Description
Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province, Afghanistan: semi-dome outside the main entrance to the Shrine of Ali (Hazrat Ali Mazar) - also known as the Blue Mosque or Rauza, considered the burial place of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law of Muhammad, the first Imam of the Shiites - Frescoes with calligraphy and floral motives. At the center the Basmala (Arabic بسملة ), an Arabic invocation formula which, with one exception, appears at the beginning of 113 surahs in Koran (out of a total 114). It is:بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم/ bismi ʾllāhi ʾr-raḥmāni ʾr-raḥīmi / 'In the name of the merciful and gracious God'.