There Is Nothing Remarkable In Its
Appearance; In Common With The Other Gates It Has Huge Folding Doors,
Iron-Bound, An External Flight Of Steps, And A Few Modern Inscriptions.
The Bab Majidi, or Gate of the Sultan Abd al-Majid, stands in the
centre of the Northern wall; like its portico, it is unfinished, but
its present appearance promises that it will eclipse all except the Bab
al-Salam.
The Bab al-Nisa, or Gate of Women, is in the Eastern wall opposite the
Bab al-Rahmah, with which it is connected by the "Farsh al-Hajar," a
broad band of stone, two or three steps below the level of the portico,
[p.333] and slightly raised above the Sahn or the hypaethral portion of
the Mosque. And lastly, in the Southern portion of the same Eastern
wall is the Bab Jibrail, the Gate of the Archangel Gabriel.[FN#70]
All these entrances are arrived at by short external flights of steps
leading from the streets, as the base of the temple, unlike that of
Meccah, is a little higher than the foundation of the buildings around
it. The doors are closed by the attendant eunuchs immediately after the
night prayers, except during the blessed month Al-Ramazan and in the
pilgrimage season, when pious visitors pay considerable fees there to
pass the night in meditation and prayer.
The minarets are five in number; but one, the Shikayliyah, at the
North-West angle of the building, has been levelled, and is still in
process of being rebuilt.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 419 of 571
Words from 115777 to 116034
of 157964
