The salsabil

In places where there was not enough pressure to permit the water to spout out of the fountainhead, architects frequently replaced the fountain with the salsabil. The salsabil is a marble plate, decorated with wavy patterns suggestive of water and wind, which is placed against the wall inside a niche on the opposite side of the iwãn or sitting space. It is placed at an angle, as shown in figure 82, to permit the water to trickle over the surface, thus facilitating evaporation and increasing the humidity of the surrounding air. The water then flows into a marble channel until it reaches the fountain in the middle of the dur-qã'a. The salsabil can be interpreted as a transposition of the fountainhead placed outside the fountain, which shows mental flexibility and freedom of inventiveness in design. It allows the architect to use his creativity and sensitivity in expressing his feelings through architecture. Of the two examples in figures 83 and 84, one can say that they provide tangible proof of Goethe's statement that "architecture is frozen music."