Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/145

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THE ISLAMIC FLAME
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with a well which exists to the present day. The sister of Fatma, Miriam, built another temple, the mosque El-Andaluse, in the quarter inhabited by Andalusian Moors. Up to the conquest of Maghreb by the Zenata emirs the mosque of Fatma remained in its original state, until in 918 the Zenatas enlarged the building and added greatly to its ornamentation.

Thirty-eight years later the pious Ahmed Abu Beker, the vice-regent and architect of Sultan Abd er-Rahman, Caliph of Andalusia, again made certain important changes in the plan and structure of the mosque, erected the square minaret and placed numerous blue enamel inscriptions in various parts of the edifice. The chroniclers of the Merinides period recorded and thus preserved for future generations the text of the inscriptions of this pious and humble architect, who not only executed this beautiful work, so agreeable unto Allah, but also paid for it with the ransoms which he had received for the Christian slaves and captives that had been brought to the Berber capital. Pointing to the gilded balls above the dome of the minaret, the muezzin then added:

"The holy architect placed on the summit of his minaret the point of the sword of Idris II and on this he fastened a golden apple, set with diamonds, pearls and turquoises, thus gaining for the city the blessing and protection of the spirit of this holy Imam who had founded the town. Then Kairween at the time of Sultan Yusuf ben Abd el-Hakk was again renovated, ornamented with new carvings and enlarged by the addition of extensions such as the chapel where the talismans brought from the Ganges were placed—a golden bird