The visual representation of a prayer or incantation in this extraordinary work is a wonder of design and chromatic, through symmetry and colour, the non-verbal can be spoken. By the process of illumination, the divine is accessed and for a moment the viewer remains balanced between the mundane and the celestial in a form of surrealistic suspension.

At the centre of the recto side of this folio is a magnificent Shamsa, or sunburst, an exquisite symmetrical pattern of floral and geometric shapes painted in precious pigments and gold to reference divine light. A series of overlapping coils in gold are placed within the marvellous lapis lazuli background and contained within the diameter of a golden circular form. From here, further circular motifs with internal floral elements are placed in exact intervals within the outer ring of the lapis lazuli scheme. The rays themselves are formed by precisely delineated radiating projections in spear-like form. The entire geometric scheme is further made fantastical by the chromatic density and variation within the form.

The Shamsa contains centrally, in white script, the name identifying the manuscript’s original owner, in this case the name of Sultan Abu Sa’id Gurakan.

On the verso side, a glorious script panel in vertical orientation. Visual depictions of the Shamsa were often placed as frontispieces at the beginning of Islamic manuscripts. Their seemingly exponential structures, radiating from a central aureole, act as a visual metaphor for the unity, infinity, and harmony of the Divine.