of the
quadrangle, for, magnificent as it is there, it certainly does not
harmonize with the mosque viewed from the quadrangle. This mighty
portal, 176 feet in height from the roadway, is a landmark for miles
around. From the top of it the Taj, twenty-five miles away, and the
distant Fort of Bharatpur are visible.

There are three doors recessed in the immense alcove on the front
of the gate. One is the horseshoe door, so called from the numerous
votive offerings of owners of sick horses, donkeys, and bullocks,
which were nailed on in the hope of obtaining the favour of the
saint. The doorway on the right of this has the following inscription
carved over it in Arabic:--

"His Majesty, King of kings, Heaven of the Court, Shadow of God,
Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, Emperor. He conquered the kingdom of
the South and Dandes, which was formerly called Khandes, in the 46th
Divine year [_i.e._ of his reign] corresponding to the Hijira year,
1010 [A.D. 1602]. Having reached Fatehpur, he proceeded to Agra. Said
Jesus, on whom be peace! The world is a bridge, pass over it, but build
no house there. He who hopeth for an hour, may hope for eternity; the
world is but an hour, spend it in devotion; the rest is worth nothing,"

Over the left doorway is the following:--

"He that standeth up in prayer, and his heart is not in it, does not
draw nigh to God, but remaineth far from Him. Thy best possession is
what thou givest in the name of God; thy best traffic is selling this
world for the next."

Akbar himself died four years after this great sermon in stone was
written.

The Stone-Cutters' Mosque.

At the back of the great mosque is a graveyard containing the tomb of
an infant son of Sheikh Salim. The legend concerning him is, that at
the age of six months he addressed his father, telling him that all
of Akbar's children must die in infancy, unless some child died for
them. He therefore had resolved to sacrifice himself for the Emperor's
sake, and immediately after this miraculous speech he died. Jahangir
was born nine months afterwards. Sceptics have suggested that he was
really a son of the Sheikh, substituted for a still-born child of
Mariam Zamani.

Some distance beyond this tomb there is a small mosque, built in honour
of the saint by the quarrymen of Fatehpur, before he had attracted
the notice of the great Emperor. It is called the Stone-Cutters'
Mosque, and is supposed to have been erected on the site of the
cav