* lbn Marzuq

Sultan Abu 'I-Hasan 'A-li's Architectural Patronage

JONATHAN M, BLOOM

Shams ad-Din Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad ibn Marzuq al-'Ajisi at-Tilirnsani was
1 10
born in th• city of Tilimsan (now Tlemcen in western Algeria; see rnap) in J
Figure 43. New Islamic Center of Greater Toledo ( )
1 8
9 os , Perrysburg, Ohio.
or 1311 to a family of distinguished clerics who had been a t' f . .
c 1ve or centuries
the religious, political, and literary life of North Africa. As a youth he traveledin
widely with his father throughout the great cities of the central Islamic lands,
studied in Cairo, and preached his first sermon extemporaneously at the age of
nineteen in the mosque of Alexandria. At the age of twenty-two or twenty-four
he returned to the land of his birth and was appointed preacher in the mosque
of al-'1bbad, the shrine outside Tlemcen associated with the famous_ Nort~
African Sufi Abu Madyan Shu'ayb (commonly ca IIed "S'd' .1£1B~I Medienne
. Ganada
d After a bne ex1 em
It
,1197-1198) and private secretary tot he su an. · . d made racourt,
lb • 'd courtat Fez .m 1353
n Marzuq was recalled to the Marim . usancapacities as he
0ffi
. During the following two decades he served m vano
cral.
we nt 1n· an d out of favor wit
· h ru Iers. . sAboutthef'
dFine Tra d'ition
0
ne of his most important works, The Correct(Musnad
an as-sa h1'h al-hasan
••
1
f the
Gl rtous
0
· Deeds of our Master Ab u 'I -Hasanh distinguish'in g quahues 0
wing con·
aathir mawlana Abi 'I-Hasan) d'iscusses t during
in > e 11o divided
. n. foually
his re1g_
suitan, his court and the works undertaken each chapter 15 us }es drawn from
.telllporary practice
' for this genre Of literature,containtn. g exarnP
b,,r,ari••• about.
int0 two or three parts the first aImost· alway5well as genera1Oconternporary ap
the}'f the earIYcaliphs as, te"t presents a
1 '
e of the Prophet and
5
the quality under discussion. Ibn Marzuq
 252 Community

E'~~!s(~'\{"jf~kf~!~r::~?t'';;:2~~;{1;.,
•"/'_.,,:'.
i',.
;~:
,
. '. ,.
, '
.'-,';:
;_;
',

. c:'.r•;;.;
,. :,.-: ',/
. ;_:!if. .•.i:

Figure 44. Mosque of Selim I (1522), Istanbul.

predation of the patronage of religious architecture in the Muslim we5t of the

fourteenth century. It is unusually valuable because many of the examples he
30
cites as glories of Marinid art are those that survive to this very day.

THE MUSNAD OF IBN MARZUQ

Chapter 40: His Construction of Congregational

Mosques, Mosques, and Minarets
[Section 2] On the importance that he-may God be pleased with him-
 Patronage and th e A rts

fjgU" • J\fehitectUral model of future plans for the Islamic Center of Greater
45
Toledo,
gave to constrt1ction of this type and on the considerable expenses that

incurred.
he This was his [i.e., Abu '1-Hasan's] preoccupation during his emirate
and hi• callphate. He is responsible for oplendid monumento and numer-
ou, constructions in the city of fez, may God protect it! such as the
Mo,que of the Copper.omiths" and the mosque known as •shave the
Sheep,"" both of them quite big, spacious, and having very high and
handsome minarets, as well as several [other] mosques and minarets.
The same was the case in the White City [NeW Fez), in al-Mansura near
Ceuta, • where he had a magnificent congregational mosque and minaret
built adjacent to the auspicious palace. He also erected innumerable
smaller mosques in Tangi·e:c Sale Chella (which was particularly fine),33
the Qasba of Taza, Me.knes, 'and Marrakesh.
'
As for h . h . Of Tleincen, they are
ud, th t e monuments that he erected 1n t e aty d ,iuvenate their •

at one hopes God will preserve their forms an reJ

2 29
• A new city that Abu Sa~d began to build in 7,9l1J &-•J ·
254 Community

remains; their like was not previously seen nor their form heretofore
obtained in any land.34 Among them is the congregational mosque of
the Qasba I the incomparable qualities of which include the beauty Q~ f.
placement, excellence of its form, organization of its galleries, equilibriurn
of its courtyard, handsomeness of the views, running waters, spaciousness
of its courts, elegance of silver and copper fittings, and its splendid rn.tn bar
[pulpit].
As for the Great Mosque [of al-Mansura outside of Tlemcen], all those
who have traveled agree that they never saw anything like it; this mosque
is not a bit inferior to the perfect beauty of the Umayyad mosque [in
Damascus]; and if the Mosque of al-Mansur in Marrakesh, the fame of
which is proverbial, covers a larger area, the richness of the marbles and
the equilibrium of its proportions make it more marvelous and more
beautiful. No other minaret in the east or the west can be compared to
it. I have ascended it several times with the emir Abu 'Ali an-Nasir, the
latter-may God have mercy on him!-on horseback and I on my mule,
from the bottom to the top: one would have said that we were riding on
flat ground. This minaret stands above the north portal of the mosque
and contains two passages by which one ascends to the top. It was
constructed with skill, from cut stone sculpted with different motifs
on each side. I saw the shaft on which the globes [above the lantern]
are mounted: it is of iron and resembles the mast of a ship. As for the
chandelier [in the mosque], it was I who was charged with having it made
and who inscribed the date on the lower part of it, in my own handwrit-
ing, as one can still see in the congregational mosque of Tlemcen. This
chandelier contains approximately one thousand oil lamps. I believe that
the total weight is inscribed on the base, as well as an estimation of its
volume. 35
As for the minbar, all craftsmen at that time declare that nowhere in
the world was the equivalent ever made. They agree that the minbar of
[the mosque of] Cordova and the minbar of the Booksellers' [Mosque]
in·Marrakesh are the most remarkable in craftsmanship, because it is not
36
customary for easterners to have fine woodwork in their buildings.
A number of fragments from the Cordova minbar have appeared [in the
Maghrib] and these have been compared with those from the Tlemcen
 Patrona
ge and th
-rhe latter does not suffer in comp . eArts
. bar, 1 ar1son. Ith 255
Jtllil d he size of a hazelnut or a chickpea as carved .
y100 t f h ' and enc Pieces
of £ grain o w eat: to see it one i l'Ustation' 8
size O 8 ' s amazed G of ab0
the £one who causes the ruin of his · od Will d ut
ount o masterpie ernand
~,, he destroyed monuments in which ll h ces and chast· an
~- ate
beC nd which would have illustrated reli . people of Islarn rn
~a
g Abu '}-Hasan also had] many mosques [b .1 . rnny.
[ u1 tin Tie
.., are the mosques at the gates of al-Magh H mcen].Arnong
the11• az, unayn
the aforementioned Great Mosque, he ord d ' and Fez.
for ere a wate h
sed underground in a conduit from the out k' r c annel that
same rime fed several fountains. nand at the
Among the mosques is the one that he had bu1•1 t m . the city
. of
Hunayn.lf, The site was purchased
. under my supe rv1s1on,
. . . It. was acon re-
8
gational mosque and the mmaret there was high and 1
e egant. We bought
the necessary land for a considerable sum from the surplus of the1ormer c

mosque; [the land destined for1the extension of the congregational

mosque of Algiers was similarly purchased.
As for the mosque that Abu '1-Hasan had constructed near the tomb
of the Shaykh of Shaykhs, the Model of the Modern Imams among Sufis,
Abu Madyan Shucayb ibn al-Hasan-may God have mercy on himl-it
is of splendid form and imposing and solid aspect.37 Abu '}-Hasan spent
an enormous sum on this purpose. And it was built under the supervision
of my paternal uncle, the twin of Abu Salih, Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad
I h dthe most mar·
ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Marzuq, an me. t a d df
. . iling is compose o
ve
. 1ous details of construction: in fact its entire
k ce otifs, every des1gn• differ·
interlocking forms of stamps and woodwor mdin the fashion of mar· d
ent from the other l£ig. 46). The whole is carve . for amoment an
ot doubt it 1·nto
d
quetry panels of such a sort that one oes n d. wood and put
.f e worke in ]id masonry
one truly imagines that these motl s wer . 1 made of so
l e entire y
p ace when finished, when in fact they ar · . . 11111de of
of b . k fOrn,. it ,s d
nc and plaster. arkable ·d describe
Th· . bar of retll ealrea y
18 mosque also contains a nun •Ided, I ha"
sand 1 h whole gt
a wood, ivory, and ebony, t e
. 6/1.Jf
"' Ab h.15 citY 10 7J
u 'l-Hasan's army took t
25 6 Community

