Phenomenological Reading of the Colors of a Persian Painting from the book of Samak Ayyar of Al-Injou’s Period by Relying on the Theories of Najmuddin Kubra

Persian painting is one of the critical contexts for the emergence and design of Persian and Islamic wisdom, which has a long life in the history of illustration of this land. The main issue of this research is to reflect on the use of Persian painting from philosophical principles affecting its color and light. The Persian painter uses various techniques to create this meta-sensory space, one of which is wisdom-based coloring. The primary purpose of this research is to study and analyze the views of Najmuddin Kobra to use them in the audience-oriented critique of works of art. However, the question that guides this paper to achieve its goal is that if the audience is aware of Najmuddin Kobra's views on the manifestation of the colored lights, how do they read that work encountering with a work of art?

Accordingly, Sheikh Najmuddin Kobra's views were analyzed in this study through Henry Corbin's hermeneutic phenomenology, and later, an artwork's colors were analyzed with a descriptive and analytical method by the audience. The present paper intends to adopt this approach to read the views of Sheikh Najmuddin Kobra and then consider the practical application of these views on a work of art to find an answer to the problem brought up in this article.

In the case study of the present paper, the slightest visual and color details in a mystical ideal system such as the mysticism of Sheikh Najmuddin Kobra can be part of a set of conventional cultural codes. The general basis of Najmuddin Kobra's views on the concept of intuition has been formed by himself. To explain his views, the Sheikh refers to what he calls "the path of observation." In his view, the dual levels of observation are such that forms and fantasies are perceived first, and in the second place, essences are revealed by colors. Of course, it should be noted that in Najmuddin Kobra's thought, color is not an accident but a kind of manifestation of meaning. In addition to this, he mentions two types of observations which are as follows:Mundane observation: Attention to the earth, occult observation, related to shapes and colors, seas and wells, and the like.Transcendental observation: Attention to the sky, apparent intuitive observation related to the sun, moons, and stars, and any subjective intuition.Najm Kobra begins his discussion on the intuition of colored light with the question of "In the path of observation, how different are existence, soul and devil?" In answering this question, he mentions a system based on the three factors of existence, soul, and devil and describes the intuition of colored light based upon the diversity of the effects of each factor.
Existence effects; According to Najm Kobra, existence in the first degree is the infinite darkness and gloom that attracts the seeker, and when there is a little purity and light in it, it corrects itself and finds a unique purity and becomes a white cloud.
Soul effects; According to Sheikh, a person's soul is melted in the color of the sky as soon as it appears, and if the devil dominates it, it will burn like dark springs or fire. Sheikh attributes each visible light due to the effects of the soul to one of Amara, Lavameh, or Motma'ina.
Devil effects; Najm Kobra believes that the devil is a fiery fire in which no purity is felt and is accompanied by darkness and blasphemy and embodied in the body of optimism.To overcome the evil effects of existence, soul, and devil, Sheikh proposes solutions such as the reminder and appearance of a helping angel or a heavenly witness and finally finds his way to see the light through allegories about the deserts to be traveled, mountains, plains, rivers, wells, and the sea which are to be understood. Finally, he describes his system of colored light as follows:Green; green is the sign of the life of the heart.Red; if it is not cloudy, the color of fire is a sign of the life of effort and power. If it is cloudy, it is a sign of intensity and unhappiness, and it means that the seeker is suffering due to a struggle with the soul and the devil.Blue; blue is the color of life.Yellow is a sign of weakness and disability.Finally, Najm Kobra speaks of a timeline through which humans with struggle can observe black light, dark shades of red and dark shades of blue seen as the green light, light shades of red, light shades of blue, and yellow. To experience this change in intuition, the Sheikh mentions a tool called heart. From one way, he likens the setting of this transformation, the seeker's existence, to a well in which man is at the beginning and end of the path and in an absolute state of darkness. After experiencing these transformations of the heart, a green light shines on the wellhead, and in a short time, it pervades everywhere so that no trace of the initial darkness remains. He describes how the heart transforms through the seven levels of existence and mentions the seven wells above which a sky and a constellation existed, talking with man from the bottom of the well. Sheikh considers the emergence of this light is possible when the man has borne the heavy burden of Mujahideen, so if a great intellect is revealed to him, the colors will also appear on him. The second factor causing the appearance of this light is the mention of the heart, one of the signs and symptoms of which is that the human being sees a source of light in front of him that flows as fast as possible, and the seeker feels calm when he sees it.This paper has studied a painted folio from the book Samak-e Ayyar of the Al-Injou period, currently kept in Oxford's Bodleian Library. This painting shows the story of the capture of Faghfor Shah in the battle with Daburah, who finally Samak rushes to his aid and saves him from the well. The set of colors used in this painting are six: black, two shades of red, green, blue, yellow, and white. The colors used in the lower part of the painting are black, blue, yellow, and red, and all the colors used in the upper part are white, red, purple, blue, yellow, and green, and all are bright and shiny. The black color at the bottom of the image is like a dark cloud that is the product of the appearance of purity and light in the seeker and the promise of his ascent from the depths of absolute darkness. In this painting, the predominant color of Faghforshah's dress is opaque red, and Najm Kobra considers it as a symbol of trouble and unhappiness, which is consistent with the situation of Faghfor Shah who is trapped in a well and is worried and anxious to get rid of it and has struggled and intensified. All four colors, light black, red, blue, and dull yellow, are the product of the turbidity existing in Faghfor's life. The celestial witness which has led Faghfour to get rid of this darkness is Samak Ayar, whose three colors of green, purple and white are evident in his clothes simultaneously, and he is the one who will ultimately lead to Faghfour's liberation and freedom.

The findings of this study indicate that the components, composition, color, theme, and meaning behind this painting are entirely consistent with the theoretical foundations of Sheikh Najmuddin Kobra. The painter has beautifully shown this difference by combining the image into lower and upper parts and coloring it into two opaque and explicit modes. Criticism is placed on the role depicted in it and the apparent meaning derived from the observer text. An audience-oriented critique can indicate the degree of human ascent from the well of darkness.