The Dome of the Rock in East Jerusalem, is the central focus on the rocky platform known to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif, the noble sanctuary. The building is not a mosque, but a shrine built over the site of the miraculous mi`raj `night journey` allegedly made by the Prophet Muhammad on his death, in AD 632. The Qur`an records that He was carried there from Mecca on a celestial steed from where He ascended into Heaven in the presence of God. When the Angel Gabriel attempted to hold the Prophet back, he left his footprint embedded in the rock before ascending into the night sky. The Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ordered the construction of the Dome of the Rock as a shrine for visiting pilgrims. On its completion in AD 691, he employed fifty-two cleaners to wash the rock with extracts of musk, ambergris and rosewater with 5000 lamps burning oil of jasmine, to further perfume the sacred site. Octagonal in shape, the building is capped by a great cupola, originally gold, now aluminium covered with gold leaf. The gleaming tiles adorning the exterior are copies of originals added by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1545. Tilework on the drum bears a description of the `Night Journey` while a 240-metre long inscription of Qur`anic verses, glorifying God, extends around the interior. Steps under the rock descend to a cave where Muslims believe the souls of the dead linger before their departure. The grotto, known as the `Well of Souls,` contains a tiny marble mihrab indicating the direction of Mecca. Ancient belief claims the dead meet here to pray twice a month.