The Masjid al Aksâ (the Further Mosque with the Haram Area) lies at the south-eastern corner of the Holy City. The stones of the foundations of the Haram Ara wall, which were laid by David, are ten ells, or a little less, in length. They are chiselled (or drafted), finely face, and jointed, and of hardest material. On these the Khalif 'Abd al Malik subsequently built, using smaller but well-shaped stones, and battlements are added above. This Mosque is even more beautiful than that of Damascus, for during the building of it they had for a rival and as a comparison the great Church (of the holy Sepulchre) belonging to the Christians at Jerusalem, and they built this to be even more magnificent than that other. But in the days of the Abbasides occurred the earthquakes, which threw down most of the Main-building (al Mughattâ, which is the Aksâ Mosque); all, in fact, except that portion which is round the Mihrâb. Now when the Khalif of that day (who was Al Mahdi) obtained news of this, he inquired and learned that the sum at that time in the treasury would in no wise suffice to restore the Mosque. So he wrote to the governors of the provinces, and to all the commanders, that each should undertake the building of the colonnade. The order was carried out, and the edifice rose firmer and more substantial then ever it had been in former times. The more ancient portion remained, even like a beauty spot, in the midst of the new, and it extends as far as the limit of the marble columns; for beyond, where the columns are concrete, the later building commences. The Main-building of the Aksâ Mosque has twenty-six doors. The door (D) opposite to the Mihrâb is called the Great Brazen Gate; it is plated with brass gilt, and is so heavy that only a man strong of shoulder and of arm can turn it on its hinges. To the right hand of this (Great Gate) are seven large doors, the midmost covered with gilt plates; and after the same manner there are seven doors to the left. And further, on the eastern side (of the Aksâ), are eleven doors unornamented. Over the first-mentioned doors, fifteen in number, is a colonnade (C, C') supported on marble pillars, lately erected by 'Abd Allah ibn Tâhir.

On the right-hand side of the Court (that is along the West Wall of the Haram Area) are colonnades supported by marble pillars and pilasters; and on the back (or North Wall of the Haram Area) are colonnades vaulted in stone. The centre part of the Main-building (of the Aksâ) is covered by a mighty roof, high-pitched and gable-wise, over which rises a magnificent dome. The ceilings everywhere�except those of the colonnades at the back (along the North Wall of the Haram Area)�are covered with lea in sheets; but in these (northern)colonnades the ceillings are made of mosaics studded-in.

On the left (or east side of the Haram Area) there are no colonnades. The Main-building of the (Aksâ) Mosque does not come up to the Eastern Wall of the Haram Area, the building here, at it said, never having been completed. Of the reason for they give two accounts. The one is, that the Khalif 'Omar commanded the people to erect a building 'in the western part of the Area, as a place of prayer for Muslims;' and so they left this space (which is towards the south-eastern angle) unoccupied, in order not to go counter to his injunction. The other reason given is, that it was not found possible to extend the Main-building of the (Aksâ) Mosque as far as the south-east angle of the Area wall, lest the (great) Mihrâb, in the centre-place at the end of the Mosque, should not then have stood opposite the Rock under the Dome; and such a case was repugnant to them. But Allah alone knows the truth.