Page:The Northern Ḥeǧâz (1926).djvu/345

 (the modern ʻAḳabat al-Ḥeǧâzijje) the escort proceeded through a bare, rocky plain, of which it is said: “He who enters it is as if lost, he who departs from it is as if new-born.” After two days the escort encamped at the halting place of Ḏât Ḥaǧǧ, where there were two shallow wells with water from below but no building. Ibn Baṭṭûṭa locates the next halting place in the waterless valley of Baldaḥ. This name is not familiar to me. The valley itself must be identical with al-Bezwa, which crosses the Pilgrim Route about fifty kilometers to the south of Ḏât al-Ḥâǧǧ. The next halting place is situated nearly forty kilometers to the south of it. Beyond Tebûk the escort reached a region even more waste than the former one and therefore marched more quickly in order to get away from it as soon as possible. The halting place of al-Uḫajḍer (al-Aḫẓar) lies in a deep valley enclosed by high slopes in places covered with lava. Ibn Baṭṭûṭa rightly compares this to a valley of hell. Through this valley the escort made its way to the large reservoir of al-Muʻaẓẓam named after a sultan of the Ayyubite family. On the fifth day after leaving Tebûk the escort reached the halting place of al-Ḥeǧr. The data given indicate that the daily marches were fifty kilometers long.

Ḥaǧǧi Ḫalfa (Ǧihân numa’, Constantinople, 1145 A. H., pp. 531, 539 f.; Musawwada, Codex Vindobonensis, 1282 [Mxt. 389], fol. 187 v.) also describes this journey. Beyond Maʻân comes the waterless halting place of Ẓahr al-ʻAḳaba, which is said also to be known as ʻAbâdân. Then come the date palms of Ṭubejlijjât not far from the settlement of Lîs; the next place reached is Ḏât Ḥaǧǧ, or Ḥaǧar, where Sultan Suleiman built a stronghold and where numerous wild palms grow in small gardens irrigated from springs. There follows the halting place of Ḳâʻ al-Busajṭ, or ʻArâ’id, situated in a sandy region not far from Mount Šarawra’. Thence Tebûk is reached. Farther south are the halting places of Moṛârat al-Ḳalenderijje near a small hill without water, Uḫajḍer, Birket al-Muʻaẓẓame, and Maṛâreš az-Zîr, or Aḳraḥ. A half day’s journey still farther to the south from the last-named rises Mount aṭ-Ṭâf, where at Mazḥam the camel of the Prophet Sâleh was killed. Thence the road leads east to Mabrak an-Nâḳa and via the halting place of al-Ḥeǧr to the settlements of the Prophet Ṣâleḥ, where there are rock dwellings and numerous springs, from which, however, no water should be drunk. The halting place of al-ʻEla’ is a half day’s journey distant from al-Ḥeǧr and is situated below Mount Anân.—

The halting place of Ẓahr al-ʻAḳaba is identical with the small stronghold of Faṣôʻa, near the slope of ʻAḳabat al-Ḥeǧâzijje. The name of ʻAbâdân is not used by the old writers for this halting place. The oasis of Ṭubejlijjât must be located at Ṣoṛar. What Ḥaǧǧi Ḫalfa means by the village of Lîs and where he locates it is not clear to me. In his Musawwada, or preliminary sketch of the Ǧihân numa’ (Codex Vindobonensis, loc. cit.) he notes Lîs in the margin and does not include it at the right place. It is possible that Lîs stands for Dîs or ad-Dîse, the name of a valley terminating near Soṛar. The basin near Soṛar could be transformed into a large oasis. Meḥmed Edîb, Menâzil (Constantinople, 1232 A. H.), p. 71, connects Lîs with Ẓahr al-ʻAḳaba and says that it is situated beyond ʻAbâdân and resembles a village. The halting place of Ḏât Ḥaǧǧ has preserved its name. Ḳâ’ al-Busajṭ, or ʻArâ’id, is identical with the halting place of al-Ḥazm, located in the flat, extensive plain of