This building combines strength and colossal dimensions with elegance, beauty and a variety of decoration. Its majestic portal, rising 36.7 m high, is one of the greatest in Islamic Cairene architecture. The building contains a madrasa (school) for each of the four schools of jurisprudence, accessed through a door in the corner of each of the four iwans. Each madrasa consists of a courtyard with a fountain in its centre, an iwan and floors including residential quarters for the students.