Bismarck daily tribune., 1908-12-24
THE BLUE MOSQUE.
10 Ever Color Calls, II Calls In the
Mosque Of Ibrahim AGA. n: D

Mosque Of Ibrahim Aga.
As every one who visits Rome goes
to st. Peters, so every one who visits
Cairo goes to the mosque Of Moham-
med All in the citadel, gorgeous build
ing in magnificent situation, the In
terror Of which always makes me think
of court functions and Of the pomp OF
life rather than Of prayer and self de-
nial. More attractive to me Is the
"blue mosque" to which ] returned
again and again, enticed almost as by
the fascination of the living blue Of a
summer sky.
This mosque, which is the mosque Of
Ibrahim Aga, but which is familiarly
known to its lovers as the "blue
mosque" lies to the left Of a RAM
shackle street and from the outside
does not look specially inviting Even
when passed through its door and
stood in the court beyond at first felt
not its charm All looked old and
rough, unkempt and in confusion. The
red and white stripes Of the walls and
the arches Of the arcade, the mean lit
tie place for ablution-a pipe and row
Of brass taps-led the mind from a
Neapolitan ice to second rate school,
and for a moment thought of abrupt
ly retiring and seeking more splendid
precincts. And then looked across
the court to the arcade that lay be-
yond, and I saw the exquisite "love
color of the marvellous tiles that give
this mosque its name.
The huge pillars Of this arcade are
striped and ugly, but between them
shone with an ineffable luster q wall OF
purple and blue. Of purple and blue SO
strong and yet SO delicate that 1t held
the eyes and drew the body forward.
If ever color calls, it calls in the "blue
mosque of Ibrahim Aga. And when I
had crossed the court, when stood
beside the pulpit. with its delicious
wooden folding doors, and studied the
tiles Of which this wonderful wall is
composed, found them as lovely near
as they are lovely far off. From n dis
tance they resemble nature effect,
are almost like bit Of southern sea
or of sky, a fragment of cleaning
Mediterranean seen through the pillars
Of a loggia or of Sicilian blue watching
over Etna in the long summer days.
When one is close to them they are
a miracle Of art. The background Of
them is a milky white upon which Is
an elaborate pattern of purple and
blue, generally conventional and rep
resentative Of no known object, but
occasionally showing tall trees some
what resembling expresses. But it is
impossible in words adequately to de-
scribe the effect of these tiles and Of
the tiles that line to the very roof the
tomb house on the right Of the court.
They are like cry of ecstasy going
up in this otherwise not very beauti-
full mosque. They make 1t unforgetta-
BILE; they draw you back to 1t again
and yet again. On the darkest day Of
winter they set something Of summer
there. In the saddest moment they
proclaim the fact that there is joy In
the world; that there was JOY in the
hearts Of creative artists years upon
years ago. If you are ever In Cairo
and sink into depression, go to the
"blue mosque" and see If it does not
have upon you an uplifting moral eff
feet. And then, ii you like, 60 on
from it to the Gamia ell Movayad,
sometimes called Ell Ahmar the red),
where you will find greater glories,
though no greater fascination, for the
tiles hold their own among all the
wonders Of Cairo.-Robert Hichens in
Century.