Morocco Travel Notes 6: Ali b. Yusuf Madrasa and Suveyra

February 04, 2023; Saturday, Turkey snow winter, may it come with its mercy inshallah.

Morocco is sunny during the day and a little frosty at night. After breakfast in the morning we set off to a small city called Urika, a mountainous and Berber region. We stopped by a small stream, there are women selling bread in their tiny tandoor along the road, it smells like fragrance, about 75 km but the road took a little longer because it was round trip, it would not be right to say that I was hungry, I melt when I see hot bread, am I fat for nothing. So I told Süleyman Hoca that we might as well not come here. 

When we returned to Kıyamet square, we watched a presentation on Argan oil in a spit in the ancient old city, then we were given free time. 

- Ali b. Yusuf Madrasa

We visited the madrasah of Ali b. Yusuf, the 2nd ruler of the Murabapt dynasty, and there is a mosque of the same name nearby. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTexOjSm3lQ&t=42s&ab_channel=MevlutUyanik

Both are in the mosqueu'l-fina (I think it's translated as the apocalypse with the movement of fena, bankruptcy), close to the old city. 

The work, whose foundation dates back to the period of the Murabaptids (1056 - 1147 AD), is a guide that summarizes the history of the city. Based on the notes I took, I did a scan while writing the text in Çorum. It is also said to have been built in 1346 during the rule of the Merinid family (1244-1465), during the reign of the sultan of the period, Abu'l Hasen al-Merini (M, 1297-H.351). In particular, the Sa'di Sultan Abdullah al-Galib, who reigned between 1557 and 1574, is said to have revived the original core of the city of Marrakech by building a square madrasa between 1564 and 1565. They use as evidence for this claim the inscription above the entrance of the madrasa that reads, "O you who enter, pray with all your sincerity to the Emir of the believers, the greatest of Allah's creatures, the grandson of the last of the prophets, who built me for knowledge and prayer."  

The madrasa consists of a courtyard decorated with two bronze water pools. The wings have arches carrying the rooms on the upper floor, while the south façade reveals the exquisite decorations on the mihrab of the masjid. The rooms face the courtyard and ventilation and lighting openings can be seen from the ceilings. 

If you ask why the other name is famous, the name Ali bin Yusuf was given by the Murabapt Sultan Ali b. Yusuf b. Tashfin (1106-1142). First we had a general tour and then we quickly went upstairs to record it. There were 132 student rooms here, with two corridors leading to a courtyard with a small pool. Afraid that I would delay my friends, I was so surprised that I couldn't find the stairs. 

Then we visited the mosque built by the same administrator with the same name and thanked God for allowing us to see these places. 

It is 123 meters long, 80 meters wide, the minaret is the same way and 30 meters long. 

As we were entering, friends who were not going to visit the madrasa/university, including Maryam, were leaving, and I said we'll be right back, but there was no one in the café across the street. We thought that she must have gone shopping with the others because she was the one who knew Arabic. 

- Kasr-ı Bedi': Not Finding the Palace with the Magnificent Name

Then we wanted to go to the kasrı bedi', that is, the place where Ahmad b. Mansur ez-zeheb was in charge. Brother Ahmed from Kayseri told us to slow down because we were stuffed, but we were running out of time, so we were asking and asking.  We quickly went through the narrow streets to the square again, Jamaa al-Fna, written in Latin letters. When Maryam asked to find this place, they said 'saha' and led the way. In the evening, this place is very lively. We revived a little with the juice squeezed instantly and dived into the side streets again. In a shop, a young girl gave us the directions of 'Bedi', supposedly, it is very risky to have motorcycles on the narrow streets all the time. Eventually we found the place but we were shocked because they realized it was the Kasr-e bahaiyya we had visited yesterday. We quickly went back to the famous apocalypse square because our gathering time was coming at 18:00. We watched snake charmers, monkey charmers, music genres and performers.

Then dinner was the classic Harira soup, lentils, chickpeas, noodles, spices, dates and eggs. In the morning we had suvve, or barley soup, I think this soup is milky. My main course choice was tacin, the brother of stew, a little different from the previous one, more onions, plums, green olives, raisins, hot green peppers, turmeric and many spices. 

I think we can summarize the cultural struggle here in terms of food as a competition between couscous and tajin. Kus kus kus is a food that is served every Friday in certain restaurants by those who can afford it. It is made of semolina, I think, or thin bulgur, like the kind that is used to make infertile, with meat and vegetables, but I preferred the two different types of tacin, because it tastes like a stew. 

It's salty and sweet and bitter all at the same time. Chaos is a great flavor like kosmos. And the hotel, we asked for hot water in thermos in the lobby, friends brought tea, chatting and chatting. Tomorrow is the last day, it's time, I'm leaving you Morocco, I don't have the heart to say, but it's time, we're leaving

A Town in the Atlantic Ocean: Suveyra 

On Sunday February 5th, the last day of my trip, we set off for the coastal city of Suveyra.170 km on both sides of the road is full of Argan trees, which are very famous here, a kind of olive oil, but more extensive and used in cosmetics. Goats eat them, etc. It's a long process, it's been explained before, you can look it up on the net, but what's interesting here is that they are on the top of the trees. I mean, I guess people couldn't have dug them out, but they really look like that. 

We stopped in front of one of them in the minibus, people went and took photos and I looked back, thinking there was something strange about this. We arrived in Suveyra, a cute town, it has been an important place since the Romans, the wind was very suitable for surfing. 

We visited the port and the castle built by the Portuguese on the Atlantic Ocean. Like Eminönü fishermen, coral fish was eaten there, of course I didn't eat it. 

The beach was wonderful, we walked to the sea on sand like fine flour, like silk, so that our feet could at least feel it while we were here. 

As we wandered around the bazaar with its narrow streets, it seemed that handicrafts were a bit more developed here. It reminded me of the calmness of Çandarlı, maybe that's why I liked this charming place more. The seagulls posing with their majestic stance may have also contributed to this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j6z9VP4SfQ&ab_channel=MevlutUyanik

At around 15.20, on our way back to Casablanca, we learned the news, the weather suddenly turned cold. My mother used to say "a toothache in the hand is like a dark spot on the wall", I used to hear about flight cancelations due to weather conditions on the news. The February 6-7 flights to Istanbul were canceled, so we stayed here. 

Returning back to the hotel from the airport at the time we were supposed to be on the plane was the negative aspect; I don't think we can say that continuing the day in a t-shirt because of the winter conditions in Istanbul was the good aspect, I don't think so, we felt strange. 

We went to the hotel provided by the airline company. In the morning we were shaken by the news of the big earthquake in Lebanon, Syria and the south of our country. I should say we spent most of the day following the news on the channels. We went to Casablanca square for a while, but everyone was anxious. 

At around 21 we went to the airport, the tickets had to be postponed over the internet, it was done on two phones at the same time, mine was done, they said there was no more room for Maryam. So I said I would postpone and stay; he wrote a large sum of money for the second postponement. Meryem said you go, I have enough Arabic for myself, don't worry, there were a few Turkish friends and a few Arabs with her. On Tuesday, February 8, Istanbul, snow and winter, I waited for one more day. The next day, Meryem came and we reached Çorum. Saying mercy to those who died in the earthquake, urgent healing to the injured and fortitude to the officials.