2013-12-07 
【Aiden in English】
I went to bed when Mom and I returned from Dubai International Airport and checked in at the Raffles Hotel. As my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep like a log. As Mom woke me up at dawn for the tour, I tumbled around for a while and was still half asleep. After a brief breakfast, we hopped onto a city tour bus to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. There, we would see the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the largest in the nation, where Muslims pray at least five times daily. When we arrived, my mouth dropped open like a stone. The Grand Mosque was a vast complex of architectural styles, including Arab, Persian, Mughal, and Moorish, with modern additions such as Greek marble, German lighting, Turkish ceramics, and Iranian hand-knotted entrance carpets. The entrance was a massive overhead door decorated with pictures of flowers native to the country. But that wasn't all. The doorway led to a vast courtyard with a marble floor and massive pillars with engraved flowers. I thought that looked as cool as possible, but the courtyard couldn't even be compared to the hall inside. Three tremendous crystal chandeliers hung from the domed ceiling above. It was a mix of colors that seemed to blend seamlessly with one another. If you stood under it, the crystal chandelier looked like a flower in full bloom with red petals and a green outline. On the walls were pictures of flowers and columns covered in gold. The gold appeared so bright whenever I looked at it that it stood out like a hungry wolf in a herd of sheep. I understood why building this spectacular architecture took $ 545 million over 11 years. As I walked out, I noticed a clock on the wall showing six times when Muslims would pray during the day. They must be highly dedicated to their religion because the first time Muslims had to pray was sometime around 5 a.m. Afterward, they had to pray again every two or three hours. Right there, I learned about the Prophets who sounded like the messengers of "Allah" because the Muslims believed that Allah gave signs that only the Prophet could read. In addition, all Muslims read a collection of books called the "Quran." The Quran is to the Muslims as the Bible is to the Christians. As I left the Grand Mosque, I reviewed everything I had seen that day. The one that intrigued me most was how similar being a Muslim was to being a staff member in a government with different levels. Some were more respected than others, and each person had to be promoted by someone else. When I thought of it this way, Muslims were combining traditional religion with modern life. 【紅霞譯】
