Safvat al-Safa'

The Safvat al-Safa' (“Quintessence of Purity”) is a biography of Shaykh Safi al-Din ‘Ishaq of Ardabil (1252–1334), founder of the Safaviyeh Sufi order, which later evolved into Iran’s Safavid dynasty (1501–1722). The text was originally composed in the late 14th century by Isma‘il ibn Bazzaz, a disciple of Shaykh Safi’s son and successor, Shaykh Sadr al-Din. In 1533, however, the text was reworked to establish the Safavids’ descent from the seventh Shi‘ite Imam, Musa al-Kazim, providing an “official” origin story. While many copies of this revised version were produced in the Safavid era, the Aga Khan Museum’s manuscript is the only known illustrated version. Its fourteen pictures help readers visualize events both miraculous and mundane from Shaykh Safi’s life.



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