Sheikh Lutfullāh Mosque

Sheikh Lutfullāh Mosque. A building from the first half of the 17^th/11^th century, dating back to the reign of Shāh ‛Abbās I*. It is located on the eastern side of Naqsh-e Jahān* Square in Isfahan.¹
This building, which is one of the most renowned architectural masterpieces of Iran during the Safavid* era, was registered as a national heritage site of Iran in 1931/1310 under the registration number 105.²

The inscriptions on the mosque feature the dates 1603/1012 and 1619/1028. The earlier date, inscribed on the entrance portal, signifies the completion of the portal, while the later date, found on the mihrab, likely marks the completion of the entire building. The mihrab inscription* also reveals the name of the mosque’s architect, Muhammad Reza ibn ‛Ustād Ḥusayn Bannā’ Esfahānī*. Another inscription, dated 1602/1011, was once located in the basement but no longer exists.³ It is believed that construction of the mosque had commenced even earlier.

As recounted by Khūzānī Esfahānī*, a historian, in 1594/1002, Shāh ‛Abbās* summoned Sheikh Lutfullāh Meysī* (d. 1626/1035) to Isfahan from Qazvin, where he had sought refuge after fleeing Mashhad in the wake of the Uzbek invasion. The king decreed the construction of a mosque directly opposite the ‛Ālī Qāpū* Palace, intended for Sheikh Lutfullāh to imamate the Friday prayers.⁴ Shāh ‛Abbās also entrusted the supervision of the mosque’s construction to Sheikh Lutfullāh himself and allocated an annual stipend from royal endowments for his expenses.⁵ Khūzānī Esfahānī states that from the outset, the mosque was referred to as Sheikh Lutfullāh Mosque.⁶ However, the French traveler Jean Chardin* referred to the building as Masjed-e Ṣadr⁷ and Masjed-e Fatḥullāh,⁸ attributing the name Ṣadr to a scholar who lived near the mosque during the reign of Shāh Ṣafī.*⁹ These names, however, have not been found in any other primary sources and were likely cited by André Godard based on Chardin’s account.¹⁰ Despite this, these alternative names are also mentioned in the official registration records of the building.¹¹

According to some reports and as stated by Khūzānī Esfahānī, Sheikh Luṭfullāh used to lead Friday prayers in this mosque. In his treatise E‛tekāfīye, Sheikh Lutfullāh Meysī, at the end of a discussion on E‛tekāf (seclusion in mosque) and Friday prayers, as well as the place where they should be held, presents evidence of his mosque’s status as a congregational mosque. His proof is that Shāh ‛Abbās had verbally commanded him to build a congregational mosque opposite his residence, the ‛Ālī Qāpū Palace, and the royal court.

The name of Sheikh Luṭfullāh Seminary* is also mentioned in historical texts. Mullā Muhammad Zamān Tabrīzī wrote his treatise Farā’ed al-Fawā’ed: dar Aḥwāl-e Madāres va Masājed in 1710/1122 in one of the chambers of this very seminary.¹² Tabrīzī regarded it as being on par with the Neẓāmīye school among the Sunnis and listed notable figures such as Āqā Ḥusayn Kh^wānsārī* and several members of the Khātūnābādī* family among its residents. In addition to mentioning the renovation of the school under the orders of Shāh Sulṭān Ḥusayn*, Tabrīzī presents two differing accounts regarding its history. According to the first account, the school was originally founded by a person named Kh^wāja Mulk during the reign of Shāh Ṭahmāsb, and later, when Shāh ‛Abbās commissioned the construction of the mosque, he also ordered the renovation of the school and entrusted its administration, along with that of the mosque, to Sheikh Luṭfullāh. The second account traces the origins of the school/seminary back to a period preceding the Safavid era. According to this narrative, during earlier renovations, a crypt was discovered in a basement beneath one of the chambers, containing the tombstone of Avicenna* (Abū ‛Alī Sīnā).¹³

