left by the šeʻibân of: al-Ǧbejl, in which there is a well of the same name; al-Bedʻ, in which there are also a well and the ruins of al-Ḳanṭara; aš-Šubejče; ad-Dijâr; al-Malaka, united with Ammu Nṣâl; al-Bedîʻ; Šwâḳ, coming from the ruins of the same name near the oasis that lies between the mountains of aṣ-Ṣâneʻ on the north and al-Hašîm on the south; al-Ḫandaḳi; al-Ḳṭân; and the šeʻîb in which are the wells of al-Mzêḥfe and Abu Salama. On the right ad-Dâma is joined by the šeʻibân of: Šagarât al-ʻArâjes; az-Zarb; aṭ-Ṭlejḥ; and the great šeʻîb of Tmarr, which begins between the mountain range of the same name and the mountains of Nûf, Nwejfât, and at-Twejme. On the right hand the šeʻîb of Tmarr receives the šeʻibân of: ʻAffân, near the Ḳârt al-Ḥamra; and Salûwa, which is joined by Farrâše, as-Slejsel,[1] Râtje and Daḥal, and by al-Ḳṭejfe, which comes from Ḫarm al-Bedarijje; while on the left hand the Tmarr šeʻîb is joined by al-Mrejṭbe, al-Ḥǧejl, and an-Namra.
Wâdi al-Aznam rises among the mountains of Mwêreb, al-Wited, and al-Wutejdât; not far from the ruins of Šaṛab[2] it is joined by the šeʻîb of al-Eṯle and farther to the west by the šeʻîb of Ziḳlâb, both of which come from the southeast.
Still farther to the southeast lie: Wâdi al-Manabb, with the branches of Sḥejjer and ʻAnḳa, proceeding from the mountains of al-Maḥâza; al-Ḳnej and al-Medhem, rising between the mountains of Ammu Rumejs and al-Ḳlûb, near the defile of Naḳb al-Ḳnej; as well as Wâdi as-Srûm,- ↑ According to Ibn Isḥâḳ (768 A.D.) (Sîra, as edit. by Ibn Hišâm [Wüstenfeld], Vol. 1, pp. 984—985; al-Bekri, op. cit., p. 780) ʻAmr ibn al-ʻÂṣ in 629—630 A.D. penetrated the territory of the Ǧuḏâm as far as the well of Silsil, from which his expedition was then called ṛazwat as-Salâsel (raid to as-Salâsel).—Our Slejsel is a diminutive of Silsil, and the spring bearing the same name is on the western slope of this valley.Al-Masʻûdi, Tanbîh (De Goeje), p. 265, writes that Ḏât as-Salâsel, from which the raid of ʻAmr ibn al-ʻÂs in 629—630 is called, is situated ten days’ march from al-Medîna to the north of the Wâdi al-Ḳura’.—As al-Masʻûdi fixes the distance between al-Medîna and Tebûk at twelve night halts (ibid., p. 270), the position of Slejsel tallies exactly with the distance of Ḏât as-Salâsel, for our Slejsel is situated nearly ninety kilometers (i. e. two days’ march) to the south-southwest of Tebûk, and the road from al-Medîna direct to Slejsel is not as troublesome as that to Tebûk. The Moslems proceeded along the old transport route from al-Medîna to Palestine and Egypt through the territory of the Beli—with whom ʻAmr was related through his mother—wishing to surprise the camps of the Beni ʻUḏra from the west.
- ↑ Aṭ-Ṭabari (died 923 A. D.). Ta’rîḫ (De Goeje), Ser. 1, p. 395, explains that the descendants of the Patriarch Jacob dwelt below the Palestinian territory of Ḥesma’ in the coast region of aš-Šaṛab, where there are many caves. Jacob was a nomad and possessed camels and sheep.—The territory of Ḥesma’ nowhere reckoned as geographically part of Palestine but always as part of the Ḥeǧâz. That aṭ-Ṭabari calls it Palestinian must be explained by the political administration which incorporated the northern Ḥeǧâz as far as latitude 27° 40’ N.—this comprising nearly the whole of the territory of Ḥesma’—into the Syrian political area of Ṣoṛar.Al-Iṣṭaḫri (951 A.D.), Masâlik (De Goeje), p. 27, writes that the Beni Merwân gave the settlement of Šaṛab as a fief to az-Zuhri, an expositor of the oral tradition (see. Ibn Saʻd [died 845 A.D.], Ṭabaḳât [Sachau], Vol. 2, Part 2, pp. 135—136) and that he was also brought up there.Jâḳût, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 302, locates Šaṛba’ in the territory of the ʻUḏra tribe. Ibn as-Sikkît relates that the place contains a pulpit (mimbar) and a market, and that in the settlement of Bada’ there is likewise a pulpit. According to others, Šaṛba’ and Bada’ are situated between al-Medîna and Ajla. The expositor az-Zuhri Muḥammed ibn Šihâb was brought up at Šaṛba’ in the Ḥeǧâz. Bada’ of the Patriarch Jacob is a day’s journey from Šaṛba’.—It is not certain whether in the thirteenth century the Beni ʻUḏra were still encamped to the west of al-Ḥeǧr. As early as the tenth century Šaṛba’, which is certainly identical with our Šaṛab, had become the property of the Beli tribe, to whom it still belongs. Az-Zuhri, the famous expositor of the law, died in 742 A. D.According to Ḥaǧǧi Ḫalfa (died 1658 A. D.), Ǧihân numa’ (Constantinople, 1145 A. H.), p. 525, Azlam (so written instead of Azlad) is a bare, salt territory, a day’s journey wide and surrounded with mountains. In it the senna plant flourishes. In the year 1504—1505 A. D. Sultan al-Malek al-Ašraf Ḳansûḥ al-Ṛawri caused the pilgrimage station, built by Sultan al-Malek an-Nâṣer Muḥammed ibn Ḳelâʻûn (1298—1308 A.D.), to be fortified and provided with a military garrison.
