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This image comes from the seventh section of the third discourse of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi’s ethical treatise, concerned with social status and personal relationships. The two lines of text on the illustrations refer to an anecdote told about the eighth-century Abbasid governor Abu Muslim. When someone seeking to impress Abu Muslim smeared the name of one of Abu Muslim’s enemies, he was met with scorn. Abu Muslim admonished him by saying that it would be one thing to kill this enemy, but why pollute one’s tongue by abusing him?
See AKM288 for an introduction to a manuscript of the Ethics of Nasir (Akhlaq-i Nasiri) and links to the other paintings within this manuscript.
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