Introduction: The depiction of the Prophet Muhammad’s Miʿrāj (ascension to the heavens) has consistently inspired artists throughout the history of Islamic art and has been visualized in diverse media, ranging from illustrated manuscripts and architectural decoration to lithographic prints and murals. Among the notable examples is the mural painting of the Miʿrāj created by Farrokh Khan, a Qajar-period artist, in the Mawaddat House in Yazd, formerly a Niʿmatullāhī Sufi khānaqāh. The mural stands out not only for its scale and iconographic richness but also for its distinctive visual vocabulary which resonates with a wide range of historical and cultural references. This study examines how the mural engages with earlier textual and visual traditions of the Miʿrāj, and how this engagement shapes its narrative structure and symbolic content within the context of Qajar visual culture. The significance of the research lies in highlighting the role of intertextuality and creative adaptation in the production of Qajar religious visual culture. Rather than treating Qajar religious paintings as mere imitations of earlier models, the study considers works such the Mawaddat mural as reinterpretations that negotiate between inherited forms and new expressive needs.
Purposes & Questions: This article examines the mural through the lens of Genette’s concept of transtextuality developed by Gérard Genette, which facilitates the analysis of relationships among texts and, by extension, images across time.. This approach seeks to identify the multiple layers of meaning embedded in the mural and to examine how Farrokh Khan navigated between continuity and innovation in constructing a visual narrative grounded in tradition while responding to the artistic currents of his time. The research questions are as follows: To what extent is the mural shaped by earlier representations of the Miʿrāj, from the Safavid period and onward? How does it incorporate visual cues from Qajar lithography and manuscript illustration? What semantic functions do these borrowings serve within the religious and cultural context of late Qajar Iran?
Methods: The research adopted a descriptive-analytical approach that combined close visual analysis with historical contextualization. Field observations of the mural were supplemented by comparative studies of manuscript paintings, lithographic prints, and architectural programs from relevant periods. Particular attention was paid to iconographic elements, stylistic motifs, and compositional strategies as indicators of transtextual relations. The study also considered the broader cultural and religious milieu in which Farrokh Khan worked, including the prominence of Sufi patronage and the dissemination of popular religious imagery through lithographic publishing.
Findings & Results: The findings reveal that Farrokh Khan’s mural draws extensively on iconographic motifs found in earlier Islamic depictions of the Miʿrāj, particularly those of the Timurid and Safavid periods. It also engages with the visual language of nineteenth-century lithographic prints, which had become an increasingly influential medium of religious and cultural expression during the Qajar period. The painting employs compositional strategies, including the arrangement of celestial realms and the depiction of prophetic encounters, that echo manuscript conventions while adapting them to the architectural surface and audience of a khānaqāh. Symbolic imagery, including animals, angels, and celestial spheres, reflects a continued emphasis on metaphysical meaning and allegorical narration, consistent with Islamic cosmological and esoteric thought. The mural also shares aesthetic and thematic affinities with similar Qajar-era wall paintings in Yazd, suggesting the presence of regional schools or workshops engaged in religious mural production. These connections underscore the collective dimension of Qajar artistic practice, in which individual creativity operated within shared visual repertoires and localized interpretive frameworks. Farrokh Khan’s mural thus exemplifies the agency of Qajar artists in mediating between earlier visual traditions and contemporary devotional and cultural concerns. Overall, the mural of the Prophet’s Miʿrāj in the Mawaddat House can be understood as an active site of transtextual engagement rather than a static reproduction of traditional themes. By integrating elements from earlier manuscripts, lithographs, and local mural traditions, the painting functions both as a repository of historical memory and as a vehicle for new forms of religious visual expression. It embodies a negotiation between continuity and transformation, offering insight into the visual culture and religious imagination of the Qajar era. Recognizing these transtextual dynamics allows for a more nuanced appreciation of Iranian Islamic art and underscores the importance of contextual and comparative approaches in the study of historical artworks. The analysis therefore clarifies how inherited visual forms were selectively incorporated, adapted, and reinterpreted within a specific religious and architectural setting.