Two great traditions of water: that of the East which likens water to love and that of the West which treats water like fire. Its tenuous, enigmatic union with architecture has been given poetic permanence in an Arabic inscription on one of the Alhambra’s fountains: “Look at the water and look at the basin, and you will not be able to tell if it is the water that is motionless or the marble which ripples. Like the prisoner of love whose face is full of trouble and fear when under the gaze of the envious, so the jealous water is indignant at the marble, and the marble is envious of the water.”
—The Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Long Pond), with its 48m long pool lined with fountains, is one of the most popular parts of the Gardens Generalife in the Alhambra, Granada.—Wiki
Its part of a long lasting passionate affair.
—The Alhambra – Arabic: literally means “the red one”; the complete name is “Qal’at al-Hambra”, which means “The red fortress”) is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish rulers of Granada in southern Spain occupying a hilly terrace on the southeastern border of the city of Granada. Once the residence of the Muslim rulers of Granada and their court, the Alhambra is now one of Spain’s major tourist attractions exhibiting the country’s most famous Islamic architecture, together with Christian 16th century and later interventions in buildings and gardens that marked its image as it can be seen today.—Read More:http://www.redbubble.com/people/ljm000/works/3644127-palace-fountain-within-the-alhambra-granada-spain
( see link at end) ……so the jealous water is indignant at the marble and the marble is envious of the water. To this inexhaustible stream we may compare the hand of our King which is as liberal and generous as the lion is strong and valiant.”
Into the basin of the Fountain of Lions fell the heads of the thirty-six Abencerrages, drawn there by the stratagem of the Zegris. The other Abencerrages would have shared the same fate if it had not been for the devotion of a little page who, at the risk of his own life, ran to warn the sur vivors from entering the fatal court. Your attention will be attracted by some large red spots at the bottom of the basin – an indelible accusation left by the victims against the cruelty of their murderers. Unfortunately, the learned declare that neither the Abencerrages nor the Zegris existed. Regarding this fact, I am entirely guided by romances, popular traditions, and Chateaubriand’s novel, and I solemnly believe that these crimson stains are blood and not rust. Read More:http://www.oldandsold.com/articles04/article1545.shtml
ADDENDUM:
(see link at end) …The Court of the Lions is characterised by its profound originality, a harmonious merging of East and West. It has been compared to a grove of 124 palm trees, most with double columns, around the oasis of the central fountain with its twelve lions. The twelve-sided marble fountain rests upon the backs of the lions. Water, so essential as a decorative element acquires here an exceptional importance. It ascends and spills from the basin, which has been compared with the ‘sea of bronze’ of Solomon’s Temple, to the mouths of the lions, from which it is distributed throughout the courtyard. A lovely “qasida” (ode) by Ibn Zamrak circles the rim of the basin.Read More:http://www.andalucia.com/cities/granada/casareal.htm
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