Concept

The Aestheticization of the Mushaf as a Beloved and Paradise in Silsilat al-Dhahab

In Section 85 of Silsilat al-Dhahab (from the Haft Awrang), Jami encourages seekers weary of the lower self (nafs) to turn to the recitation of the Quran. He instructs them to seek a physical copy of the Quran (mushaf) and embrace it like a beautiful, moon-like beloved (shahed-e mahvash). Jami employs rich aesthetic and anthropomorphic metaphors, describing the Mushaf's script as the down on a beloved's cheek (meshkin-khatt) and its diacritical dots as facial adornments. He further compares the book's physical layout to Paradise, equating its margins (jadval) to the four rivers of heaven, its surahs to celestial palaces, and its chapter headers to the entryways of heaven. This imagery underscores the mystical practice of treating the physical scripture as a sensible locus of divine, celestial beauty.

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Updated 2026-07-06

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Humanities

Literature

Persian Literature Prerequisite Course