"بلاد فارس والشأن الفارسي من إعداد السيد المحترم جورج ناثانييل كورزون، عضو البرلمان." [‎١‎٦‎١] (٧١٤/١٩٦)

-'llfeji
■ ahj
MESHED
looked through into the great quadrangle. 1 This is an achievement
which might, I think, be effected without risk at the present time
A European who found his way into the Bast, particularly by some
other than one of the two main entries, might without much
difficulty succeed in reaching the gates of the Sahn. He might be
stared at or followed or mobbed, but he would probably not be
attacked. It would be a different thing were he to enter the
sacred precincts themselves; though I am one of those who
incline to the opinion that in these respects the fanaticism of
Orientals is apt to be exaggerated. In the interests, however, not
merely of personal safety, but of the reputation of his nationality,
which might suffer from detection, it would be foolhardy in a
foreigner to make the attempt. I was myself conducted over the
roofs of the bazaars to a spot, I believe, within the Bast, where I could
see the sacred buildings very well, and was from eighty to a hundred
yards distant from the mosque of Gowher Shad, which adjoins
that of Imam Reza, and to which I next turn. If I must claim
for myself any special distinction, it is the modest one of being
the first English Member of Parliament who has entered the walls
of Meshed, so far as my knowledge extends.
The second mosque is behind that of Imam Reza, but is situated
obliquely to it. Like the other, it has a large court, with two
4. Mosque store y s recessed compartments all round, with soaring
g f h G ° wher tile-covered aiwans, and with two great ungilt but tile
encircled minarets. On the main facade is an inscription
saying that it was erected in the reign of Shah Rukh in a.h . 821.
A similar panel on the southern a Aw an records its reconstruction by
Shah Sultan Husein in a.h . 1087. Fraser, who visited it, thought
this mosque ' by far the most beautiful and magnificent that he had
seen in Persia; ' and Vambery, speaking of its main archway, said :
It was long before I could determine whether I should award the
palm to this gate or to those two in Samarkand and Herat which are
of the same style ; for it is certain that they all date from the reign of
Shah Rukh, if indeed they were not the work of the same architect. It
is possible that the Madrasseh Khanym in Samarkand, as also the
Musallah in Herat, were more luxurious and magnificent, but I can
hardly believe that they were ever more beautiful.
Gowher Shad's mosque hardly, at the present day, sustains
this reputation from the outside, though evidently its hashi is
The Merv Oasis, vol. i. cap. xxix.
vol. i.
m
1 ii Mi