The Mosque of al-Salih Tala’i Al-Salih built his mosque outside Badr’s walls just southwest of the Bab Zuwayla to house the relic, but that the Caliph wanted it in the palace itself, where he built a mashed for it. Accoiding 10 an inscription, however, the mosque was begun in 1160, when the head had already been in Cairo for some time. Even so the unique entrance facade, with a portico in anitis like a Persian talar. might have been designed for the building’s intended fucetion as a reliquary. Although the talar of the tomb of the seventh and ninth imams at al-Kazzamian dates only from 1519 and that of Fatima, daughter of the seventh and sister of the eighth Imam, at Qtim is probably even later, the tradition of adding talars to such shrines may \\ell have originated much earlier.
Al-Salih’s mosque was free standing on at least three sides, unlike that of al-Aqmar. It was also designed as a mu’allaqa or suspended mosque with vaulted shops across the front and sides. The salients flanking liic keel-arched portico might have been intended for minarets, though there is no evidence for this. The northwest riwaqa of the sahn opposite the sanctuary vos later addition not provided for in the original plan, where the monumental side entrances would have occupied the center arches of the northeast and south west riwaqs as they do at the Mosque of Hakim. The salients and the exterior facades of the northeast and south west riwaqs introduce a new method of articulation that was to have along future in Egypt Shallow niches frame square windows in regular succession.
