The twelfth chapter of the Qur’an, entitled Yousef, retells a tale which is familiar from all three of the great Abrahamic religions. Yousef (the Biblical Joseph) was the youngest son of Yuqub (Jacob). Born in his father’s old age, Yousef – who was considerably younger than his eleven brothers – was doted upon as a miracle child. His peculiar talent for interpreting dreams also encouraged attention, and when he had a dream in which the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him, it became clear in his own mind that he was somehow different from the others in his family. The gift of a fine multicoloured coat sealed the jealousy felt by his brothers, and when he was seventeen years old, Yousef was thrown into a pit, and eventually sold into slavery by his siblings. He ended up in the house of Potiphar, one of the ministers attending to the Pharaoh of Egypt. When he reached maturity, Yousef became so beautiful that Potiphar’s wife – known in the Arabic tradition as Zoleikha – became enamoured with him. Yousef, wise beyond his years, resisted the advances of his masters’ wife, angering her. In one incident, he tries to escape her grasp by turning away, only for Zoleikha to rip the back of his shirt. At this moment, Potiphar walked in on the tussle. Zoleikha, deflecting the blame, insisted that Yousef had tried to seduce her. Yousef offers the alternative story, but Potiphar – who has grown to think very highly of Yousef – is unsure who must be at blame. A servant came up with a cunning trick; the position of the rip on Yousef’s shirt would reveal whether he had been walking towards her, in the act of seducing her, or modestly turning away. When Potiphar sees that the rip is in the back of Yousef’s shirt, he becomes angered with his wife, and demands that she atone for her sin.

In the small world of ancient times, the news of Zoleikha’s impropriety spread fast. She overheard a group of women talking about what she did, shaming her. Zoleikha scoffs at them; Yousef was simply so beautiful that she could not resist and, she asserted, neither would they. She handed each woman an apple, a rare delicacy in these times, and a knife with which to cut it. The women lounged around slicing their apples, as Zoleikha called Yousef in. As the young man entered, the women, suddenly distracted by his extraordinary good looks, cut themselves rather than their apples. Point proven, Zoleikha was emboldened. She demanded that if Yousef would not accept her advances, she would have him imprisoned for rape. Yousef ran away, disturbed by her claim, and prayed to Allah, begging that he be sent to prison rather than compelled to do the bidding of Zoleikha. Allah answered his prayer, inspiring the local magistrate to demand that Yousef be arrested and imprisoned for a long time. It was in the gaol that Yousef came to the attention of his cellmates for his ability to read dreams. When he successfully interpreted the dreams of his cellmates, the Pharaoh’s disgraced cupbearer and baker, his skills were brought to the Pharaoh’s attention. The Pharaoh then tasked Yousef with interpreting his own dream; seven fat cows and seven thin, foretelling of seven years of glut and then seven of famine. Yousef was elevated to the highest position in the land, that of Vizier, and was tasked with preparing the granaries in the good times so that the country would be fed in the bad.

The remarkable story of Yousef, retold by generations, has been a popular subject for artists. In this case, it has become the subject of a tilework miniature, the characteristic artform of the Qajar Period in Persia. Mainly produced in the Qajar capital, Tehran, underglaze painted tiles like this one often formed friezes around the dado of the great Iranian mansions of the period. Ceramic wall decoration, like miniature painting, was a medium through which imagery from a range of sources could reach wide dissemination throughout Iran. Tiles were produced in large numbers, and, from the AD 1860s, were even mass-produced from transfer prints. But the delicate art of underglaze painting remained a treasured technique, which is demonstrated in excellent form on this tile. Zoleikha is depicted at the centre of attention in a room full of women, among whom are little piles of apples ready to be cut. A serving-girl carries an empty tray, on which the apples must have been brought. The women discuss animatedly the improprieties of Zoleikha, with one carrying an axe, surely a melodramatic tool with which to cut apples. At the bottom of the image, seated on the lavishly decorated carpet, is that most Egyptian of accoutrements: a pet cat.