Ǧāmiʿ at-Tawbā: Inscriptions

 

The foundation inscription is located in the bay of the east entrance, above the lintel of the door, six lines, 220 by 70 cm.

1. 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 (Qurʾān IX 18)

2. Our lord and sultan al-malik al-ʾašraf ʾabu al-Fatḥ Mūsā, son of the sultan al-malik al-ʿĀdil ʾabū Bakr son of ʾAyyūb, Allah cover them with His mercy! has founded this blessed ǧāmiʿ

3. and that in the year 632 (1). And the completion and renovation of the building have been accomplished by its ẖaṭīb and nāẓir (2), the humble servant in need of Alla's mercy, Yaḥyā, son of ʿAbd alʿAzīz, son of ʿAbd as-Salām

4. May Allah reward him with paradise. He endowed it with the waqf: all the shops that lie at its east wall, that is, fourteen shops, and a pillar adjacent to its minaret in the north

5. and two shops and a pillar under the chamber built as a living room for the preacher; five shops and a sixth building north of the masǧid that is adjacent to this door

6. and its upper stories, which are three rooms, built by the preacher; and a storeroom therein and a funduq west of Dār al-Baṭṭīẖ at Taḥt al-Qalʿā. Written in the year 649 (3). All praise is due to Allah alone.

Sauvaire (4) translates another inscription, no longer existing, from the old collection Waddington, allegedly from the same door; it names al-malik al-ʾAšraf Mūsā and is dated 14 Muḥarram 629 (5), three years earlier than the date given here and in the literary tradition, and speaks of a different waqf. It also names a different inspector, ʾabū ʿAmr ʿUṯmān son of ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān aṣ-Ṣalāḥ an-Naṣrī al-kurdī al-Šahrazūrī, called ibn aṣ-Ṣalāh Taqīī ad-Dīn, who, according to the biography, No. 411 (6) of ibn H̱allikān, died in 643 (7) at Damascus. Lastly, it adds the words “and he called it Ǧāmiʿ at-Tawbā.” Thus, there are points for and against the accuracy of the copy.

1. 1234-1235 CE.
2. Preacher and inspector.
3. 1251-1252 CE.
4. Description de Damas p. 272-273.
5. November 11, 1231.
6. Wafīyyāt al-ʾAʿyān Vol III p. 243-245.
7. September 9, 1245 CE. 

Ernst Herzfeld. Damascus, Studies in Architecture IV. Ars Islamica XIII-XIV 1948 (p. 118-138). 

Photo credit: ʾAḥmad ad-Dālī in Mawsūʿt alʾĀṯār fī Sūrīyyā