He brings an architect from India, a descendent of the great Ustad Ahmad Lahori; he asks for glass domes, guldastas, brass finials, ornately cut passages, Spanish balconies, stilted arches, stone towers, Palladian windows, and marbled floors. He orders lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, has cedarwood brought in from the Atlas Mountains and Carrara marble from Italy. He has Lebanese stained-glass windows imported from Sidon. Arabic calligraphy is etched into cornices and ivory arabesque worked into column capitals. Moroccan craftsmen build Zellij mosaic floors and walls in the courtyard.
