly attachments will eventually bring one to ruin. The prominent, but seemingly unrelated, image of a man gathering firewood in the foreground has been interpreted as a visual pun embodying mystical significance. Some scholars see it as a metaphor for a breathing meditation practice followed by Sufi adherents that produces a sound akin to sawing wood.
- Artist
- Farid al-Din `Attar|Sultan 'Ali al-Mashhadi
- Date
- dated A.H. 892/1487 CE
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
- Department
- Islamic Art
- Credit line
- Fletcher Fund, 1963
