Dome of the Rock
THE UMAYYAD KHALIF ‘Abdul Malik ibn Marwan commenced work on the Dome of the Rock in 685 CE. Essentially unchanged for more than thirteen centuries, the Dome of the Rock remains one of the world’s most beautiful and enduring architectural treasures, at the heart of the Sanctuary.
ON THE EXTERIOR of the Dome of the Rock the entire chapter Qur’anic chapter ‘Ya Sin’, considered by some scholars to be the heart of the Qur’an, is inscribed around the top of its octagonal base.
‘Ya Sin.
By the wise Qur’an.
Surely you are among those sent
on a straight path.
A revelation of the Mighty,
the Compassionate.
That you might warn a people
whose fathers were never warned,
so they are heedless.’
Qur’an, 36:1-6
‘Ya Sin.
By the wise Qur’an.
Surely you are among those sent on a straight path.
A revelation of the Mighty, the Compassionate.
That you might warn a people whose fathers were never warned,
so they are heedless.’
Qur’an, 36:1-6
THE INTERIOR of the gold dome stretches 20 metres across the Rock, rising to an apex more than 35 metres above it. What is said to be the greatest verse of the Qur’an, the ‘Ayat al-Kursi’, is inscribed far above the Rock, in a circular band at the centre of the inner Dome.
‘Allah!
there is no god but He
the Living, the Everlasting.
Slumber seizes Him not, neither sleep.
His are all things in the heavens and on earth.
Who shall intercede with Him except by His leave?
He knows what lies before them and what is after.
They comprehend nothing of His Knowledge
except as He wills.
His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth
and He is never weary of preserving them.
He is the Most High, the Sublime!
Qur‘an 2:255
‘Allah!
there is no god but He
the Living, the Everlasting.
Slumber seizes Him not, neither sleep.
His are all things in the heavens
and on earth.
Who shall intercede with Him
except by His leave?
He knows what lies before them
and what is after.
They comprehend nothing of His Knowledge
except as He wills.
His Throne extends over the heavens
and the earth
and He is never weary of preserving them.
He is the Most High, the Sublime!
Qur‘an 2:255
