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he wished to enter paradise, and was prevented by not 
being able to pull out the nails which remain. 
The Sahhara has a wooden tribune for the singers^ 
which is supported by several small columns. 
I observed a koran there, the leaves of which are four 
feet long, and more than two feet and a half broad. 
Tradition reports that this koran belonged to the Caliph 
Omar, but I saw a similar one in the grand mosque of 
Cairo called Azahar, and another at Mecca; to all of 
which the same origin is ascribed. The outside of the 
Sahhara is incrusted with different kinds of marble to 
half its height. The remainder is covered with little 
bricks, or squares of different colours, which are very 
pretty. The windows are furnished with fine painted 
glass, forming arabesques. There are five large windows 
in each side of the octagon. 
The Sahhara is the place of prayer for the individuals 
of the Haniffe rite, which is followed by the Turks. The 
Hanbeli and Maleki rites have other places assigned to 
them, which will be pointed out hereafter. 
Outside the edifice of the Sahhara, at three or four 
paces distance toward the east, and facing the gate Beb 
Davoud, is a very fine oratory: It is composed of an 
undecangular roof, supported by eleven antique co- 
lumns, formed of a calcareous stone of a reddish gray 
colour, which is most precious. In the centre of the 
oratory is a superb little cupola, supported by six co- 
lumns in a circle, equal in every respect to the former. 
I consider these columns, as also those of the Sahhara, 
as the remains of the ancient temple of Solomon. There 
is in the oratory a niche between two columns, where 
prayers are said: it is a place particularly revered, be- 
cause tradition reports it to have been El Mekkeme 
Davoud, or the Tribunal of David. 
