Madrasā alʿIzzīyā al-Barrānīyyā: Inscription

The waqf inscription is located above the door leading to the garden and is irregularly distributed from top to bottom as follows:

• It occupies a hexagon on the discharging arch with one line to the right and two lines to the left.

• Tabula ansata with four lines on the lintel. 

Hexagon

رسول الله

Messenger of Allah

لا إله إلّا الله

There is no god but Allah

وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوا۟

Whatever good you send forth

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Missing above line A 

وَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتُوا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ

Establish prayer, and pay alms-tax

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Line C

وجعل ماله وذلك سنة أحد وعشرين وستّمائة 

and that in the year 621 (1224 CE). 

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Line A

بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

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Line B

لِأَنفُسِكُم مِّنْ خَيْرٍۢ تَجِدُوهُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ

for yourselves, you will ˹certainly˺ find ˹its reward˺ with Allah.

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Tabula ansata

وَقَفَ هذه المدرسة المباركة وأبّدها وحبسها الأمير الكبير الغازي

المجاهد أبو الفضائل عزّ الدين أيبك بن علي تغمَّدَهُ اللهُ برحمَتِهِ

على الفقهاء والمتفقّهة من أصحاب الإمام الأعظم سراج الأمّة 

أبي حنيفة رضي الله عنه وعلى القرّاء والمحدّثين والمسمّعين تقبّل اللهُ مِنهُ

The great emir, the warrior, fighter of the Holy War, abu al-Faḍāʾil ʿIzz ad-Dīn ʾAybak son of ʿAlī, Allah cover him with His mercy! . . . has instituted as waqf this blessed madrasā for the jurisconsults and students, followers of the august imam Sirāǧ ad-Dīn Abī Ḥanīfā ... for the readers of the Qurʾān, the scholars of the Ḥadīṯ and the hearers, . . . 

The date rectifies that of 626 (1228-1229 CE) cited by an-Nuʿaymī. The door with the inscription is the only remnant of the madrasā. The turbā, without inscriptions, is in a good state of preservation.

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

Photo credit: Terry Allen. Ayyubid Architecture, Solipsist Press, Occidental, California, 1999.