Afūshteī*, the historian, in his account of the events of 1594/1002, mentions that after Shāh ‛Abbās arrived in Isfahan, he went from the royal court to the square to inspect the infantry in the garden of Naqsh-e Jahān. He ascended to the roof of Kh^wāja Mulk Mustawfī* School, which was located opposite the Naqsh-e Jahān garden.¹⁴ This account supports the first claim made by Mullā Muhammad Zamān. When describing the mosque, the French traveler Jean Chardin also refers to a school bearing the same name and provides details about the content of some of its inscriptions.¹⁵He considers the founder of both buildings to be the same person. In any case, most of what we know about this school comes from the period after the construction of the mosque. Several manuscript copies mention “Sheikh Luṭfullāh Seminary in Isfahan” as the place of transcription. Among them is a copy of a commentary on Tashrīḥ al-Aflāk [the Explanation on the Heavens] by Sheikh Bahā’ī, dated 1666/1077, and another copy of the Persian commentary on Heyʾat-e [astronomy] Qūshchī, dated 1813/1228.¹⁶ Qūshchī is a title for Ali b. Muhammad Samarqandī (d. 1474/879). This date of transcription suggests that the school remained active at least until the early 19^th/13^th century. According to Jalāl al-Dīn Humā’ī*, a prominent scholar in the mid-20^th/13^th century, the land of the school/seminary was sold, and a large part of it was demolished to make way for the construction of Tīmche-ye [a small bazaar] of Sheikh Ḥeydar.

Humā’ī, citing the grandson of Sheikh Jamāl al-Dīn Masjedshāhī—one of the imams of Sheikh Luṭfullāh Mosque during the Qājār era—reports that when part of the school’s crypt was taken over to add an ablution chamber and a water reservoir to Sheikh Lutfullāh Mosque, the tombstone attributed to Avicenna (Abū ‘Alī Sīnā) was discovered there. Humā’ī further notes that it remains unknown what eventually happened to the tombstone.¹⁷ According to the building’s official registration records, in June 1934/ Khurdād 1313, the Department of Archaeology dismantled the mosque’s ablution chamber,¹⁸ which had caused damage to the structure. Varjāvand, citing Ḥusayn Ma‛ārefī, states that the basin in front of the mosque’s entrance was also demolished around the same time.¹⁹ It is possible that the ablution chamber dismantled during this period was the same one where Avicenna’s tombstone was reportedly found during its construction.

Sheikh Luṭfullāh Mosque, unlike the grand royal mosques, is relatively modest in scale, lacking a courtyard and minarets. Nevertheless, it exemplifies the height of Safavid architectural* refinement, characterized by its exquisite design, intricate ornamentation, and superior craftsmanship. The focal point of the building, both visually and functionally, is its elegantly adorned domed chamber, which appears to serve as the nucleus around which the other architectural elements are arranged. These additional spaces include the entrance portal facing the square, an underground prayer hall, and a corridor that connects the portal to the domed chamber.

The entrance portal and forecourt of Sheikh Luṭfullāh Mosque are positioned directly opposite the ‛Ālī Qāpū Palace. The forecourt, which serves as a recessed area from the main body of the square at the mosque’s threshold, consists of three facades. It provides access to two bazaars: the Shoemakers’ Bazaar* (Bāzār-e kafshduzhā or Bāzār-e Masjed-e Sheikh Luṭfullāh) and the Blacksmiths’ Bazaar (Bāzār-e Āhangarhā). Today, the facades of the forecourt are adorned with haft-rang (seven-color) tiles. A rectangular pool, which once stood at the center of the forecourt, is visible in photograph No. 46 from Album No. 207 of the Gulestān Palace archive, though it no longer exists. Two large monolithic stone benches flank the forecourt on either side of the entrance to the bazaar. According to photographs from the Cultural Heritage Documentation Center of Isfahan*, these benches were added during renovations around 1951/1330. The entrance portal of the mosque stands four steps above the forecourt level. The portal features intricate muqarnas (honeycomb work) ornamentation covered with mosaic tilework*. The foundation inscription of the mosque is located at the base of this muqarnas* decoration.

