This article offers a comparative study of the works of Mohammad Siyah Qalam and the philosophical thought of Emmanuel Levinas, focusing on a reinterpretation of the figure of the div (demon) in Persian miniature painting. Within the mythological and artistic discourse of Iran, the div has traditionally symbolized absolute evil and the rejected “Other.” Yet, through an alternative artistic approach, Siyah Qalam depicts these demons as autonomous, vulnerable beings engaged in everyday activities.

This artistic vision resonates deeply with Levinas’s central philosophical concepts, such as the autonomy and irreducibility of the Other, the critique of totalizing thought, and the notion of the face as an ethical summons. Employing a qualitative content analysis and an interpretive approach, this study examines selected miniatures by Siyah Qalam in dialogue with Levinasian theory. The findings reveal that Siyah Qalam’s demons, contrary to their stereotypical, one-dimensional portrayal, possess an independent and multi-layered identity; through their contemplative, weary, or afflicted gazes, they remove the mask of absolute evil and call us to an ethical responsibility toward the Other.

Ultimately, the study concludes that centuries before the formal articulation of the concept of the Other in Levinas’s philosophy, Siyah Qalam had already opened a space in his works for a humane and empathetic encounter with alterity, thereby transforming art into a realm of critique against totalizing and reductive perspectives.