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Chapter 4. Architectural Order
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Chapter 4 Architectural Order Gazing at the Sky Al-Ghazali’s analogy that served as the starting point of this excursion into premodern Islamic cosmology and metaphysics was concerned with the procedural aspects of the creation, with how God and an architect alike first produce a written or drawn exemplar in accordance with which an object is then brought into existence. The analogy does not tell us much about the contents of these exemplars, nor about whether and how the architect interprets the divine paradigms and casts them into architectural forms. Even in his more detailed discussion of the divine names, al-Ghazali’s main concern remains the process and protocol of production. In a treatise on the wisdom of God’s creatures, al-Ghazali gives us other clues. With references to the verses: “Have they not then observed the sky above them, how we have constructed it and beautified it, and how there are no rifts therein?” (50:6) and “God it is who has created seven heavens, and of the earth the like thereof ” (65:12) he writes: Know, may God treat you with mercy, that if you reflect in your mind upon this world you will find it like a built house equipped with everything one needs. The sky is raised as a roof, the ground is stretched out as a carpet, the stars are hung like lamps, and the substances are stored as treasures. Everything is prepared and specifically formed for a purpose. Man acts as the owner of the house who is in charge of its contents. The varieties of plants are designated for his needs, and the species of animals are dedicated to his interests. God also created heaven and made its color most appropriate and strengthening for his vision. For if it was pure rays and lights it would have harmed the onlooker. Looking at the green and blue, however, is suitable for the human sight, as the 149 souls find felicity and comfort in gazing upon the vastness of the sky, and especially when the starts are shining and moonlight is clear. For this reason, the kings adorn the ceilings of their courts with patterns and decorations that give the viewer comfort and delight.Yet, as the viewer continues to look at this adornment he becomes bored with it and loses what he used to find in his visual experience of felicity and delight. This is unlike gazing upon the heaven and its adornment, to which those displeased by whatever reason—be they kings or lay people—turn their sight seeking delight both in the sky and the vastness of space. As the wise men say: “you will have of comfort and delight in your house just as much as you have of the sky.”1 That the cosmos, in its complexity, beauty, and order, conceals a profound divine wisdom is beyond question for most Muslims. It is a core theme in the Quran that enjoins Muslims to reflect upon the wonders, beauty, and wisdom of God’s creation in order to deduce lessons, guidance, and meanings for their worldly practices. A whole genre of literature concerned with the wisdom of God’s creations proliferated in premodern Islam. Even Islamic historiography was predicated on the notion of itibar, the need to reflect and “take lessons” from the events of past generations in order to understand God’s hidden wisdom . The search for and praise of divine wisdom is traceable in a wide range of Islamic literature, and especially in the later Ottoman writings on architecture . The seventeenth-century text of Risale-i Mimariyye wonders about the architecture of the world: What is this exalted mosque and retreat for witnessing? What is this lofty vault and lamp ornament? What is this bright window, what is this luminous taper? What is this wonderful creation, and what is this beauteous form? What is this vault of heaven, and what is this surface of the world? What is this lofty arch, and what is this great pavilion? What is this? Who made such an edifice? Without drawings and without mathematics and without analogy?2 Such reflections, while being concerned with procedure and aesthetics, support the assumption of a deeper connection between the divine act of creating and the human act of designing. In the preceding, I have explored the “contents ” of the divine exemplar from the mystical perspective, focusing on what the Sufis consider to be the consistent, underlying nizam (order) of the universe...