Page 18 - Arabian Studies (V)

8 Arabian Studies V
’1-Mu‘tadil in the east, from the small descending valleys of Harrat
al-‘Uwayrid, in the west, which was formerly known by the name
of Harrat ai-Kuraytim or Harrat Bahl.65 It inclines in a southerly direc­
tion, converging with the valley of Mitran which itself inclines west­
wards to meet with Wadi M-Jazl. This description is largely in
accord with that of al-Isfahanl who says that to the south east of
Wadi ’1-Qura lies a wide uncultivated area called ‘Mitran al-
Aswad’.66
Therefore, Wadi ’1-Qura extends over an area of about 50 km.
from Mada’in Salih, in the north to al-Badayi‘, a railway station in
the south. This area was populated by village dwellers, as Yaqut
points out: ‘Wadi ’1-Qura was a fertile valley, covered with villages
from beginning to end’. But by this time, he adds, it had become a
wasteland, its waters no longer used by anyone.67 Al-MaqdisI68
considers Qurh the fourth region of Arabia, along with al-Ahqaf,
al-Ashhar, and al-Yamamah. He lists al-Hijr, Bada Ya‘qub,Dabbah
and al-Nabk as being the towns of Qurh, and in another passage he
includes al-Suqya, and says that it is the best town of that region.
The palm trees and orchards are described as connecting al-Suqya
with Qurh, and al-‘Awnid is mentioned as being the port of Qurh.
Al-Istakhri calculated Wadi ’1-Qura as the third largest area of the
Hijaz, after Mecca and Medina.69 Yaqut includes al-Marwah in Wadi
’1-Qura70 but al-Asadl declares that al-Marwah lies to the south of
Wadi ’1-Qura at a distance of three days’ journey.71
Because of its great fame, the name of Wadi ’1-Qura triumphed
as the generic term for the area between itself and Medina. Al-
Samhudi mentions the people of Medina in his time (he died in
A.D. 1505) who referred to the region of Dhu ’1-Marwah and to the
villages which lie in the valley of Dhu Khushub as Wadi ’1-Qura,
but he adds, they possibly meant Qura ‘Uraynah72 (or Qura
‘Arabiyyah). This was also asserted by Abu ’1-Fida’73 (d. A.D.
1331) and others who wrote about the pilgrim routes of the six­
teenth century and later, such as Kibrlt al-Madani,74 al-Khiyari75
and al-NabuIsI76 etc. They locate the position of Wadi ’1-Qura in
the region which was occupied by the village of Dhu Khushub in
which the Banu Umayyah lived after their expulsion from Medina.
Even Philby calls this place Wadi ’1-Qura, noting it once was an
ancient Jewish settlement.77 This general disagreement and
confusion seems to account for Doughty’s reference to the whole
area from al-‘Ula to Medina as Wadi ’1-Qura.78 Whilst the name of
al-‘Ula triumphed over that of Wadi ’1-Qura, it seems that the
name of Wadi ’1-Qura began to disappear from the region at the
end of the twelfth century A.D. and Abu Shamah al-Maqdis! indi­
cates that he made the pilgrimage in the year 621/1224 by the route