Visual solutions in visualizing and legitimizing astrology in illustrated Falnama of the Safavid era

Belief in the effect of the status of celestial bodies on human life events has long been common among different ethnic groups. The Astrological Concepts in Iranian art have been used as decorative engraving in metalworking and other applied arts in different periods but in the illustrated Falnama of the Safavid era, these concepts were not used as decorations, but in their original nature, as a tool for predicting. Forecasting through astrology in the Islamic period has been faced with the prohibition of religious institutions. With regard to the determinant role of religion in the Safavid dynasty, this question is raised that how forecasting through astrological concepts were started in illustrated Falnama of the Safavid era and what steps have been taken to legitimize it against the prohibition of religious institutions? In this paper, to address this issue with a descriptive-analytical-comparative method, four Illustrated Falnama: the Dispersed Falnama, the Topkapi Persian Falnama, the Dresden Falnama and the Falnama of Ahmet I have been studied. In the present study, the presence of the concepts of astrology in the images of these four manuscripts was first examined, then the way of illustrating the concepts of astrology and the legitimization strategies are adapted to this prediction method. The result of this study indicates that the astrological sentences in prediction were not used in the oldest version of the Falnama due to the religious prohibition and were used in the augury text. But in the next manuscripts, these concepts are directly depicted in the drawings, by using some solutions such as the use of Quranic verses in each image, religious icons along with astronomical theme, and also angels to legitimize the use of Astrological sentences in prediction.