Yusuf and Zulaikha in the context of Persian miniature painting

A Persian miniature (Persian: نگارگری ایرانی, romanized: negârgari-ye Irâni) is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a muraqqa. The techniques are broadly comparable to the Western Medieval and Byzantine traditions of miniatures in illuminated manuscripts.

Although there is an equally well-established Persian tradition of wall-painting, the survival rate and state of preservation of miniatures is better, and miniatures are much the best-known form of Persian painting in the West, and many of the most important examples are in Western, or Turkish, museums. Miniature painting became a significant genre in Persian art in the 13th century, receiving Chinese influence after the Mongol conquests, and the highest point in the tradition was reached in the 15th and 16th centuries. The tradition continued, under some Western influence, after this, and has many modern exponents. The Persian miniature was the dominant influence on other Islamic miniature traditions, principally the Ottoman miniature in Turkey, and the Mughal miniature in the Indian subcontinent.

Potiphar's wife, also known as Zuleikha (/zuːˈleɪkɑː/ zoo-LAY-kah; Hebrew: זְלִיכָה, romanized: Zəlīḵā; Arabic: زُلَيْخَا, romanized: Zulayḵā), is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. She was the wife of Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard in the time of Jacob and his twelve sons. According to the Book of Genesis, she falsely accused Joseph of attempted rape after he rejected her sexual advances, resulting in his imprisonment.

In Genesis she is given no name, but in later medieval Jewish sources and Islamic tradition, she is identified as Zuleikha. The story of Yusuf and Zulaikha is a popular one in Islamic literature.

Yusuf (Arabic: يُوْسُف ٱبْن يَعْقُوْب ٱبْن إِسْحَاق ٱبْن إِبْرَاهِيْم, romanized: Yūsuf ibn Yaʿqūb ibn ʾIs-ḥāq ibn ʾIbrāhīm, lit. 'Joseph, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham') is a prophet and messenger of God mentioned in the Qur'an and corresponds to Joseph, a person from the Hebrew and Christian Bible who was said to have lived in Egypt before the New Kingdom. Amongst Jacob's children, Yusuf reportedly had the gift of prophecy through dreams. Although the narratives of other prophets are presented in a number of surah, Joseph's complete narrative appears in only one: Yusuf. Said to be the most detailed narrative in the Quran, it mentions details that do not appear in its biblical counterpart.

Yusuf is believed to have been the eleventh son of Ya'qub (Arabic: يعقوب) and, according to a number of scholars, his favorite. Ibn Kathir wrote, "Jacob had twelve sons who were the eponymous ancestors of the tribes of the Israelites. The noblest, the most exalted, the greatest of them was Joseph." The narrative begins with Joseph revealing a dream to his father, which Jacob recognizes. In addition to the role of God in his life, the story of Yusuf and Zulaikha (Potiphar's wife in the Old Testament) became a popular subject of Persian literature and was elaborated over centuries.