Painting in the Bektashi Tekke (Teqe) of Detroit

showing Haji Bektash Veli (centre) riding not a lion, but a rock, according to a famous Bektashi legend.

The saint on the lion is Karaja Ahmed, and he has a snake as whip.
Haji Bektash however, by riding an inanimate rock, shows himself to be a more powerful saint !
Note the angels in the sky: Bektashi, Sufi and Christian iconographies overlap.

photo by Zana Banci