Restoration Work done on Al Aqsa Mosque in A.H. 426
Le Strange (1890:101-102) wrote the following in a discussion of Al Aqsa MosqueConsiderable damage was also done by the earthquake of the year 425 to the outer wall of the Haram Area, and an extant inscription in situ records the date of the restoration carried out here by order of the Fatimite Khalif Adh Dhahir. The text of the inscription copied from a stone in the wall of the Haram Area, is given by M. de Vogue in his magnificent work on Le Temple de Jerusalem (p. 77). He states it may still be clearly read, though in a rather dilapidated condition, on two of the battlements near the Cradle of Jesus, at the south-east Angle. The translation of this inscription is as follows :... the days of the Imam adh Dhahir li' Izaz ad Din Allah, the Commander of the Faithful ... (words illegible) ... the southern outer wall and the ... {eastern ?) outer wall ... year four hundred and twenty-five.That the Aksa Mosque was also seriously damaged at this period is proved by an inscription that was read a hundred and forty years after this date, on the ceiling of the Dome of the Aksa by ' Ali of Herat, who visited the Holy City in 1173, while the place was still in the hands of the Crusaders. This inscription is apparently no longer to be seen - at least, M. de Vogue makes no mention of it in his work. Possibly, however, it might still be discovered were careful search instituted,* for 'Ali of Herat's account is very circumstantial, as will be seen by the following translation :
The Aksa Mosque. In this Mosque is the Mihrab of the Khalif 'Omar; the Franks have not done it any damage. On the roof I read the following inscription :In the time of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful. Praise to Him who brought his servant {Muhammad) by night from the Masjid al Haram (at Makkah) to the Masjid al Aksa (at Jerusalem), on the precincts of which we invoke a blessing. May Allah give aid to His servant and vicar, 'Ali Abu-l Hasan adh Dhahir-li-Izazi-din-Allah, the Commander of the Faithful. Allah's benediction be upon Him and upon his immaculate forefathers, and upon his beneficent sons! For the restoration of this same Dome and its gilding, hath given command our illustrious and dear lord, the chosen servant of the Commander of the Faithful, and his devoted servant, Abu-l Kasim 'Ali ibn Ahmad — Allah give him aid and protection! The whole of this (restoration) was accomplished by the last day of the month Dhu-l Ka'adah, of the year 426: he who (superintended) the building of the same being 'Abd Allah ibn al Hasan of Cairo, the architect.This inscription, as well as the porticoes, says 'Ali,are all done over with mosaics of gold, and these the Franks have not touched or in any way damaged.