Summary

Najd is the elevated region of Arabia facing the Hijaz. In Sifat Jazirat al-Arab, al-Hamdani divides the land of the Arabs by a mountain chain running near the western coast from Ayla to Aden: the western slope is Tihama and the Hijaz, while the land rising eastward is the Najd of the Arabs and the Najd of Iraq and al-Samawa ¹.

Al-Hamdani's boundary

Al-Hamdani makes this western mountain chain the dividing line: what lies below it toward the sea is Tihama, and what rises beyond it toward the eastern Arab lands and toward the Najd of Iraq and al-Samawa is Najd; the rest of the book details its mountains, waters and landmarks ¹.

For young visitors

Najd is the raised part of Arabia, opposite the low-lying Hijaz along the sea, as the geographer al-Hamdani describes it in his book on the land of the Arabs.

Research notes

Text taken from the printed edition extracted on the harvest drive (geography/hamdani-sifat-1884), pp. 87-88; a fuller description of Najd's mountains and waters awaits review of the following pages.

Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab

The son of the caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab and Zaynab bint Maz'un; he embraced Islam young with his father and emigrated, was presented to the Prophet at Badr and Uhud and turned back as too young, and was accepted at al-Khandaq; he is one of the great narrators of hadith and was known for following the Prophet's footsteps; he died in 73 AH on the majority view, some say 74 AH.

Najd

At a glance

Summary

Al-Hamdani's boundary

Research notes

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Place

Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab