ways. It may be merely the watering place al-Ṛarr or al-Aṛarr in the valley of Šarma, about sixty-five kilometers southeast of al-Bedʻ (Madjan). The spelling al-Aʻar or al-Aṛarr, used by al-Jaʻḳûbi and Ḳodâma, would therefore be correct; not al-Aṛaz or al-Aʻara’. The small palm oasis of al-Ṛarr, or al-Aṛarr, is situated on the ar-Raṣîfijje road which proceeds from al-Bedʻ (Madjan) to the southeast. The next halting place is not mentioned by Ibn Ḫordâḏbeh. It must be located at the crossroads in the valley of aš-Šâr about fifty kilometers from al-Ṛarr, where, after abundant rains, much water collects and near which there are numerous springs in the adjacent mountain range of aš-Šâr. About fifty-five kilometers to the southeast of these crossroads, near the šeʻîb of Salûwa, flows the spring of al-Člêbe, which I identify with the halting place of al-Kulâba, as it is written by al-Muḳaddasi. The halting place of Šaṛab is situated on the same road about seventy kilometers from al-Člêbe; and Bada’ about sixty-five kilometers to the southeast of Šaṛab.
Al-Jaʻḳûbi, op. cit., p. 340, describes this road in much greater detail than Ibn Ḫordâḏbeh. He asserts that the city of Ajla was inhabited by people from various countries—among them being the alleged protégés of the Caliph Othman—and nearly all of these people carried on trade. An ancient cloak was exhibited there, supposed to have been the property of the Prophet.
At Ajla the pilgrims from Syria, Egypt, and northern Africa assembled (al-Iṣṭaḫri, Masâlik [De Goeje], p. 27; Ibn Ḥawḳal, Masâlik [De Goeje], p. 34) and marched through Šaraf al-Baʻl. The road to the latter halting place, which lies at a distance of about eighty kilometers from Ajla, led in a southerly direction along the seashore as far as Ḥaḳl (40 km.) and thence through the mountains southeast to the valley of al-Abjaẓ, in which are situated the ruins today known as aš-Šerâf.
At the next halting place of Madjan (al-Bedʻ) a different route was taken by the pilgrims proceeding to Mecca from that of those proceeding to al-Medîna only. The latter took the road described by Ibn Ḫordâḏbeh by way of al-Aṛarr to Kâles, as al-Jaʻḳûbi calls the next halting place, which was probably in the valley of aš-Šâr. Between Kâles and Šaṛab al-Jaʻḳûbi does not mention any halting place.
It is more difficult to define the exact direction of the coast road to Mecca. From Madjan it led to the inhabited halting place of ʻAjnûna, which has still preserved its name in the oasis fifty kilometers south of Madjan. The other halting places situated in our territory are: al-ʻAwnîd, aṣ-Ṣala’, an-Nabk, al-Ḳuṣejbe, al-Buḥra, al-Muṛajṯa, Ẓbe’, and al-Weǧh. The situation of Ẓbe’ is known for certain. This settlement is nearly one hundred and five kilometers distant from ʻAjnûna. Between these two halting places al-Jaʻḳûbi mentions six others, while between Ẓbe’ and al-Weǧh, the halting place 150 kilometers beyond Ẓbe’, he mentions not a single one. It is certain that something must be wrong with the text here. If we distribute the seven halting places between ʻAjnûna and al-Weǧh, we obtain seven marches of forty-five to fifty kilometers each, and this distance agrees with the length of the daily marches as calculated from the halting places to which al-Jaʻḳûbi refers. Ẓbe’ is then not the seventh but the second halting place from ʻAjnûna, but regarding the others al-Jaʻḳûbi gives us no clue as to where we should insert them.
