 The marble paved central courtyard was added between 1009 and 1010 . The arcades that surround the courtyard have keel shaped arches with stucco inscriptions . The arches were built during the reign of al @-@ Hafiz li @-@ Din Allah . The stucco ornaments also date to his rule and were redone in 1891 . Two types of ornaments are used . The first appears above the center of the arch and consists of a sunken roundel and twenty @-@ four lobes . A circular band of vegetal motifs was added in 1893 . The second ornament used , which alternates with the first appearing in between each arch , consists of shallow niches below a fluted hood . The hood rests on engaged columns which are surrounded by band of Qu 'ranic writing in Kufic script . The Qu 'ranic script was added after the rule of al @-@ Hafiz but during the Fatimid period . The walls are topped by a star shaped band with tiered triangular crenellations . The southeastern arcade of the courtyard contains the main entrance to the prayer hall . A Persian framing gate , in which the central arch of the arcade is further in with a higher rectangular pattern above it , opens into the prayer hall . 
