|
The Sahn, or
the court, of the Mosque is
almost square, about 34m long and 32m wide,
with a large ablution fountain in the
centre, which is covered with a wooden dome,
carried on 8 marble columns around its
capital decorated with a band of
inscriptions of The Qur’an (the verse of Al-Kursi).
At each corner of the sahn is a door that
leads to one of the 4 Madrassas (schools);
the biggest one being the Hanafiyya Madrassa,
which occupies an area of 898 square metres. 
The quibla iwan is the
biggest of the 4 iwans of the Mosque. In its
wall, 2 windows in recesses, and an oculus
above the mihrab, the pointed-arched mihrab
is fine, and covered with marble, and there
are small double columns supporting the
frame with complex joggled voussoirs.
On the rectangular outer
frame is a band of Naskhi inscription.
Flanking the Mihrab are windows with bronze
grills. The marble Minbar is covered with
coloured panels of marble decorated in its
upper part by floral motifs.
The Dekkat Al-Mouballegh or
the bench of the repeater is situated at the
front of the quibla iwan, and it is made of
marble, raised on 8 pillars and 3 piers.
There are 2 doors opened in
the Quibla wall leading to a mausoleum dome
behind the mihrab, where the Sultan is
supposed to be buried. The Mausoleum dome is
21 square metres and its decoration is
similar to that of the quibla iwan.
The grave itself has an Iwan
in the centre with a coffin of coloured
marble, surrounded by a small wooden screen.
It was intended to be a tomb for the Sultan
Hassan but it contains the bodies of 2 of
his sons named Al-Shehab Ahamd and Ishmael.
Actually 4 minarets were
intended to be built in the original plan
but only 3 were erected, The one over the
entrance fell in the year 1361A.D and now
there are only 2 minarets. One dates back to
the Ottoman period in the 17th
Century, while the bigger, and the most
beautiful one, is the original, which is
81.6m high. This remarkable minaret stands
at the southern corner of the eastern
façade, and is still one of the amazing
features of this elegant structure.
|