Pearls of Wisdom: The Arts of Islam at the University of Michigan

This 19th-century manuscript is an illustrated copy of an 18th-century text covering a variety of topics including geography, astronomy, natural sciences, theology, and mysticism. This double-page diagrammatic painting at the end of the text's introduction depicts the organization of the cosmos, including the so-called scales of justice used to weigh men's deeds on the Day of Judgment. These scales, which are depicted slightly below the center of the left composition, determine whether the deceased will count among the saved in paradise (represented by a golden tree above) or the damned in hell (shown as a series of purple strata below).

Bibliography: Manuscript's online catalogue entry; Gruber 2014, 55, fig. 11; Karamustafa 1992, 88, fig. 3.18; Titley 1981, 48, cat. no. 40; Rustomji 2009, 138–140, figs. 7.5–7.6; Fisher and Fisher 1982, 102, cat. no. 58; Milstein 1990, 37–39, pls. 8–9; and Ziaee 2010.