When you behold the picture of Antioch, you are alarmed (as) between Byzantium
and Persia,
The Fates there waiting, whilst Anoushirwan urges on the ranks under the royal
banner.
(Robed) in green over gold, proudlyflaunting the dye of the (red) turmeric,
And the press of men before him, all silent, lowering their voices,
Some cautiously reaching out the foreshaft of a lance, some fearfully averting the
spear-points with a shield.
The eye describes them as really alive, signaling like the dumb to one
another;
My doubt concerning them augments, until my hands explore and touch
them.^24
Buhturi describes a scene so visually realistic that he feels compelled to
touch it. In contrast, al-Ghazali acknowledges painting as quotidian with-
out describing it. Paintings are a vehicle and not an end. Less forbidden
than trivial, their outward mimetic capacity pales in comparison to the
inward mimesis that he advocates.5.2 Nizami, the Paintings of Mani, and the Mirrors
of Suhrawardi
Approximately a century later, Nizami included a variant of al-Ghazali’s
parable in hisIqbalnamah.Whereas al-Ghazali’s parable uses painting as a
trope for the tension between materiality and the Real, Nizami uses the
story to discuss art. Rather than emphasizing the soul, he theorizes repre-
sentation through reference to Mani, the mythologized founder of
Manicheanism,filtered through the thought of Suhrawardi.^25
Nizami describes a scene where the Chakan, ruler of China, participates
in a drinking party at the court of Alexander, populated by courtiers from
Rum, Iraq, and Abyssinia. As they compare the achievements of various
lands, a disagreement emerges about which country makes better art. They
decide to split a vault in two with a curtain, allowing artists from Rum and
China to paint each side, unseen by the other. When the curtain was lifted,(^24) Shahid, 1995 : 235–236.
(^25) The historical basis for depictions of Mani reflect that he spent time at the Sasanian court but
encountered disfavor with Zoroastrian clergy and subsequentlyfled to Central Asia. Akbarnia,
2007 : 86.
140 Seeing through the Mirror