Then comes the vestibule, where one sees almost the same inscriptions. The African characters are changed into cufic, or neskis. These are what are in the frieze:
“Happiness and prosperity are the benefits of God;” and after: “Glory to our Lord the Sultan Don Pedro, may his victories be magnificent.”
In the Court of the Damsels we find very much the same thing: “Praise to God, on account of His benefits.”
It must be remarked that, in all the inscriptions mentioned above, the word “Islamism” has been suppressed, which proves that the artists were the same Arabs who, under the Christian dominion, took advantage of the traditional formulas in effacing the religious part of the verse.
On a frieze of the same court:
“Glory to our Sultan Don Pedro, may God lend him His aid and make him victorious,” &c., &c.
Then follow a number of inscriptions of no importance, where one sees repeated: “Happiness, Praise, Grandeur; God is Unique, the Fulfilment of Hopes;” and this one, more worthy of notice, “God is Unique, He does not Beget, He was not Begotten, He has no Companion.” This inscription is also found at Granada on the Charcoal Gateway, in cufic characters, and it proves that it could not have been constructed under the Christian dominion, because it is completely contrary to the religion of Christ; and, consequently, that Don Pedro profited by the work of Yusuf as much as was possible. Amador do los Rios, the well-known savant, supposes that artists were brought from Toledo to construct this alcazar; but this is not exact, they only did the repairs and restorations.
On one of the doors, which like all the rest in this edifice has undergone many restorations, the most interesting legend is found: “The Sultan our Lord, the exalted, noble Don Pedro, King of Castile and of Leon—may God perpetuate his happiness—ordered Jalabi, his architect, to make the doors of worked wood for this magnificent portal of happiness; he ordered this in honour of the Ambassadors. Joy broke out for their construction and dazzling embellishment. The chiselings are the work of artists from Toledo, and it was done in the year of grace 1404.
“Similar to the twilight of the evening, and very similar to the light at dawn of day, this work is dazzling on account of its brilliant colours and the intensity of its splendours, from which abundance of felicity flows for the happy town where the palaces were built, and these habitations, which are for our Lord and Master, the only one who communicates life to his splendour, the pious Sultan, who is also severe, had it built in the town of Seville, with the aid of his intercessor, in honour of God.”
One sees the same inscriptions repeated in the Hall of Ambassadors, and in the room to the left one reads: