Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/468

 marble turret, and the whole is surrounded by a screen of the most exquisitely carved fretwork in white marble. This terrace is entirely open to the winds and the sun, having no roof. The cenotaph in the centre is of white marble, beautifully carved in flowers; and inscribed in Persian characters are the "Now Nubbey Nām," the ninety-nine names or attributes of the Deity, from the Kur'ān. "Verily there are ninety-nine names of God; whoever remembers them shall enter into Paradise." At the head of the monument is inscribed "Allāhu Akbar!" carved in the Persian character; the whole is covered by a wretched chhappar or awning, which the old Muhammadan, who was in attendance, informed me was to protect the "words of God" from the rain; had he not told me this, I should have thought it was intended to protect the tomb from the weather.

A chiraghdānee (the place of a lamp), of white marble, finely carved, stands at the head of the grave. It is a tomb worthy of him who reposes beneath it. The unfortunate Emperors of Delhi! shadows of royalty! well may they look at the tomb of Akbar, and exclaim, "My dead are better than your living ."

The lower verandah of this building is immense; you may judge of its capacity, when I mention, it was once used as a barrack, and held a whole regiment of dragoons! Ten of the arches contain tombs; in one of them are two monuments of carved white marble; on the larger of the two is this inscription in Persian,—"This is the grave of Arām Banū." The tomb of the infant daughter, Asalut Banū, is at the side, which is of plain, undecorated marble; on the top of it is a hollow space, which used to be filled with milk. The followers of the prophet make a difference in the architecture of a tomb for a man or woman: on the slab of a man's tomb a portion is raised and finished with stone, on which there is often an inscription; the tomb of a woman is hollowed out at the top some few inches in depth, to receive earth, in which flowers are planted; and, for the water to run off, there is a small hole at the end. The first archway on the left contains the grave of Shuker Nisa Begam,