Beyond the entrance lies a corridor, with its walls and ceiling entirely adorned with tilework. Directly opposite the entrance door, on the other side of the corridor, stands a perforated stone window (mushabbak), marking the former entrance to the now-demolished ablution chamber and restroom of the mosque. This stone window was originally taken from the mausoleum of Safavid princes who were killed during the reign of Shāh Ṣafī and later relocated to this location.²⁰ The corridor takes a 90-degree turn beside this stone window. At the end of the passage, another 90-degree turn leads to the domed chamber, which serves as the mosque’s main covered space. The base of the domed chamber measures approximately 18 meters × 18 meters, with a height of 26.5 meters.

The wall wainscots (izārah) in the domed chamber are adorned with haft-rang (seven-color) tiles, while the upper sections feature mosaic tilework. In the decoration of this space, inscriptions play a significant role. Numerous frames and arches are encircled by inscriptions containing verses from the Qur’an, hadiths, and Arabic poetry. The drum of the dome contains sixteen perforated windows made of mosaic tiles. However, the primary source of light for this space comes from the large opening above the entrance to the domed chamber on the northern side. The entire underside of the dome is covered with mosaic tilework. The striking pattern of the dome consists of an array of medallions (turanj) arranged at intervals. As the dome ascends, the medallions gradually decrease in size and the pattern becomes more compact, culminating in the sunburst motif (shamse) at the apex of the dome. Surrounding the domed chamber on the upper level are several rooms and corridors, most of which feature brick decorative ribbed vaulting (rasmī-bandī) ceilings. Beneath the domed chamber lies an underground prayer hall with a low, plaster-coated vault supported by four robust piers. In recent decades, the wall wainscots and floor of this space have been covered with turquoise and cobalt-blue tiles. The walls of the prayer hall originally contained small windows, which have since been sealed.²¹

Based on historical photographs of the building preserved in the Gulestān Palace photo archive,²² the forecourt of Sheikh Luṭfullāh Mosque was originally covered with haft-rang (seven-color) tiles and featured two inscriptions made of mosaic tiles. According to Arbāb Esfahānī* and based on the date of his book’s composition, these tiles were removed before 1890/1308, and the frames of the forecourt were subsequently covered with plaster and adorned with simple, bold patterns.²³ This altered appearance of the forecourt is evident in a photograph taken by Friedrich Sarre (d. 1945) during the years 1897–1901/1315–1319.²⁴

According to Robert Byron’ photographs, during the 1928/1307 renovations, the plasterwork on the frames of the forecourt was renewed without recreating the previous patterns.²⁵ At the same time, several pieces of haft-rang (seven-color) tiles were installed above the arch of the entrance portal and on either side of it. The current tiles of the forecourt were created around 1951/1330, based on the designs of the existing tiles in the mosque’s underground prayer hall and the Jāme‛ ‛Abbāsī Mosque*.²⁶ Byron’s photographs and Nūrṣādeqī’s account²⁷ indicate that, prior to the 1936/1315 renovations, most parts of the inscriptions on the dome drum had fallen apart. During those renovations, along with replacing the tiles on the dome itself, several inscriptions on the drum were reconstructed, and the scroll-like inscription encircling the dome was completed by adding additional Quranic chapters to its text.

