This 15th-century illustration from the Miʿrājnāma (Book of the Ascension) depicts the Prophet Muhammad on his heavenly journey, riding the fantastical winged steed Burāq and guided by the archangel Gabriel, as he meets the earlier prophets in the Second Heaven, Paris, BnF, Supplément turc 190
The word mirage—that shimmering illusion on the desert horizo…
