The author of this miniature depicts the work of the common people. It is one of the episodes from Navoi’s poem about Chinese prince Farhad. He had a look at the magic mirror and saw a beautiful lady from Armenia and fell in love with her. Farhad went to Armenia. On his way he met stone-cutters working over the new canal between the rocks. Farhad helped them and finished all their work at one day. Farhad is represented here as a hero.
Composition is simple. The background of blue rocks takes almost all space of the painting. There are not so many characters on the picture: only the stone-cutters and Farhad. Colours are rather restrained and render the atmosphere of the scene.
Unlike Nizami’s poems with a hero – tsar Khosrov, the hero of this poem is Farhad. The author elevates courage, love for work, Farhad’ skill, creative element of his work.