Figure 46. 1.Jbbad Mosque prayer hall, Tlemcen, Algeria (early 14th
cent.). Photo by Jonathan Bloom.

the ornament on the base of this minb~r. As for the northern door that
opens on the stairs by which one descends to the tomb of the shaykh-
may God have mercy on him I-and to the street, it is a portal of bronze,
comprising two valves [i.e., halves of a double door] each of which is
plated with bronze, pierced and engraved with polygons combining one
with the other; different colors of bronze were used. It is a marvel that

d
 Patronage and th e Arts 257

do not neglect to notice.

. To make these two valves, the copper-
velet9 e about 700 dinars of gold coin. That is at 1 h
rta h dro us east ow much
.., thS 8 ·d rnyself, quite apart from the cost of the cop .
9w1 ro\11 e per, Iron
had to P 1 . '
od coIors · Above the stairs is a vault of muqarnas [sta acme 1
I
ittbet 8 ]· it is of unusual form with few parallels. The minaret
. . also
0 fig. 47 , . 1s
work hart
[ dso rne· Each of its four faces presents decoration dif£erent from

~-,
111ost h three other sides. The making and gilding of the ball
tha
11
ton t e

constructt
170
•ons cover him with his favors and recompense!
,
M for ,nosques . zaw1yas
m . .
[see below] and mall other cities and
.
s on its
gold dinars. May God give the sultan the profit of th

-~' . s there is no exact count [because they are so numerous] Let us

eonfin• ourselves to the several monuments of which we have spoken,
because 0 ur desire is to be brief in this work!
.

chapter 41: Construction of Madrasas by Abu 'I-Hasan

[Section 2] We have already said that the construction of madrasas
was unknown in the Maghrib up until the time when our master, the
Warrior for the Faith, the Pious King [Abu Yusuf] constructed that of
38
the Halfa,iyyin in the Qarawiyyin quarter of Fez. Then our master the
sultan Abu Sa'id, father of our Imam-may God have mercy on himl-
constructed the 'Attarin madrasa and the madrasa of New Fez with the
help of his son-may God have mercy on him. The latter-may God
the Almighty profit from itl-then founded an elegant madrasa in
the 'Adwa, that is the Andalus quarter of Fez; it is known as the Sahrij
madrasa. If Then he erected the large madrasa known as the Madrasat
n
al-Wadi [i.e., of the river valley] because its center crosses the pri cipal
st nd
st ream of the 'Adwa [river]. Then he erected the madrasa a ing to
the north of the Qarawiyyin mosque and which is known as the Madras•
Misbah after the person charged with instruction there.t This man-
may G d IK ["the note-
0 have mercy on himf-was also known as a - urras

• It is h h ") . the center of the courtyard.

1h~ !h
It was cot ui5 known because of the pool (Ar., s 15
' It. IIlp eted by Abu 'I-Hasan in ,323, wh• e
ther was i;till Jiving,
M d,asat ,I-Rukh•"" be•
'i
taus, ~so known ,s the Madr••• Misbahiya j"d t e /<~ 46_,347. The tea<het
Abu 'd~Irs ~hite marble basin; it was com~let~ din in 750/1J49'"135o.
iya Misbah ibn 'Abdallah aI-Yalsut1, die at e
25 s Community

