"Isfandiyar's Fifth Course: He Slays the Simurgh", Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings)

This folio from the Shahnameh, the 11th century Persian Book of Kings, depicts the fifth trial of the warrior Esfandiyār, in which he confronts and slays the simurgh. In Persian and Islamic mythology, the simurgh appears as a vast, intelligent, and long-lived bird with the power to guide, protect, or destroy, occupying a role similar to other mythical "king birds" such as Garuda, the Egyptian Bennu, and the rukh. Although often benevolent, the simurgh can also be a formidable adversary.

The Shahnameh recounts that the simurgh once rescued the abandoned infant Zal, raising him at a mountaintop nest and even teaching him human speech. Zal later became a legendary hero, aided by a magic feather from the simurgh itself. Yet in Esfandiyār's cycle, the bird becomes an obstacle he must overcome. Manuscripts such as this one combined poetry and images to recount moral lessons, dynastic history, and fantastical exploits.