Publication Date
It began before the year 633 / 1235-6, and ended before the year 642 / 1240.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;sy;Mon01;4;ar
Library Location
Outside the southern side of the old city wall, Aleppo, Syria
Date
It began before the year 633 / 1235-6, and ended before the year 642 / 1240.
Notes
Al-Firdaws Madrasa is considered one of the greatest religious complexes established during the Ayyubid period. Its patron was a powerful Ayyubid woman, Daifa Khatun, Saladin’s niece and the wife of his son, who ruled Aleppo independently of the Ayyubid state for 20 years. While she was residing in the Citadel of Aleppo, Dhifa Khatun wanted the complex to serve as a royal shrine, and she provided it with soil, a mosque, a rabat for the residence of Sufis, and a school for teaching religious sciences, and endowed many properties for it. Care for proportions and geometric relationships appears in the dimensions of the building, as entry is made through a gate that deviates from the axis of the eastern wall, and leads to a long corridor that turns left towards the corridor of the heavenly expanse. Al-Bahra in the heavenly expanse is octagonal in shape, with corner curves in the internal corners according to the style prevalent in the Ayyubid period. As for the floor paved with limestone and basalt in the form of lines and geometric shapes, parts of it have been repaved. The heavenly expanse is bordered to the north by an iwan, and corridors on the other three sides. Each corridor consists of three openings that open into rectangular halls, each of which has three domes. The two corner rooms are also roofed with domes, making the number of domes eleven around the heavenly courtyard. The southern hall contains a pulpit and a mihrab made of paved marble, surmounted by a semicircular element, within a central iwan. Numerous windows with metal bars open within the entire walls of the madrasa provide a view of the surrounding gardens. One of the most prominent features of the school is its northern outer iwan, a feature completely unknown in Syrian schools. It is likely that it had a wonderful view of the gardens, as indicated by the name of the school, “Al-Firdaws,” meaning Paradise and Garden, which is an essential part of the symbolism of the building. The longest Arabic inscription in the world has ever been engraved around the entire interior perimeter of the building, reaching a length of 92 meters, and it is written in elegant and legible third script. The eastern wall bears the name of the shepherdess, Dhifa Khatun, while the other walls bear religious inscriptions, not with Qur’anic verses as is usual for monumental buildings, but in meter and rhyme, and telling a poignant description of a Sufi experience during worship. Another inscription appears on the external eastern façade that focuses on the purpose of the building, and mentions the vast gardens. The inscription extends to about 40 AD, and includes verses from the Qur’an in the middle of entering Paradise, and continues to describe honor, piety, and titles. The feminine ownership of the shepherd. It also gives details about the complex’s management, maintenance, and duty towards the poor. It also mentions the name of the supervisor as Abd al-Muhsin, and the date 633 (5-1236).
Sample Text
Zena Takieddine, Samer Abd al-Ghafour “Al-Firdaws School” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;sy;Mon01;4;ar
