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Persian carpets have been recognized for their great variety of intricate patterns achieved with technical and aesthetic sophistication. At the same time, their intellectual motivations and symbolic role as carriers of personal and social meanings have been relatively neglected. The mirror ayineh is a theme with strong resonances in many dimensions of Iranian culture from metaphysical philosophy to religion and folk beliefs. Close friends are commonly said to be mirrors of each other. On the spiritual journey, the dervish polishes his heart to become a flawless mirror that perfectly reflects the divine pattern. In the practices of Sufism, the mirror leads naturally to speculations about the dualities of substance and essence, appearance and reality, sight and vision. We explore this theme as it appears in many Persian carpet designs of the modern period. Joining beautiful outer forms and profound inner meanings, these mirror designs embody and communicate a common vision uniting aesthetic values with

The distinction between zaher and baten, outer and inner, is a fundamental duality encountered in the philosophical, psychological, religious and mystical aspects of Iranian thought. The metaphysical desire to go beyond sensory apprehension of transient external forms to intellectual comprehension of their lasting inner significance may be considered the central theme of Iranian visual art including textile designs. A close examination of four textiles from the modern period reveals some of the concealed personal motivations and cultural meanings embodied in their patterns. Beyond all practical concerns, these weavings have in common the aim of unifying the duality of ordinary sight and insight and the related duality of aesthetics and ethics. Achieved by different means, the textile designs accomplish this by encouraging an imaginative journey from zaher to baten, from material form to spiritual essence. 1. In the study of Iranian textile designs, there comes a time when most questions concerning materials and techniques have