Until 1937/1316, tiles were stored in the mosque’s underground prayer hall, which were likely the original tiles from the forecourt. In that year, these tiles were installed on the wall wainscots of the prayer hall.²⁸ Godard reported that the dated inscription from 1602/1011, made of mosaic tiles, was removed from the facade in 1925–1926/1304–1305 and placed in the mihrab of the underground prayer hall.²⁹ A comparison of photographs of this inscription—one found in the Harvard University Library³⁰ and another in photograph 25 of Album 199 in the Gulestān Palace archives—indicates that the inscription was originally located on the northern side of the forecourt, above the entrance to the bazaar. In recent years, all the old tiles from the prayer hall have been removed and replaced with turquoise and cobalt-blue tiles. Additionally, the plasterwork on the ceiling has been renewed. Another significant change to the mosque involves the flooring of the domed chamber, which, until 1937/1316, was reportedly made of plaster.³¹ On March 11, 1938/Esfand 20, 1316, the newspaper Akhgar reported a visit by Reza Shah Pahlavi to the mosque, during which he ordered the flooring of the domed chamber to be covered with tiles.³²

Based on the signatures inscribed in the inscriptions, the calligrapher of the foundational inscription on the forecourt and the two internal inscriptions encircling the dome—all written in thuluth script—is identified as Ali Reza ‘Abbāsī*. According to Nasrābādī*,³³ Ali Reza ‘Abbāsī also created two nasta‛līq inscriptions featuring quatrains on either side of the forecourt, above the entrances to the Bazaar of Shoemakers and Cotton Carders. These inscriptions no longer exist, but their traces are visible in two photographs from the Gulestān Palace photo archive.³⁴ Blair speculates that the calligrapher of the external dome inscription might also be Ali Reza ‘Abbāsī.³⁵ This suggestion is based on the similarity in the layout (kursī-bandī) of the existing inscription with that of the forecourt’s inscription. As previously noted, the current state of this inscription, according to the official registration record, is the result of renovations carried out in 1936/1315.³⁶ The reconstructed sections were written by ‛Alī Musammāparast.³⁷ The calligrapher of the thuluth inscriptions on the four walls of the domed chamber is identified as Bāqer Bannā’*. However, little is known about this “Bāqer Bannā”. His name does not appear in any Safavid-era biographical records. Blair speculates, based on the handwriting style and the method of signing, that Bāqer Bannā’ might have been a student of Ali Reza‘Abbāsī.³⁸ The thuluth inscriptions on the four corners of the domed chamber do not bear a signature. Their content includes Qur’anic chapters, narrations about mosques, the call to prayer (adhān), and prayer, as well as Arabic poetry invoking the Fourteen Infallibles, including the Prophet and Zahra his daughter and twelve Shiite Imams. Hunarfar*, an expert in the study of Isfahan, attributes the poetry on the eastern and western walls to Sheikh Bahā’ī*, and that on the wall facing the mihrab and its opposite side to Sheikh Luṭfullāh.³⁹ The text and style of these inscriptions are paired and identical. One of the inscriptions in the domed chamber features Sūrat al-Jumu‛ah, which may indicate the performance of Friday prayers in this mosque.⁴⁰

/Muhammad Sadeq Ekrami/

Bibliography

In addition to the author’s observations and the documents mentioned in the text and are available in the archives of the Cultural Heritage Organization:

Arbāb Esfahānī, Muhammad-Mehdī b. Muhammad-Reza, Nesf-e Jahān fī Ta‛rīf al-Eṣfahān, edited by Manūchehr Sutūde, Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1989/1368.

Eskandar Munshī, Ālam-Ārā-ye ‛Abbāsī, edited by Iraj Afshār, Tehran: 1956/1335, 3 vols. in 2 volumes, 1964/1343, 1971/1350.

Afūshte’ī, Maḥmūd b. Hedāyatullāh, Neqāvat al-Āthār fī Zekr al-Akhyār: dar Tārīkh-e Ṣafavīyeh, edited by Ehsān Eshrāqī, Tehran: ʽElmī va Farhangī Publications, 1994/1373.

Ekrāmī, Muhammad Ṣādeq, “Shenākht-e Taghyīrāt-e Katībe-hā-ye Masjed-e Sheikh Luṭfullāh bar Asās-e Manābe‛-e Taṣvīrī” [A Study of Changes in the Inscriptions of Sheikh Luṭfullāh Mosque Based on Visual Sources], Master’s Thesis, University of Art Isfahan, 2018/1397.

