Exterior photographs of and in the Qubbat al-Sakhra (Dome of the Rock), Masjid al-Aqsa, Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem.
The upper course of the drum exterior bears the Qur'anic Surat al-Isra' which tells the tale of the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem. Alas, scholars do not know whether or not this inscription in 16th-century Ottoman glazed tile replicated an equivalent inscription in the original exterior mosaics or not.
The answer to this question goes to the heart of the debate about the reason(s) for Abd al-Malik's original construction.
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