II. - Schloss Schwetzingen

f)
The Arabic Insriptions of the
Mosque – a Manifestation
of Inter-Cultural Dialogue
The mosque and the two pavilions giving
access to the cloister, are decorated with 23 inscriptions,
not counting those consisting just
of the word allâh. 18 of them have a German
translation added; 20 are based on identifi able
Arabic originals, if not necessarily a single
source, which makes it likely that the remaining
three had authentic sources as well. Most
of the inscriptions are faulty as regards the
vowel-marks and diacritical prints, betraying
an insecure hand, not certain which “point”
belonged to which consonant. Some diacritical
markings are almost indistinguishable from
the points. 1 The lettering is based on the Turkish
nekshi, with Maghrebinian infl uences; on
the whole, the calligraphy is not conspicuously
individual. It is likely that the artist copied
the writings from a printed source. 2 The
letters are often placed separately, even when
they should be written together; probably
there were small gaps in the typeface, and the
artist copied those too. The strokes between
letters that sometimes appear in Arabic print,
have been adopted as well – the copyist may
have taken them for relevant parts of the
printed words. Another indication of a printed
model are the star-shaped marks terminating
some inscriptions. Marks like these appear in
Rostgaard’s Arabum philosophia popularis.
Five of the Schwetzingen inscriptions have
been taken from this collection, compiled
towards the end of the 17th century by Danish
archivist Friedrich Rostgaard, from the information
provided by his Arab teacher, Yaqûb
Sulaimân ad-Dimashqî (1665-1729). It was pu-
1 Only the consonants and long vowels appear in written
Arabic. Short vowels are sometimes indicated by special
marks. Some consonants are only identifi ed by the number of
points above or beneath the basic form.
2 The writing is reminiscent of the letters set by Samuel Luchtmans
and Son of Amsterdam, and used for the 1748 and 1767
editions of the Grammar of Erpenius. There are also strong
similarities to the appearance of the typeface in Rostgaard. Cp.
Fig. 1.
II. Schwetzingen – A Prince Elector’s Eighteenth-Century Summer Residence
blished in 1764 by Johan Christian Kall. 3 Eight
are from a collection of 200 sayings based on
research by Joseph Scaliger (1540-1609) and
published in 1614 at Leyden by a Dutchman,
Thomas van Erpe (1584-1624), entitled Kitâb
al-Amthâl seu proverbiorum arabicorum
centuriae duae... cum interpretatione latina &
scholiis Josephi Scaligeri et Thomae Erpenii.
The material was taken from the famous
collection of Arab philologist Abû ‘Ubaid and
other, later sources. Most of the Schwetzingen
inscriptions are from those later, post-Classical
sayings, the so-called amthâl muwallada.
Only the untranslated Arabic texts on the mo-
sque front and the eight plaques bearing the
word allâh are specifi cally religious in content,
and refer to God. The translated sayings of the
interior are vaguely ethical and rather general
in nature, and would be unlikely to meet with
opposition even from agnostics.
The plaques on the front speak of monotheism,
of the transitoriness and sinfulness of
Man, of God’s mercy and omnipotence, of
responsibilities in this life and of the duty to
praise God.
The arches of the interior hall remind readers
of the lasting value of wisdom and right
action. Eagerness to learn, moderation in
outward appearances and intellectual ambitiousness
are praised.
3 Arabum philosophia popularis, sive sylloge nova proverbiorum.
A Jacobo Salomone Damasceno dictata excepit et interpretatus
est perillustris vir Fridericus Rostgaard, edidit cum
adnotationibus nonnullis Joannes Christianus Kallius, Hafniae
1764. This Syrian Christian, also known as Salomo Negri, had
been educated at a Jesuit mission school in Damascus before
being sent to Paris. Around 1697 he had taught Arabic to
Rostgaard. Later he went to London, and he also spent a year
at Halle. Among his pupils were some of the most eminent
linguists of the day. Cp. Johann Fück, Die arabischen Studien
in Europa bis in den Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts, Leipzig
1955, p. 96.
II.
Fig. 1: Arabic text of the saying
“Without hope nothing will succeed”
from Rostgaard’s Arabum
philosophia popularis, ed. 1764
by Johan Christian Kall.
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