An antique Tehran rug, 'Shaikh San'an and the Christian Maiden', Northern Iran, ca 203 x 129 cm

Circa 1890. Sheikh Sanan was a very devout man who had completed the pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj, fifty times. One night, he had a strange dream: he saw himself living in a land called Rûm (roughly modern-day Turkey), bowing down before an idol – something forbidden in Islam. The dream kept coming back night after night and made him deeply uneasy. He decided to travel to Rûm with his disciples to understand what the dream meant.

When he arrived, he met a beautiful Christian woman. He fell deeply in love with her, even though he was a religious leader and this was considered inappropriate. For over a month, he asked for her hand in marriage. Eventually, she agreed – but only if he abandoned his faith, started living as she did, and showed his devotion by herding her pigs (which is considered impure in Islam) for a whole year.

Sheikh Sanan accepted all her conditions. His disciples were heartbroken and returned home. However, one of them, who had not been on the first journey, traveled to Rûm to find him and spent 40 days praying for his return.

One night, this disciple had a dream in which the Prophet Muhammad appeared and gave him good news: Sheikh Sanan would soon return to his faith.

And so it happened. Sanan woke up from his lovestruck state and turned back to God. Shortly after, the woman also had a dream, in which the sun fell beside her and told her to follow the sheikh. She did – and converted to Islam. Together, they returned to Sanan's homeland.