The Northern Ḥeǧâz/Appendix 12
APPENDIX XII
THE REGION OF ḤESMA’
As Ibn Isḥâḳ narrates (Ibn Hišâm, Sîra [Wüstenfeld], Vol. 1, pp. 975 ff.; al-Wâḳedi, Muhammed [Wellhausen], pp. 234 ff.; Jâḳût, Muʻǧam [Wüstenfeld], Vol. 1, p. 407), the Ǧuḏâm encamping in the region of Ḥesma’ in 627—628 A. D. announced through their chief Refâʻa ibn Zejd to Mohammed that they would accept Islâm, and Mohammed confirmed this by a special charter. But al-Hunejd, one of the Ǧuḏâm, and his son attacked in the valley of Šinâr a messenger of Mohammed returning from the Emperor Heraclius and robbed him. When the Ǧuḏâm, who had gone over to Islâm, heard of this, they immediately prevailed upon al-Hunejd to return the messenger his stolen property, whereupon the latter proceeded to al-Medîna. There he begged Mohammed for revenge. Mohammed equipped against the Ǧuḏâm a band of raiders under the command of Zejd ibn Ḥâreṯa. The culprit, al-Hunejd, was attacked with his clan near al-Mâḳeṣ on the border of the volcanic territory in the district of al-Awlâǧ and was murdered and robbed. In the volcanic territory close by, in the valley of Madân which runs eastward, there was encamped a clan, which had already embraced Islâm, together with Refâʻa, the chief. Hearing about the attack made by the band of Moslems upon the clan to which al-Hunejd belonged, they jumped on their horses, rode up to the Moslems, and after they had ascertained what had happened, returned in the afternoon to their camp in Madân. At night, however, they left Madân and shortly after sunset reached Refâʻa ibn Zejd at the well of Kurâʻ Rabba on the border of the volcanic territory Ḥarra Lajla. Having informed him of what had occurred, they rode with him on camels into the valley of al-Medîna, which they reached after three nights, and reported the matter to the Prophet. Mohammed gave orders that the Ǧuḏâm who had been captured should be released, and sent ʻAli with Refâʻa to meet the returning raiders. These they encountered in the valley of al-Falḥatejn, and the Ǧuḏâm regained everything which had been taken from them.—
Through the territory of the Ǧuḏâm there are three roads leading from Syria: one by way of Ajla along the western border of the chain of granite mountains into Wâdi al-Ǧizel; the second by way of Maʻân, Tebûk, and al-Ḥeǧr; and the third by way of al-Azraḳ, Tejma, and Bird into the volcanic territory Ḥarra Lajla and thence to al-Medîna. As may be inferred from various details, the messenger traveled by the first road. Thus from Palestine he reached Ajla and from there entered the valley of Šinâr, or, as Jâḳût writes, Šinân, where he was attacked and robbed.
Between the attack on the messenger and the punitive expedition of the Moslems certainly no considerable time elapsed. The punitive expedition was directed mainly against the culprit al-Hunejd and was prepared with very great caution. Al-Hunejd must have expected that the Prophet would avenge the humiliation inflicted upon his messenger, and he therefore transferred his camp from the place where he had attacked the messenger, and which was therefore familiar to the latter, to al-Mâḳeṣ on the border of the volcanic territory in the region of al-Awlâǧ. Jâḳût writes that, according to Ibn Isḥâḳ, the Moslem troops attacked al-Hunejd at al-Mâḳeṣ on the border of the volcanic territory of ar-Raǧla, but Ibn Isḥâḳ merely says that the Moslems attacked al-Hunejd at al-Mâḳeṣ on the border, or in front of, the volcanic territory. Neither he nor Ibn Hišâm connects al-Mâḳeṣ with Ḥarrat ar-Raǧla, Jâḳût adding “ar-Raǧla” on his own account and, as it seems, incorrectly. The whole context points rather to the volcanic territory of Lajla than to that of ar-Raǧla. For the Ǧuḏâm, who accepted Islâm, must have been encamped very near to al-Hunejd, if on horseback they could reach the end of the valley of Madân, in which the Moslems of al-Medîna were resting, and return to their camp in the afternoon of the same day. From there, traveling on camels, in a single night they reached the camp of their chief Refâʻa, which, as the text expressly says, was pitched on the border of the volcanic region of Lajla. All these camping places, including that of al-Hunejd as well as those of the followers of Islâm and of Refâʻa, could not have been more than sixty kilometers distant from each other or about three hundred and fifty kilometers from al-Medîna. We must locate them on the eastern border of Ḥarrat al-ʻAwêreẓ, which formed a part of Ḥarra Lajla. The volcanic territory of ar-Raǧla is nowhere mentioned among the camping places of the Ǧuḏâm tribe, for it is situated over two hundred kilometers to the north of the northernmost frontier of their territory. All oral tradition regards this raid as having been directed against the Ǧuḏâm in Ḥesma’, and Ḥarrat ar-Raǧla lies more than three hundred kilometers to the northeast of Ḥesma’, whereas Ḥarra Lajla borders on the region of Ḥesma’. In the volcanic territory of Ḥarra Lajla and to the east of it were encamped the Beni ʻUḏra, and it is conceivable that the Moslem band was led by a man of this tribe. According to Ibn Isḥâḳ the subjects of Refâʻa pitched their tents in the valley of Madân, which runs eastward from the volcanic territory; but in the whole of the volcanic territory of ar-Raǧla there is not a single valley extending toward the east. From all this it follows that the word ar-Raǧla was incorrectly inserted into the account of the expedition against the Ǧuḏâm. We are therefore concerned only with that part of the volcanic territory of Lajla which borders on Ḥesma’. It seems, however, that during the raid Zejd ibn Ḥâreṯa did not enter the actual region of Ḥesma’ and that his expedition has therefore been erroneously connected with that region.