figure . 'Ubbad Mosque, portal dome, Tlemcen, Algeria. Photo by Jonathan

47
Bloom.

book"], because during his class every morning he read his citations from
a notebook [instead of reciting them from memory].
Then Abu 'I-Hasan-may God have mercy on him I-built madrasas
in every city of the far and central Maghrib. He first built the fine
madrasa in old Taza, and in Meknes, Sale [fig. 48], it- Tangier, Ceuta, Anfa,
Azemmour, Safi, Aghmat, Marrakesh, al-Qasr al-Kabir, al-1Jbbad outside
of Tlemcen near the mosque which we have already described, and at Al-
giers, the madrasas being of different importance depending on the size
of the locality. The madrasa of Ceuta is beautiful, but the finest is that
of Marrakesh, followed by that of Meknes.t All of them have wonderful
construction, marvelous workmanship, numerous masterpieces, carved
plasters, pavements of varicolored fine tiles, varied marbles, artistically
carved wood, and abundant water.
One mu st also add the endowments he established to keep up and
: ~l::~te the Great Mo~que, it was ~onstructed in 742/i.340-1341,. eared,
Th d d~asa of Ceuta, hke all that aty's Islamic monuments, has disapp •fu}
Ben Yusufrasa
e ma m Marrakesh
Mad h was replaced m . the sixteenth centu~y by.the beaut1
f er Abu
'1-H , rasa; T at of Meknes is known today as the Bu Inaniya a t
asan s son Abu lnan, who completed it.
 2 60
Community
f hese madrasas in the best condition, for re .
aintain each o t d Pairs, for
Ill h fessors, fellows, manager, oorman, muezz· .
alaries for t e pro . in, irna
s . sses and servants. That which remained f Ill,
d 'nistrator, w1tne ' a ter th
a mi side This enumeration allows the reader t ese
were paid was set a . o Under..
ecessary for each of these madrasas. With that h
stand the sums n . , ealso
f these establishments a selection of precious [i .
gave to most o . .e., reh ..
. ] b k and literary works. There
g1ous oo s .
is .no. doubt that this Was the
reason t hat knowledge grew and 1ts pract1t1oners flourished during h·rs
. The rewards of the master
reign. . and of the disciple will be Weighed rn. the
eeds may God make it sol Furthermore; in the east .
sea1e of gOod d ' . a srn~e
madrasa or similar foundation preserves the memory of a sovereign; but
how many individuals did he support until their end by these founda-
tions 7An authentic tradition of the Prophet-may God bless him and
save him I-on this subject states: "When a man dies, his eanhly deeds
are over except in three cases: perpetual alms, a pious work from which
others derive good, and a good son ii:ivoking God in his father's favor."
Nothing is better than the perpetual works he left. May God Almighty
accept them and grant him mercy I

Chapter 42: Abu 'l-Hasan's Construction of Zawiyas .·

[Section 3] A zawiya is known as a ribat or a khanqah in the east. This
last term, which has the same meaning as ribat, is a Persian word. In the
terminology of ascetics, the word ribat has the connotation of devoting
oneself entirely to jihad and guarding the frontiers [of Islam]. For Sufis,
the word has a different meaning, namely the place where one retreats to
worship God. · -
[Section 4] It is clear that among us in the Maghrib, zawiyas are places
designed to sheIter trave1ers and to nourish voyagers. As ror
, rt'bats' in the
~ense in which this term is employed in the east, I have only seen two
in the Maghrib: the ribat of Sayyidi Abu Muhammad Salih [at Safi]* an~
the zawiya 0 f s 'd•1 G dbenefit
ayyi Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Vmart -may 0
,. This mystical f' d. 631./12J4·
t This man b t igre,, a disciple of Abu Madyan of Tlemcen, did' d'n the first
half of the eighth ter nown ~y his common name, Sidi Buzekri, ie 1
century at his zawiya in Sale.
 Patronage and the Arts 2 61

himl-in Sale, to the west of the Great Mosque. I have not seen a third
foundation of the same type in the country, with men staying there to
live, and resembling, by the life they lead, those of whom I have already
written.

Chapter 43: Construction of Hospitals by Abu 'l-Hasan

Our Imam-may God have mercy on him!-completely restored the
hospital of the city of Fez as well as others. This is a place for the treat-
ment and care of the sick. The men of the east take a great interest in
I these establishments. Our master-may God have mercy on him!-was
very interested in them, and after him, his son Mawlay Abu 'Inan-may
God have mercy on himl-took up the tradition. And in this, the son was
the worthy successor to his father.