Legends of the
Dome of the Rock:
1 / THE FOUNDATION STONE AND PARADISE
"Paradise
longs for Jerusalem, And Jerusalem longs for Paradise."
The Foundation Stone is known in Arabic as el-Sakhra
-— the Rock; hence the shrine over it is called Kubbat el-Sakhra — the
Dome of the Rock. On the western facade of the Dome of the Rock is the
following Arabic inscription on a slab of porcelain: "The Rock of the
Temple — from the Garden of Eden."
The northern gate of the mosque, facing the Foundation
Stone, is named the Gate of Paradise; in Arabic Bab ej-Jinah.
A Moslem sage relates: "The Rock of the Temple is of the stones of
the Garden of Eden. At resurrection day, the Ka’aba Stone, which is in holy
Mecca, will go to the Foundation Stone in holy Jerusalem, bringing with it the
inhabitants of Mecca, and it shall become joined to the Foundation Stone. When
the Foundation Stone shall see the Ka’aba Stone approaching, it shall cry out:
'Peace be to the great guest!'".
Source:
Mujir ed-Din, Kitab a-Uns ej-Jalil be-Taarikh a-Kuds wal-Khalil, 1866.
Culled
from: Zev Vilnay: Legends of Jerusalem, Jewish Publication Society,
1973.
Return to Index of Legends of
the Dome of the Rock
Return to Cyber Library of Human
Reconstruction
Return to the Hope
Litrature and Drama
Return
to TheHOPE.org Index Page.