Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1909-11-04

W gvse celer caIls, % calis On ths
mesqss Of ihsakim Aga.
A every one who visits Rome goes
20 st. Peters, 90 every one who visits
Cairo goes to the mosque Of Moham-
med All In the citadel. q gorgeous build
Ing In q 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-
NAL. More attractive to me 70 the
blue mosque" 10 which I returned
again and again, enticed almost as by
the fascination Of the living blue Of a
summer sky.
This mosque, which Ia the mosque OF
Ibrahim Aga. but which II Familiarity
known to its lovers as the blue
mosque" lies TO the left Of q ram
shaekle street and from the outside
does not look specially inviting. Even
when passed through It's door and
stood In the court beyond at first I 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 q row
Of brass taps-led the mind from q
Neapolitan ice TO a second rate school,
and for q moment thought Of abrupt
~ retiring and seeking more splendid
precincts. And then looked across
the court 90 the arcade that lay be-
yond, and ! 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 ine6able lustsr wan Of
purple and blue. Of purple and blue 90
strong and yet 50 delicate that Il held
the eyes and drew the body forward.
II ever color calls, II 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 ths
tiles OF which this wonderful wan Ia
composed. found them as lovely near
as they are lovely far or From q dis
lance they resemble q nature effect,
are almost like a BIT Of southern sea
or OF sky. q fragment Of cleaning
Mediterranean seen through the pillars
Of loggia or Of Sicilian blue watching
over Etna In the long summer days.
When one IL close to them they are
q miracle OF art. The background Of
them In a milky white upon which IL
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 q cry Of ecstasy going
up In this otherwise not very beauti-
full mosque. They make II unforgetta-
BILE; they draw you back to Il 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 II 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 IL II does not
have upon you an uplifting moral ef-
feet And then. II you like, 60 on
from II TO the GamIa ell Movayad,
sometimes called FL Ahmar (the red).
where you win find greater glories,
though no greater fascination, for the
tiles hold their own among all the
wonders OF Cairo.-Robert Hichens In
Century