The Sama: Turning Toward the Divine by Ibrahim al-Nakhchivani
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The Sama: Turning Toward the Divine

Ibrahim al-Nakhchivani · 1598

Medium
Gouache and gold on paper
Dimensions
32 × 24 cm

A Safavid miniature depicting the Mevlevi sama — the whirling prayer ceremony of the Sufi dervishes. Twelve figures turn within a mosque interior of extraordinary tile precision. Al-Nakhchivani was himself a practitioner and depicted the ceremony from the inside.

Rights & provenance

Rights basis
human original
Copyright
Ibrahim al-Nakhchivani
Licence
all rights reserved

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