Beyg-Bābāpūr, Yusuf, Ketābshenāsī-ye Dastnevesht-hā-ye Nujūm va ‛Ulūm-e Vābaste: Mujūd dar Ketābkhāne-hā-ye Īrān va Barkhī Keshvar-hā-ye Jahān [Bibliography of Manuscripts on Astronomy and Related Sciences: Available in Libraries of Iran and Some Other Countries], Tehran: Armaghān-e Tārīkh, 2015/1394.

Pāzūkī Ṭarūdī, Nāṣer, Shādmehr, Abdulkarīm, Āthār-e Sabt-Shude-ye Īrān dar Fehrest-e Āthār-e Mellī: az 24/6/1310 tā 24/6/1384 [Iran’s Registered Heritage in the National Heritage List: From 1929 to 2005], Tehran: Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization, 2005/1384.

Tabrīzī, Muhammad Zamān b. Kalb ‛Alī, Farā’ed al-Fawā’ed: dar Aḥwāl-e Madāres va Masājed, edited by Rasūl Ja‛farīyān, Tehran: Daftar-e Nashr-e Mīrās-e Maktūb, 1994/1373.

Khūzānī Esfahānī, Faḍlī Beyg, Afḍal al-Tawārīkh, vol. 3, edited by Kīyūmarth Qaraqlū, Cambridge, UK: 2015.

Rajā’ī, Abdulmahdī, Esfahān az Negāh-e Akhgar [Isfahan Through the Lens of Akhgar], Isfahan: Isfahan Municipality Cultural and Recreational Organization, 2014/1393.

Meysī, Sheikh Luṭfullāh, E‛tekāfīye, Manuscript no. 2244, Vazīrī Library, Yazd.

Naṣrābādī, Muhammad Ṭāher, Tadkere-ye Naṣrābādī: Tadkerat al-Shu‛arā, edited by Muḥsen Nājī Naṣrābādī, Tehran: Asāṭīr, 1999/1378.

Nūrṣādeqī, Ḥusayn, Eṣfahān, Tehran: Sa‛ādat Printing House, 1937/1316.

Varjāvand, Parvīz, “Negāhī be Pīshīneh-ye Ta‛mīr-e Barkhī az Banāhā-ye Tārīkhī-ye Eṣfahān: Yādī az Shādravān Ustād Ma‛ārefī Me‛mār-e Banāhā-ye Tārīkhī” [A Look at the History of Renovations of Some Historical Buildings in Isfahan: In Memory of the Late Ma‘ārefī, Architect of Historical Monuments], Hunar va Mardum, no. 175 (May 1977/1356).

Humā’ī, Jalāl al-Dīn, “Rābeṭeh-ye Ebn-e Sīnā bā Eṣfahān” [The Connection Between Avicenna and Isfahan] in Jashnāme-ye Ebn-e Sīnā, vol. 2, Tehran: Anjuman-e Āthār-e Mellī, 1955/1334.

Hunarfar, Luṭfullāh, Ganjīne-ye Āthār-e Tārīkhī-ye Eṣfahān [The Treasury of Historical Monuments of Isfahan], Isfahan: Thaqafī Bookstore, 1971/1350.

Archnet, 2024. Retrieved Dec.21, 2019, from https://archnet.org/sites/1623.

Blair, Sheila, “Inscribing the square: the Inscriptions on the Maidan-i Shah in Isfahan”, in Calligraphy and architecture in the Muslim world, ed. Mohammad Gharipour and Irvin Cemil Schick, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2013.

Chardin, Jean, Voyages du chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de l’Orient, ed. L. Lang l És, Paris, 1811.

