The Taj was also conceived as a memorial to an extraordinary marriage. In the words of Shah Jahan's court historian Muhammad Amin Qazwini, 

'The intimacy, deep affection, attention and favour which his Majesty had for the Cradle of Excellence [another title of Mumtaz] exceeded by a thousand times what he felt for any other. And always that Lady of the Age was the companion, close confidante, associate and intimate friend of that successful ruler, in hardship and comfort, joy and grief, when travelling or in residence… The mutual affection and harmony between the two had reached a degree never seen between a husband and wife among the sultans and rulers, or among the ordinary people. And this was not merely out of sexual passion: the excellent qualities, pleasing habits, outward and inward virtues, and physical and spiritual compatability on both sides caused great love and affection, and extreme affinity and familiarity.'