When Charant asked why they had not been taken
down by victorious soldiers, “ They durst not,” said one,
“ for they are sacred,” 1 but it is of the kasbah
Spiritual globes again, that Leo writes, “ the common
Guardians hip. & ° .r , u
people thinke it vene dangerous 11 a man doth
but offer to touch the said sphears with his hand.” [By
the way, how- could he do so?] “ Some affirme that they
are there placed by so forcible an influence of the
planets, that they cannot be removed from thence by
any cunning or diuice. Some others report that a certain
spirite is adiured by Arte-magique to defend those sphears
from al assaults and iniuries whatsoeuer.” 2 Though these
be but legends, they add a certain interest to one’s
first sight of what seem after all quite ordinary metal
globes, but which for centuries have exercised men’s
minds.
O f the other notable mosques of Marrakesh, the most
important is that of Sidi Yusef (bin Tashfin) built by Abd
el Mu'min (1147— 1163) on the site of one
Other Mosques e r e c te d b y gfcli m . (u o 6— II43), Son of the
and Shrines. . , , •
great ameer whose name o it perpetuated in
spite of its builder’s wish that it should henceforth bear
his own.3 The only others worthy of mention are those
of El Muasin and Sidi A b d el Aziz, and that of the
Bab Dukalla, erected in 1558 by the mother of Ahmad V.
(El Mansur ed-Dhahebi).4 The patron saint of the city
is Sidi bel Abbas of Ceuta— “ the Sheikh who knew
G od ”— and attached to his mosque, built in 1603 by
A b d el Aziz III. (Abu Faris),5 is the morstan or hospital
yard in which A li Bey 6 says that in his day (1800) no
less than 1800 sick of both sexes were maintained.
Smaller mosques and saint-shrines abound, but the
city is supposed to be under the special tutelage of
* See Brown’s F ellow, note, p. 341. 2 Hakluyt ed., p. 267.
s L eo, Hakluyt ed., p. 263. 4 E l U fran i, p. 140. 5 lb., p. 3° 9- “ P- 25°-
seven holy men, whence it derives its name of Seb’atu
Rijal “ the [city of] seven men.” These are, in addition
to Sidi bel Abbas, the Mul’ el K ’sfir, Sidi ^ |
Sulaiman, Sidi Abd el Aziz, Sidi Kadi Aiyad,
Sidi Yusef ibn Ali, and Sidi Imam Swahili. In consequence
of the possession of their graves, Marrakesh tries to rival
Fez in sanctity, and whenever an approaching pious
Muslim sights it he adds his stone to the already formidable
way-side cairn. In 1893, in consequence of the
number of Europeans who occasionally passed that way,
the streets approaching the zawiah of Sidi Abd el Aziz
were closed to outsiders by hanging a chain across,
though for some time afterwards they continued to be
used by residents. Christian slaves were formerly admitted
even to the Kubbat es-Shorfa, where many of the Sa’adi
dynasty lie buried.1
With the exception of the palace and the mosques
mentioned, Marrakesh boasts few architectural features,
excep1 t the handsome portals of the kaisariyah i Av-rh 1 fprtiJYa/.
and one or two of the many fandaks and
several well-designed fountains, notably one
surmounted by a carved wooden cornice, and called
from its beauty Shrab 00 Shuf— “ Drink and Look.”
The best houses have to be reached by foul blind alleys
strewn with garbage and dead cats, winding in the darkness
under rooms which have been thrown across them,
designedly treacherous to all who do not know them
well.
Very little paving is seen, even in the best streets,
which are fairly level, and wide for Morocco, terribly
dusty in summer and fearful in winter. Many streets
in the busiest quarters are covered over with
stakes and matting or vines, and here the concourse is
very great during the daytime. The quantity of sweet
. , I C h a r a n t . . . . I •.