待我和媽媽離開迪拜“大蟲子”國際機場入住萊佛士“堡壘”酒店之後，當務之急便是睡覺，一旦腦袋觸及枕頭，我立刻像木樁倒地昏睡過去。
天剛亮遊覽時間將近，媽媽叫醒了我，這時我睡眼惺忪，仍然處於半迷糊狀態。簡單吃罷早餐，我們乘車前往阿拉伯聯合酋長國首都阿布扎比“瞪羚之父”，重點參觀全國最大的謝赫·扎耶德“愛戴·智者”大清真寺或簡稱大清真寺，穆斯林信徒每天至少要禱告五次。
大清真寺宛如富麗堂皇的阿拉伯宮殿，不僅借鑑阿拉伯、印度、北非等穆斯林“服從”建築設計，而且還引進了希臘漢白玉、德國水晶吊燈、土耳其瓷磚、伊朗手工編織地毯等經典裝飾藝術，叫我嘖嘖稱奇；寺廟門楣雕刻着具有鄉間氣息的圖案裝飾，內側庭院大理石地面和花崗岩廊柱綻放出土生土長的各色植物，令我嘆為觀止；寺廟大廳三個調色考究的巨型水晶吊燈倒掛在圓拱形天花板下，映照得大廳絢爛多彩，使我眼花繚亂；寺廟釉瓷磚面之上，每盞燈具如同朵朵嬌艷的花蕾，誘我陶然心醉；寺廟牆壁用黃金鑲嵌的花卉華美富麗，每當我凝神注視就像餓狼竄進羊廐，讓我雙目放光。現在我終於明白，為何建造這樣雄偉的建築群需要斥資五億四千五百萬大洋、耗時11年。
大清真寺經堂里一個標有六段不同時間的鐘表格外引人注意，這是穆斯林教徒每天祈禱的標誌，在我看來他們一定虔誠執着，不然怎麼能夠堅持每早五點鐘開始禱告、隨後每隔二、三個小時還要頂禮膜拜？！
此時此地我了解到阿拉“先知”教導所有穆斯林人篤信伊斯蘭教義——《古蘭經》，而《古蘭經》堪稱伊斯蘭教的指路明燈，正如《聖經》被視為基督徒的定海神針。 離開大清真寺時我回首今天所見所聞，感觸最深的就是穆斯林人等級分明，猶如在政府部門任職的工作人員，倍受尊重的教徒社會地位也高，教徒之間彼此互相鞭策，從這個角度來說穆斯林人已將傳統宗教與現代意識兼收並蓄。
Today in History(歷史上的今天): 2010: 節日心態(Holiday Mindset)
 Panorama of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
(大清真寺全景)  Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the Largest in the Country
(全國之最)  82 Domes of 7 Different Sizes
(82個七種不同大小的圓頂)  Dome Layout & Floorplan Inspired by the Badshahi Mosque
(由巴德夏希“帝國”清真寺啟發而來的圓頂布局與平面設計)
 Outer Entrance (入口外 Entrance13)
Internal Entrancence (內入口 12-07-2013) 
Courtyard w/ Minaret (庭院與宣禮塔 12-07-2013)  The Inner Courtyard (內庭院)
 Main Prayer Hall (主經堂)
Two of the 7 Chandeliers from Faustig (德國福斯蒂格生產的水晶吊燈·七盞中的兩盞 12-07-2013) 
One of 7 Chandeliers from Faustig (德國福斯蒂格生產的水晶吊燈·七盞之三) 
One of 7 Chandeliers from Faustig (德國福斯蒂格生產的水晶吊燈·七盞之四) 
Main Axis, Aligned in the Direction of the Kaaba, Mecca (主軸線指向沙特朝拜聖地的天房) 
Qibla-Wall @ Grand Prayer Hall (大禮拜堂·朝拜牆)  Wall Clock w/ 6 Different Times for Daily Prayer
(標示六段不同祈禱時間的鐘表)  Glazed Tiles from Turkey
(來自土耳其的釉瓷 12-07-2013)
 Glazed Floor Tiles from Turkey
(來自土耳其的地面釉瓷 12-07-2013)
Speaker Pole (揚聲器杆)  The Fountains (盥洗池 12-07-2013)
 Pray Women Wearing Hijab (戴蓋頭的朝拜女人們)
 Wearing a Türban Girl (戴雙頭巾的少女)
Bus Stop (大清真寺車站)  Corniche Beach (濱海大道海灘 12-07-2013)
 Corniche Park (濱海大道公園)
Corniche Light (濱海大道路燈)
 The Village @ Zayed Heritage Center
(扎耶德遺產中心·村落 12-07-2013)
 Theatre @ Natl Museum (國家博物館·劇院 12-07-2013)
 Chairs For Abu Dhabi @ Natl Museum
(國家博物館·《阿布扎比專椅》)
 Qasr Al Watan Palace (總統府)
Nation Towers over Corniche(濱海大道上國家大廈)
 Bus Stop (汽車站)
 Aldar HQ Building (阿爾達“生命”總部大樓)
Capital Gate, the World's Furthest Leaning Tower (首都門·世上最歪的比斜塔)
 World Trade Ctr (世貿中心)
 Marina Mall Tower (遊艇碼頭購物中心塔)
 Marina Mall (遊艇碼頭購物中心)
 Shaikh Shakhboot Bin Sultan Mosque
(謝赫·沙赫布特·本·蘇丹清真寺)  Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazroui Mosque
(穆罕默德·哈拉夫·馬茲魯伊“主愛·總督·信仰”清真寺)  Sheikh Zayed Bridge (謝赫·扎耶德大橋)
 Saadiyat Beach Villas (薩迪亞特“幸福”海灘別墅)
 Yas Island New Development (亞斯“茉莉花”島開發區)
Crosslinks(相關博文): United Arab Emirates(出遊阿聯酋)
Across the Indian Ocean(穿越印度洋) 5th Grade(小學五年級) |