Ferrante, Mario, “La Mosquée de Saih Lutfallah à Ispahan: relevé planimétrique”, in Travaux de restauration de monuments historiques en Iran, vol.6, ed. Giuseppe Zander, Rome: ISMEO, 1968.

Godard, André, “Masdjid-é shaikh Lutfullah”, in Athar-e iran Annales du Service Archeologique de L’Iran, vol.2, Haarlem, Netherlands : Joh. Enschedé en Zonen, 1937.

Hollis Images, 2019, Retrieved Dec. 21, 2019, from

https://images.hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/viewcomponent/L/HVD_VIAolvsite 47775?vid=HVD

Sarre, Friedrich, Denkmäler persischer Baukunst: geschichtliche Untersuchung und Aufnahme muhammedanischer Backsteinbauten in Vorderasien und Persien, Berlin, 1910

1. This article was previously published in the Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam (EWI) in Persian, vol. 28, pp. 360–364, and has been republished in the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica with minor revisions.[↩]
2. See: Pāzūkī Ṭarūdī, Shādmehr, 1384 SH/2005, p. 69.[↩]
3. Further details are provided in the continuation of the article.[↩]
4. Khūzānī Esfahānī, 2015, vol. 3, part 1, p. 146.[↩]
5. See also: Eskandar Munshī, 1392 /2013, vol. 1, p. 157.[↩]
6. Khūzānī Esfahānī, ibid[↩]
7. Mosquée de Cedre[↩]
8. Mosquée de Phatahalla[↩]
9. Chardin, 1811, vol. 7, p. 417.[↩]
10. Godard, 1937, p. 96.[↩]
11. See: Cultural Heritage Organization, Registration File for “Sheikh Luṭfullāh Mosque,” no. 105, p. 1.[↩]
12. See: Tabrīzī, 1373 SH/1994.[↩]
13. See: Tabrīzī, 1373 /1994, pp. 295–297.[↩]
14. Afūshte’ī, 1373 /1994, p. 539.[↩]
15. Chardin, 1811, vol. 7, p. 363.[↩]
16. See: Beyg-Bābāpūr, 1394 /2015, vol. 3, pp. 1743–1744, 1843, 1852.[↩]
17. See: Humāī, 1334 /1955, pp. 288–290.[↩]
18. See: Cultural Heritage Organization, ibid., p. 17.[↩]
19. Varjāvand, 1356 /1977, p. 3.[↩]
20. See: ibid., p. 3.[↩]
21. See: Ferrante, 1968, fig. 1.[↩]
22. Gulestān Palace Photo Archive, Album 168, Photo 18; Album 199, Photo 14.[↩]
23. See: Arbāb Esfahānī, 1368 /1989, pp. 66, 336.[↩]
24. See: Sarre, 1910, vol. 3, p. 46.[↩]
25. For Byron’s photographs of this building, see: Arch Net, 2019.[↩]
26. Varjāvand, 1356 /1977, pp. 4-5.[↩]
27. Nūrṣādeqī, 1316 /1937, p. 107.[↩]
28. Varjāvand, 1356 SH/1977, p. 3.[↩]
29. Godard, 1937, p. 96.[↩]
30. See: Hollis Image Collection, 2019.[↩]
31. See: Nūrṣādeqī, 1316 SH/1937, p. 107.[↩]
32. See: Rajā’ī, 1393 /2014, vol. 2, p. 773.[↩]
33. Naṣrābādī, 1378 /1999, vol. 1, p. 297.[↩]
34. Gulestān Palace Photo Archive, Album 199, Photos 14, 25.[↩]
35. Blair, 2013, p. 15.[↩]
36. See: Cultural Heritage Organization, ibid., p. 18.[↩]
37. Hunarfar, 1350 /1971, p. 406.[↩]
38. Blair, 2013, p. 18.[↩]
39. Hunarfar, 1350 SH/1971, pp. 412–415.[↩]
40. For the full text of all the inscriptions of the building and their evolution, see: Ekrāmī, 1397 SH/2018.[↩]