The works of the great Persian poet Sa’di Shirazi reflect upon conflict and displacement during the turbulent Mongol invasions. Uprooted himself by the invasion of Khwarezm (Iran), he wandered for three decades through Anatolia, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. After joining a group of Sufis, he was captured by Crusaders at Acre.

In his best-known work Gulistan or ‘Rose Garden’, from 1257, Sa’di shares his itinerant experiences with humour and colour, to illustrate the virtues of justice, liberality, modesty, and contentment, as well as to reflect upon Sufi dervishes and their ecstatic practices.

In this painting, made nearly three hundred years later, the artist aptly captures Sa’di’s story of a young man who is overcome by the music of the flute, in his ardent desire for unity with the Divine. His father, with a white beard, calls for him to resist, but is drawn into the ritual gathering [sama’] of dance and music too.