Before you arrived

There was greenery flanked by reddish cliffs

When you arrived, a separate vision grew.

You ordered the iron clay molded

The layered stone extracted.

You lifted walls, minarets

From the earth below

And left savage trees crowding

Stark fortifications.

Within, you hid miracles,

Developed the mathematics of symmetry

Carved truths.

You set water to exalted motion

Softened its touch on marble,

And scented the air with jasmine.

Centuries of disrepair did nothing

But increase its splendor

Imagined colors shine brighter

Pictured trees, gardens, rooms

Vivid in this monument