“The mosque first meets the eye, preceding the palace. And as we approach, it is Stamboul indeed — for me dear old Stamboul — which is called to mind; there is nothing, whether in the lines of its architecture or in the details of its ornamentation, to suggest the art of the Arabs — a purer art it may be than this and of which many excellent examples may be seen in Cairo. No; it is a corner of Turkey into which we have suddenly come.”
This was the most appropriate passage that I could quote, as I was sitting across Ahmed Fawzi, an Egyptian artist.
