Attiq Friday Mosque Shiraz

The most interesting and oldest of the buildings in the old town of Shiraz, is the Friday Mosque, also called the Masjid-e Attiq. Begun in 894 by the Saffarid Amr ibn-e Laith, the building has suffered the vicissitudes of earthquake, devastation and restoration, and its earlier element now visible in the curious Khoda Khaneh (House of the God) in the center of the court, added by Is'haq Inju in 1351 (and restored in mid-40s) to house copies of the blessed Koran. It was built in imitation of Ka'ba at Mecca, round which pilgrims were bound as a religious act to circumambulate seven times.
In each corner there stands a tower and on each side an ivan supported by tow pillars, forming a room in the center where a Koran is kept. On the exterior of the structure is an inscription in Thulth script, the work of the celebrated calligrapher of the period, Yahya al-Sufi aJamali. The inscription in relief is on stone and is the only one of its kind to be found in a mosque in Iran. To the south of the mosque, is a large shabestan (prayer hall) and the facade of the ivan on this side is decorated with delightful mosaic faience dating fthe reign of the Safavid Shah Soleiman (16th century).