Masjid Wazir Khan

  The Masjid of Wazir Khan, the chief ornament of the city of Lahore, is an architectural monuments of surpassing beauty and elegance.  It is entirely covered with arabesque painting and lacquered tiles, and the inlaid pottery decorations and paneling of the walls are as vivid and glowing, as bright and perfect, as ever.  The panels of pottery are set in hard mortar, and the leaves and flowers, trees and goblets, which decorate the exterior of the walls, are detached pieces of pots or tile, so fitted together as to represent painted work, though they are strictly inlay.  The decorations are masterpieces of the art of painting.  They are true fresco painting, and , as observed by Mr. Thornton, the buono fresco of the Italians.  Students of the art of painting are often seen copying these decorations on the spot, as a sort of exercise, which is proof of the high skill and taste of the artists who designed the work.  The appearance of life and freshness in the variety and profusion of the coloring, as also the excellence and richness of the design, render these decorations the admiration of the spectator.   

  The style of the building is Perso-Moghal, though the founder was a native of the Punjab.  The mosque is situated on a raised platform, and is reached by a flight of steps to the east.  It is divided into dive compartments each opening upon a spacious court-yard, and surmounted by a dome, the center one, like the middle archway, being much larger and higher than the two on either side of it.  At each corner of the quadrangle is a minaret of great height, with a gallery round it, from which a minaret of great height, with a gallery round it, from which a magnificent view of the city and suburbs is obtained.  A reservoir in the middle of the court-yard of the cathedral supplies water for the ablutions of the faithful who resort to it.

Date and Foundation:-

            The mosque was founded in 1044 A.H. or 1634 A.D., by Sheikh Ilm-ud-din Ansari, son of Sheikh Abdul Latif, son of Sheikh Hisam-ud-din a native of Chiniot, in the Jhang district, who rose to the rank f Minister in the reign of Shah Jahan, receiving the command of 70000 and the title of Wazir Khan.  According to the Badshah-nama of Mulla Abdul Hamid, Lahorei, Ilm-ud-din, after learning Arabic, became the pupil of Hakim Dawi in medicine.  He entered the service of Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan), while the latter was still a prince, and became his household Diwan.  Subsequently, he became Superintendent of the royal kitchen and was afterwards created a Diwan under the Prince.  The was so much pleased with the Hakim’s devotion to duty and his superior qualifications, that, soon after ascending the throne, he raised him to the dignity of Viceroy of the Punjab.  He was the physician royal, and treated the members of the royal household with a success which tended to raise him greatly in the estimation of his royal master.

The Tomb of Syed Mahomed Ishak

            The mosque was built on the site of the tomb of Syad Mahomed Ishak, alias miran Badshah, of Gazrun, in Persia, who settled in Lahore during the time of the Tughlak dyanasty.  The tomb of this saint still exists, and is very popular among the Mahomed Ishak, alias Miran badshah, of Gazrun, in Persia, who settled in Lahore during the time of the Tughlak dynasty.  The tomb of this saint still exists, and is very popular among the Mahomedans.  From the deed of wuqf, dated Ramzan, 1051 A.H. (1641 A.D.) in possession of the Imam of this mosque, it appears that Nawab Wazir Khan, the founder of the mosque, was owner of all the shops and houses on either side of the street, from the Masjid to  the Delhi Gate, the income of which, together with that of the serae and the baths close to the Delhi Gate, he bequeathed permanently for the support of the mosque and the establishment attached to it.  The whole of this extensive property has become private estate, with the exception of the shops included in the building of the mosque.  The serae and the hammam have become Government property.  According to the will of the founder, the shops in the gateway are to this moment occupied by book-binders, and the cells inside by painters, writers, and the students attached to the mosque.

            On the gateway inside the mosque is the following inscription in large Persian characters:-

            Muhammad of Arabia is the honour of both worlds,

            He who is not the dust of his threshold, let dust be thrown over his head.

            Above the front of the gateway is inscribed the Kalima, of Mahomedan Confession of Faith:-

            The noblest of the recitals it: There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God.

            This is followed by the inscription:-

            Constructed during the reign of the valiant king, the Lord of constellation, Shah Jahan.

            The founder of this house of God is the humblest of old and faithful servants, Wazir Khan.

            On the front of the gateway are inscribed the following couplets and chronograms giving the date of the foundation of the mosque:-

            This edifice, which, like the sanctuary of heaven, is the source of bounty,

            Has, like the temple of Kaba, for its object the benefit of mankind.

            To the congregation may its gate ever remain open with prosperity until the day of resurrection!

            When I asked of Reason the date of the foundation of this magnificent mosque.

            It answered, This is the place of worship of the pious.

              The words place of worship of the pious give the Hijri year 1044.

              The above is followed by the following inscription:-

              When I asked of reason the date of its foundation,

            It answered Say the founder of this mosque is Wazir Khan.

            The words founder of this mosque is Wazir Khan give the date.  The last inscription on the gateway runs thus:-

         In the corn-field of this world, O well-conducted man,

            Whatever is sown by man, is reaped by him in the world to come.

            In your dealings, then leave a good foundation in the world.

            For all have to pave their way to heave through this gateway at last.

            The beauty of the poem is in the last ode, which most appropriately occurs at the very gateway pointing it out as the passage to salvation.

            I had the privilege of seeing the original deed of bequest of Nawab Wazir Khan, the founder of this celebrated mosque, in possession of the hereditary guardians.  It is interesting both as an ancient document, being more than 250 years old, and as a deed giving, from an original source, information as to the intentions of the founder in building the mosque and what arrangement he had himself made regarding its maintenance as a place of worship.  Qazi of Lahroe in the time of Shah Jahan, Nawab Wazir Khan, the testator, Musawi Khan, the Sadr-ul-Sadur, Mauldnd Mahomed Fazil and Maulana Mahomed Shah.  It runs as follows:- 

            And the rules above detailed have been framed by the testator himself.  Any one who attempts to make a change in them after he has once heard them, shall be deemed a transgressor.  This legacy has a binding force; and whatever I have herein written is attested as binding by the Qazi of the time, who has put his sacred seal on it in confirmation of the same. 

       Written on the first date of the holy Ramzan, in 1051 (1614 A.D.) of the sacred Hijriera.