Bashir confides his love for Habbaza to an Arab friend, and sends him to her with a message, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fourth Night

In the upper register, Bahir, dressed in orange, conveys a message to his friend for his lover Habbaza. Habbaza herself, who is married to another man, waits for the message in her tent. Other villagers appear throughout the painting, some gesturing in surprise, signaling how news of the clandestine affair spread among the people of Habbaza’s tribe.