"How a Braggart was Drowned in a Well", Folio 33v from a Haft Paikar (Seven Portraits) of the Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami

This miniature is an illustration of the most dramatic episode in the tale told by the Moorish princess in the Green Paviliion on Monday. While traversing the desert, Bashr, a good and pious man, and his bragging and evil-minded traveling companion come upon a jar filled with pure water sunk into the sand. After they have quenched their thirst, the selfish companion insists upon bathing in the water, in spite of Bashr's pleas against polluting it. The water turns out to be a deep well fed by a spring, and the heedless companion drowns. The tale ends happily for the deserving Bashr. The well is shown from two different perspectives to aid the viewer's comprehension of the scene.

Credit: Gift of Alexander Smith Cochran, 1913