Al-Sahrīj Madrasa (‘of the basin’)

Ibn Abī Zar’ wrote the first historical text on the Madrasa. He reported that in ‘AH 721 [AD 1321], the amir Abū al-Hasan ibn Abū Yūsuf ibn ‘Abd al-Haqq (May God favour them all) constructed the academy, located south of the Al-Andalus Mosque; it was built with the greatest care, and provided with a large reservoir, places for ablutions, and a cara­vanserai, which served as lodgings for the students. All these establishments drew theuir water supply from the waters of the stream outside Bāb al-Hadīd (…). The amir brought in physicians, auditors, students, and readers’. It ‘was constructed,’ he stressed, ‘perfectly, and was very beautiful and well finished. Next to this building, the amir Abū al-Hasan built a fountain, an ablutions room, and a hostel to accommodate students.’

The al-Sahrīj Madrasa lies south of the Great Al-Andalus Mosque. An oratory, three galleries, and student cells are arranged around a central courtyard. An ablutions room was located in the south-western part. The entry door flanked by a bay leading to a fountain and latrines is pierced into the western surrounding wall. The student rooms are on the first floor. The access to the madrasa is through a door fitted into the building’s axis. The latter, which lies in the western enclosure wall, is extended by a large covered passage (sabāt). Two steps lead to an almost square hall that serves two purposes: to contain the door’s two wooden flyleaves, and to provide access to the two lateral galleries, the central courtyard, and the upper floors.

The rectangular courtyard, with its basin, extends in front of the prayer room. Two galleries supported by sturdy pillars border the northern and southern sides. Hidden by wooden separating walls, like those of the Bū ‘Ināniya Madrasa, they provide access to the student rooms. The pillars rise in projection along the facades and support the blind arches. The northern face contains a large door, with two secondary bays that provide access to the oratory. On the northern face of the courtyard, a monumental bay, crowned with a muqarnas arch and flanked by two small secondary doors, opens onto the prayer room. An ablutions room, whose four sides contain lodges, is housed in the building’s southern side. On the first floor, the need for more rooms inspired an original approach to subdividing the space. In the north wing, a corridor that follows the enclosure wall leads to the rooms; on the southern side of the enclosing wall, the corridor is flanked on both sides by two rows of bedrooms. Skylights provide them with lighting and aeration.

After a modest trial in the al-Saffārīn Madrasa, with its irregular plan and unsatisfactory harmony, the foreman achieved a perfectly balanced plan. In addition, in the quest for harmonious organization and in response to various functions, a longitudinal axis was adopted that gave structure to the various sections. This was obtained through the linear disposition of the entrance doors for the building and the oratory, and by the positioning of the mihrāb. The decorations covering the facades are similar to those of the great contemporary madrasas: ceramic mosaic panels crowned with carved wood and stucco; the floor and the basin are covered in small polychrome ceramic tiles with a geometric design. The architectural programme begin here would be perfected and harmonized in later buildings like the Tāsfiniya Madrasa of Tlemcen (1327) and the Bū ‘Ināniya Madrasa in Fez.