Layout plan
[Picture source: © 1920 Creswell] [Picture source: © 1920 Creswell] 
Figure 1: Madrasat al-Firdaws, general view from the north [Picture source: © 1979 Jean-Claude David] The madrasa building forms a massive freestanding block, giving it a very different presence than other buildings inside the urban tissue. (fig. 1) We do not know in detail the surroundings of the madrasa in the early 13th century, but we may not exclude the possibility that a small settlement, composed of simple houses, was nearby.
The visitor enters the building through an unusually high and narrow muqarnas portal on the eastern side. The muqarnas half vault is one of the most beautiful and well-balanced examples of the form. (fig. 2) (fig. 3) It consists of three muqarnas layers with small squinches in the corners. (fig. 4) (fig. 5) An unusually long inscription is not restricted to the portal alone, but runs along the entire eastern façade, including the portal (see below). (fig. 6)
The entrance leads into a rather narrow corridor, which turns left and reaches the courtyard at its northeastern corner. (fig. 7) (fig. 8) On three sides of the courtyard run arcades with pointed arches resting on columns, most with muqarnas capitals. (fig. 9) (fig. 10) Each arcade leads to one large room with three domes and three entrances on each side.
The southern room, consisting of three domed bays, is the prayer hall, with the central dome over the mihrab distinguished by squinches of three layers of muqarnas. (fig. 11) (fig. 12) The magnificent mihrab is framed by an interlaced polychrome relief, which occupies almost the whole qibla wall of the central bay. (fig. 13) (fig. 14)
This typical motif of Ayyubid architectural decoration in Aleppo resembles similar decorations– for example in the Madrasat ash-Shadhbakhtiyya, the Madrasat as-Sultaniyya, and the Mashhad al-Husayn (cf. Mashhad al-Husayn). The one in the Madrasat al-Firdaws is the last example of such decoration in the Ayyubid period and is distinguished by its size, quality of execution and its use of stones in four different colors.[1]
The center of the courtyard, which is paved with basalt and limestone in a geometrical design, is occupied by a rather large octagonal lobed basin.[2] (fig. 15) (fig. 16)
The northern side is occupied by the huge iwan. It is higher than the arcade surrounding the courtyard. (fig. 17) One very interesting aspect of the Madrasat al-Firdaws, one that is unique in Aleppo, is the double-iwan: To the north of the courtyard iwan is another one open to the exterior to the north and about a third deeper than the first one. (fig. 18)
To the east and west of the two iwans, we find two residential units. The western – more spacious – one was probably the residence of the madrasa’s professor (mudarris), along with the sanitary facilities. (fig. 19) Two corridors on both sides of the two iwans give access to the residential part and to the exterior north of the building complex. As the sources inform us, gardens were part of the madrasa, probably arranged around the building to give it a ‘paradisiac’ appearance. Sibt Ibn al-ʿAjami mentions that the building was higher in former times, and we may imagine an additional storey made of brick or wood, with upstairs windows allowing pleasant views over the gardens.[3]
