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The Great Mosque of Samarra

The Great Mosque of Samarra

Iraq, 9th century

The Great Mosque of Samarra was at one time the largest mosque in the world. Its immense brick minaret is called the Malwiya, which in Arabic means snail shell. Pilgrims can ascended the tower by the spiral ramp that leads to the top of the minaret.

Jalaluddin Rumi,

thirteenth-century Persian poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian.

Excerpts from Rumi's poetry about spiralling:

As waves upon my head the circling curl,

So in the sacred dance weave ye and whirl.

Dance then, O heart, a whirling circle be.

Burn in this flame—is not the candle He?

We came whirling

out of nothingness

scattering stars

like dust.

The stars made a circle

and in the middle we dance.

-Rumi

The Koran and Nature

One of the directives of the Koran to Islamic scholars is to study nature in order to glorify god.

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Our Sacred Signs: How Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Art

Draw from the Same Source

By Ori Soltes