Abr (lit. ‘cloud’), one of the seven terms pertaining to the classical art of painting in Iran, which refers to painting clouds in miniatures and compositions in a variety of ways. Those authors who have left their mark on Persian art terminology, such as ʿAbdī Beg Shīrāzī, Quṭb al-Dīn Muḥammad Qiṣṣa Khān, Sayyid Aḥmad Āhū Chashm Mashhadī, Ṣādiq Beg Afshār Kitābdār and Qāḍī Aḥmad Qummī, all include abr as one of the seven motifs in the art of Persian painting. ʿAbdī Beg Shīrāzī (921–988/1515–1580), for example, writes the following lines in Dawḥat al-azhār (pp. 87, 88, 99):

From both abr and fa…