There were several of these clocks around the mosque. All six prayers of the day are listed in the petals, and in the center is the date according to both the Gregorian and Hijri calendars as well as a clock. The names were changing between Arabic and English, so it was hard to time the shot. I’ve never seen anything like it before and found it pretty fascinating.

The Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque can accommodate up to 40,000 worshippers, has four minarets, more than 80 domes and 1,000 pillars holding it all up. The interior has elements from Turkey, Morocco and the Taj Mahal exhibited in marble, gold, semi-precious stones, crystals and ceramics. It hosts the world’s largest Persian carpet, which took 2.000 artisans two years to complete and seven gold-plated crystal chandeliers. (Summary from Lonely Planet’s “Oman, UAE & Arabian Peninsula”)