Columns
External Columns: The arcades of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque are flanking by thousands of columns, which are made of white marble panels, inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli, red agate, amethyst, abalone shell and nacre. Their overall design has been inspired from a valued tree throughout Arabia, the date palm. From the golden capitals (anodized aluminum colored with golden color) which are in the shape of a palm treetop.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has 1096 columns around the arcade. Each piece was hand-carved and inlaid by craftsmen here on site and they used a special inlay technique called “Pietra Dura” which began firstly in Italy 16th century and reached Mughals in the early 17th century, and perhaps the most exquisite example is the columns of “Taj Mahal” in India.
Internal Columns: 96 columns stand in groups of four contribute to the structural support for the three main domes. The columns in the main prayer hall are clad with white pure marble inlaid with mother-of-pearl vines. This work was completed mainly by hand in Dongguan (Pronounced: Tung-kwan) ,China.