The prophet Muhammad in the cave of Hira, page from a Hamla-yi Haidari manuscript

The figure at the center of this painting is the Muslim prophet Muhammad, his face hidden behind a veil because depicting him is considered disrespectful. He appears seated in meditation in the cave of Hira, located on a mountain known as the Mountain of Light, near the city of Mecca (in present Saudi Arabia). During his lifetime the Prophet Muhammad would often retreat to Hira to pray. On one of these occasions he received a revelation through the angel Gabriel, and from it began to recite the Koran, considered by Muslims to be the word of God.