Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Mausoleum of Sheikh Safi ad-Din Is’haq Ardabili (شیخ صفی‌الدین اسحاق اردبیلی)



On my journey through Iran I also passed through Ardabil (اردبیل). One can visit the tomb and other buildings in connection with Sheikh Safi ad-Din Is’haq Ardabili (شیخ صفی‌الدین اسحاق اردبیلی), who had lived from 1252–1334 and has been Kurdish and a Sunni, who founded the Safavid dynasty. He also has been a Sufi. He inherited the Sufi order Zahediyeh of his father-in-law Sheikh Zahed Gilani (proper name: Taj Al-Din Ebrahim ibn Rushan Amir Al-Kurdi Al-Sanjani [تاج الدين ابراهيم كردی سنجانی], Sheikh Zahed [شیج زاهد] is a honorific title, zahed is Arabic and means ascetic), which Sheikh Safi ad-Din later transformed into his own Sufi order, named Safaviyya.

Ardabil has a harsh climate, record low -33.8° C and record high 39.8° C; I had been there during October whith about 25° C, two days later it had been snowing. An earthquake in 1997 killed at least 965 people in the Ardabil area.

The Mausoleum was first built by the son of Sheikh Safi ad-Din after his death in 1334. There have been lots of reconstruction and added construction works between the 16th and 18th century. The mausoleum is a tower decorated with blue tile, note the Kufi script. The complex has many sections that have served as mosque, school, library, and more.

In 2010, Sheikh Safi al-Din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble (مجموعه آرامگاه و خانقاه شیخ صفی الدین) was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List.


View from about 100° to the left of the first picture

Front with entrance

 
 Details on the opposite wall



Interior



A sculptured stone reading 
ya hanan, ya manan (يا حنان يا منان), 
which means 
O merciful, o generous 


Calligraphies and Chinaware, 17th century
Double Happiness 囍 is read 双喜 (shuang xi) 
as it is composed of 喜喜, which stands 
for happiness in marriage – 
it is one the few polysyllabic Chinese characters



Calligraphy above an entrance inside the building



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