The Arabic inscriptions in copper plaques at the eastern entrance and northern
portal of the Dome of the Rock are not as well-known as the ones inscribed inside
the Dome of the Rock. Here, we present these inscriptions and their translation.
INSCRIPTIONS AT THE EASTERN ENTRANCE
(a)
(b)
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Praise be to God
other than Whom there is no god but He, the Living, the Eternal, the Originator
of the heavens and the earth and the Light of the heavens
and the earth and the Pillar of the heavens and the earth, the One, the
eternally Besought of all; He begotteth not nor was begotten and there is
none comparable unto Him, Owner of Sovereignty!
Thou givest sovereignty unto whom Thou wilt, and Thou withdrawest sovereignty
from whom Thou wilt, all sovereignty belongs to You and is from You, and
its fate is (determined) by You, Lord of glory
the Merciful, the Compassionate. He hath prescribed for Himself mercy,
and His mercy embraceth all things; May He be glorified and exalted. As
for what the polytheists associate (with You), we ask You, oh God by
Your mercy and by Your beautiful names and by Your noble face and Your
awesome power and Your perfect word, on which are based the heavens and
the earth and
through which we are preserved by Your mercy from Satan and are saved
from Your punishment (on) the Day of Judgment and by Your abundant favour
and by Your great grace and forbearance and omnipotence
and forgiveness and liberality, that You bless Muḥammad, Your servant,
Your prophet, and that You accept his intercession for his people, the blessing
of God be upon him and peace be upon him and the mercy of God and ....
From the servant of Allah ʿAbdullah al-Ma'mun al-Imam,
Commander of the Faithful, may Allah prolongs its duration! In the rule
of the brother of Commander of the Faithful Abu Ishaq, son of Commander
of the Faithful
al-Rashid, that Allah makes it last. And (this work)
had place by the hands of Salih b. Yaḥya, the mawali of Commander
of the Faithful, in the month of Rabi‘ al-Akhir of year 216.
INSCRIPTIONS AT THE NORTHERN PORTAL
In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise
be to God than Whom there is no god but He. The Living, the Eternal; He
has no associate, the One, the eternally Besought of all - He
begetteth not nor was begotten, and there is none comparable
unto Him. Muḥammad is the servant of God and His messenger whom He sent
with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may make it conqueror
of all religion
however much idolators may be averse. We believe in God
and that which was revealed unto Muḥammad and that which the Prophets
received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them,
and unto Him
we have surrendered. The blessing of God be upon Muḥammad,
His servant and His prophet, and peace be upon him and the mercy of God
and His blessing and His forgiveness and His acceptance.
Date
72 AH / 692 CE.
Script
Monumental kufic.
Comments
The copper plaque inscription at the eastern entrance, as shown above, have
some parts missing on the left hand side (Figure a). Apparently, they
were not reproduced by Max van Berchem. The inscription in Figure b
shows the continuation of lines 8 and 9 from Figure a. The Dome of
the Rock was built by Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik but the later Caliph al-Ma'mun
inserted his name as is evident from the last two lines (i.e., 8 and 9) of
the inscription. The last two lines were inserted later and due to their lengthy
text, they had to be squeezed in; thereby making the letters closely packed
and smaller in size.
As for the inscriptions on the northern portal, no images appeared to have
been taken; van Berchem mentions only the text.
These inscriptions have five Qur'anic verses quoted partially.
[1] M. van Berchem, Matériaux Pour Un Corpus
Inscriptionum Arabicarum, 1920, Tome 2 / 3, Mémoires publiés
par les membres de l'Institut Français d'archéologie orientale
du Caire, Imprimerie de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale:
Le Caire, Plate XI; The inscription was also reproduced by Adolf Grohmann in
Arabische Paläographie II: Das Schriftwesen. Die
Lapidarschrift, 1971, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Philosophisch - Historische Klasse: Denkschriften 94/2. Hermann Böhlaus
Nachf.: Wein, Plate XII.
[2] M. van Berchem, Matériaux Pour Un Corpus
Inscriptionum Arabicarum, 1927, Tome 2 / 2, Mémoires publiés
par les membres de l'Institut Français d'archéologie orientale
du Caire, Imprimerie de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale:
Le Caire, No. 216 and No. 217, pp. 246-255.
The images above are reproduced from the stated sources under
the provisions of the copyright
law. This allows for the reproduction of portions of copyrighted material
for non-commercial, educational purposes.
With the exception for those images which have passed into the
public domain, the use of these images for commercial purposes is expressly
prohibited without the consent of the copyright holder.
The Arabic Islamic Inscriptions On The Dome Of The Rock In Jerusalem, 72 AH / 692 CE.
