"Yusuf and Zulaikha", Folio 51r from a Bustan of Sa`di

ca. 1525–35

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 455

The Bustan of Sa’di, completed in 1257, relates moral advice with illustrative anecdotes. The manuscript to which this painting belongs was likely copied in Herat, but it was illustrated for an Uzbek patron several years later, probably in Bukhara in the 1530s. The story of Yusuf and Zulaikha appears in the Qur’an, the Bible, and Jami’s Haft Awrang, in addition to the Bustan of Sa’di. According to the story, Yusuf’s arresting beauty captures the hearts of all of the women he encounters. Zulaikha, unable to quell her thoughts of Yusuf, attempts to seduce him, but he rejects her advances until they meet again and marry many years later. In some versions of the story, this uncontrollable passion is intended as a Sufi metaphor for a beloved’s yearning for union with the divine; it illustrates the triumph of the spiritual over carnal love.

Artwork Details

Title: "Yusuf and Zulaikha", Folio 51r from a Bustan of Sa`di
Date: ca. 1525–35
Geography: Made in present-day Uzbekistan, Bukhara
Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions: Painting: H. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm)
W. 4 11/16 in. (11.9 cm)
Page: H. 11 in. (27.9 cm)
W. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm)
Mat: H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm)
W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
Classification: Codices
Credit Line: Purchase, Louis V. Bell Fund and The Vincent Astor Foundation Gift, 1974
Object Number: 1974.294.4
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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