MEDINA. 261 



four rows on the west ; and only three on the north 

 and part of the east side. The columns are of stone, 

 of different sizes, and all plastered white. The 

 small domes on the roof are whitewashed, as are the 

 interior walls, except that on the south side, which 

 is cased with slabs of marble nearly up to the top, 

 and adorned with several rows of inscriptions, one 

 above another, in large gilt letters, which have a 

 very brilliant effect. Spacious windows with glass 

 panes, some of which are finely painted, admit the 

 light through this wall : the floor of the colonnade 

 is here formed of marble, one of the best specimens 

 of mosaic to be seen in the East ; the other parts, 

 as well as the open court, are laid out with a coarse 

 pavement, or merely covered with sand. 



The history of this mosque resembles that of the 

 Beitullah. It received many donations and im- 

 provements from the caliphs ; and was repeatedly 

 plundered, destroyed, and repaired. In 1250 A. D., 

 a few months after the eruption of a volcano near 

 the town, it caught fire, and was burned to the 

 ground, an accident which was ascribed to the 

 heterodox Sheahs, who were then the guardians of 

 the tomb. More than 200 years afterwards it was 

 again reduced to ashes by a conflagration occasioned 

 by lightning. All the walls, the roof, and 120 co- 

 lumns, fell ; the books were consumed, and the only 

 part that escaped was the interior of the tomb. Its 

 restoration was undertaken by the Sultan of Egypt, 

 to whom Hejaz owed a number of public works. 

 The whole mosque then assumed its present form, 

 and since that period (A. D. 1487) n ty a f ew imma- 

 terial improvements have been made by the Turks. 



The approach to the temple is choked up on all 

 sides by private buildings, some of which are sepa- 



