From this point we can admire the effect of the exquisite inlaid decoration, fine and precious as the embroidery on the raiment of Mumtaz herself.  At the end of the main terrace we reach the steps leading up to the great platform on which the Taj and its minarets, “four tall court ladies tending their Princess,” are raised.

Let us reverently enter the central chamber, where Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan, her lord and lover, lie.  Fergusson has truly said, no words can express its chastened beauty seen in the soft gloom of the subdued light coming from the distant and half-closed openings.  The screen of marble tracery which surrounds the tombs is in itself a masterpiece.  Even with all the artistic resources which Shah Jahan had at his command, it was a work of ten years.  Mumtaz Mahal lies in the centre.  The white marble of her tomb blossoms with a never-fading garden of Persian flowers, which the magic of the Mogul artists has created.

The inscription on it is as follows:  “The illustrious sepulchre of Arjumand Banu Begam, called Mumtaz Mahal.  Died in 1040 A.H.” (1630 A.D.).

At the head of the tomb is the line:  “He is the everlasting:  He is sufficient;” and the following passage from the Koran:  “God is He, besides whom there is no God.  He knoweth what is concealed and what is manifest.  He is merciful and compassionate.”

On one side of it:  “Nearer unto God are those who say ’Our Lord is God.’”

The inscription in the tomb of Shah Jahan is as follows:  “The illustrious sepulchre and sacred resting-place of His Most Exalted Majesty dignified as Razwan (the guardian of Paradise), having his abode in Paradise, and his dwelling in the starry heaven, inhabitant of the regions of bliss, the second lord of the Qiran, [12] Shah Jahan, the king valiant.  May his tomb ever flourish; and may his abode be in the heavens.  He travelled from this transitory world to the world of eternity on the night of the 28th of the month of Rajab, 1076 A.H.” (1666 A.D.).

The real cenotaphs containing the remains of Shah Jahan and his wife are immediately under these tombs, in the vault below.  Not the least of the wonders of this wonderful building is in its acoustic qualities.  It does not respond to vulgar noises, but if a few notes be slowly and softly sung in this vault, and especially if the chord of the seventh be sounded; they are caught up by the echoes of the roof and repeated in endless harmonies, which seem to those listening above as if a celestial choir were chanting angelic hymns.  “It haunts the air above and around; it distils in showers upon the polished marble; it rises, it falls....  It is the very element with which sweet dreams are builded.  It is the spirit of the Taj, the voice of inspired love!”

Surrounding the central chamber are eight smaller ones for the mullahs who chanted the Koran and for musicians who played soft Indian and Persian melodies.  The vault below was only opened once a year, on the anniversary day, when the Emperor and all his court attended a solemn festival.  Even on ordinary occasions none but Muhammadans were admitted into the interior.  Bernier tells us that he had not seen it, on that account, but he understood that nothing could be conceived more rich and magnificent.