Madrasā al-Qliǧīyyā: the Foundation Inscription

 

The foundation text is inscribed on the lintel over the portal; its middle was covered by a modern partition wall when inspected by Herzfeld. The tabula ansata contains five lines, and the rest of the writing is inscribed on the outer frame. The left half of the tabula measures 100 by 64 cm, and the right measures 120 by 64 cm. The reading is as follows:

بِسۡمِ ٱڵَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

إِنَّمَا يَعۡمُرُ مَسَٰجِدَ اللهِ مَنۡ ءَامَنَ بِاللهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأٓخِرِ وَأَقَامَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَى ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَلَمۡ يَخۡشَ إِلَّا اللهَ فَعَسَىٰٓ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ أَن يَكُونُواْ مِنَ ٱلۡمُهۡتَدِينَ

Upper edge of the outer frame:

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate

The mosques of Allah should only be maintained by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, establish prayer, pay alms-tax, and fear none but Allah. It is right to hope that they will be among the ˹truly˺ guided (Qur'ʾān 9:18)

١. أمر بعمارة هذه المدرسة المباركة الأمير الكبير....الاسفهسلار المجاهد الغازي سيف الدين أبو الحسن

٢. علي ابن قلج الملكي الناصري قدّس الله روحه على الفقهاء و.... العلم على مذهب الإمام سراج الأمّة أبي حنيفة النعمان 

٣. رضي الله عنه وعلى المشتغلين بالحديث النبوي على ضريح .... *

٤. ومصالح التربة المدفون بها على ما يراه الناظر سيّدنا ومولانا ... الإمام 

٥. شيخ المذهب رئيس الأصحاب سيّد العلماء والحكماء أبي العناية مولانا قاضي القضاة الفرق وثقة المسلمين شمس الدين شيخ المذاهب 

يحيى ابن هبة الله بن الحسن الشافعي خالصة (؟) أمير المؤمنين وكان الفراغ منها في شهور سنة إحدى وخمسين

 وستمائة رحمه الله ورحم أمّة محمّد

Tabula Anasata:

The great emir, the isfahsalār, the fighter of the Holy War, the invader Sayf ad-Dīn abū al-Ḥasan 

ʿAlī bin Qilīǧ al-Malakī an-Naṣirī Allah sanctify his soul has ordered to build this madrasā for the jurisconsults of the rite of the imām .abū Ḥanīfā an-Naʿmān, the light of the ʾUmmā, 

May Allah be pleased with him, and with those who devote themselves to the Prophetic Ḥadīṯ upon the shrine 

and the interests of the mausoleum in which he is buried at the discretion of our lord and master the imām 

Šayẖ of the School, the leader of the Companions, the Master of Scholars and Sages, abū al-ʿInāyā—our Master qāḍī al-quḍāt, the arbiter of disputes, and the trusted figure of the Muslims Šams ad-Din 

Lower and left edges of the outer frame:

Yaḥyā bin Hibat Allah ibn al-Ḥasan aš-Šāfiʿī ẖāliṣat of the Commander of the Faithful and it was completed during.the year 651 (1253-1254 CE) 

May Allah have mercy upon him and upon the ʾUmmā of Muḥammad

Ernst Herzfeld. Damascus, Studies in Architecture III. Ars Islamica XI-XII 1946 (p. 1-71).