Wellhausen explains the passage in al-Wâḳedi (op. cit., p. 235, note 5) by saying that Zejd arrived with five hundred warriors from al-Awlâǧ and at dawn attacked in ar-Raǧla the united tribes of the Ǧuḏâm, Ṛaṭafân, Wâjel, Salâmât, and Bahra’, who were all present when Refâʻa returned with the charter from the Prophet.—But the tribes of the Ṛaṭafân, Wâjel, Salâmât, and Bahra’ did not belong to the Ǧuḏâm, and it is not stated in the text that Zejd ibn Ḥâreṯa attacked them in Ḥarrat ar-Raǧla.
Caetani, Annali, Vol. 1, p. 627, also writes that Zejd, having passed al-Awlâǧ, surprised the Ǧuḏâm assembled at ar-Raǧla.—No Arabic author asserts that the Ǧuḏâm were assembled at ar-Raǧla.
Al-Hamdâni, Ṣifa (Müller), Vol. 1, p. 129, says that Ḥesma’ extends between the territories of the Fezâra and Ǧuḏâm tribes on the border of Syria and that the well-known camping place of Iram is situated there.—The encampments of the Fezâra were to the southeast of the region of Ḥesma’ and the territory of the Ǧuḏâm. As Iram, or the modern Ramm, is located in the region of Ḥesma’, the latter must have extended as far as the aš-Šera’ range, which, according to the natives, forms its northern and northeastern border even today.
In another passage (ibid., p. 179) al-Hamdâni refers to the settlement of az-Zihjawṭ on the Syrian border between the Ǧuḏâm and Kalb tribes, as well as to the valley of al-Ajm and the region of Ḥesma’.
In several manuscripts of Ḥassân ibn Ṯâbet’s Dîwân (Tunis, 1281 A. H.), p. 28, we read az-Zihjawṭ instead of al-Marrût, which is unknown to the Arabic geographers. In the ancient territory of the Ǧuḏâm, however, is the place now known as az-Zihed, a name which recalls Zihjawṭ. According to Jâḳût, Muʻǧam (Wüstenfeld), Vol. 1, p. 425, al-Ajm is said to be a black hill in the territory of the Beni ʻAbs in the valley of ar-Rumma’ and therefore several hundred kilometers from the frontiers of Syria and the Ǧuḏâm. Where al-Hamdâni simply inserts extracts from the ancient poets, it is very difficult to determine the situation of the different localities, because he often connects places which in reality are situated at a great distance from each other.
Al-Bekri, Muʻǧam (Wüstenfeld), p. 295, states that Ḥesma’ is a place in the Ǧuḏâm territory where the remains of water from the Flood have been preserved. He quotes the poet ʻAntara, who urges the Fezâra encamping in Ḥesma’ to pay heed to the smoke ascending as a warning sign from the volcano of al-ʻAlanda before their camp. Al-Bekri recalls that smoke was perpetually ascending from the hill of al-ʻAlanda.—
This active volcano could not have been very far from the camping place of the ʻUḏra tribe and must therefore be located in the southeastern part of the volcanic territory of Lajla. Why water from the Flood should have been preserved precisely in the region of Ḥesma’ is not clear, for the water of the numerous wells there is in no way different from the water of the neighboring territories.
Al-Maḳrîzi (Sulûk [Quatremère’s transl.], Vol. 1, pp. 61 f.) writes that in July of the year 1256 A. D. there was a great volcanic eruption to the east of al-Medîna in the district of the Šaẓa valley opposite Mount Ohod. The stream of lava was four parasangs long, four miles broad, and one and one half cubits thick. The flames could be seen as far as the environs of Boṣra’ in the Ḥawrân.
Al-Aḥḳâf, where the clan of ʻÂd dwelt, is identified by al-Bekri, op. cit., p. 76, with a mountain range in Syria or with isolated rocks in Ḥesma’.—The name Aḥḳâf (Ḥaḳâf) has been preserved to the southwest of al-Bedʻ (Madian).
Jâḳût, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 267 f., calls Ḥesma’ a region in the Syrian desert two nights distant from Wâdi al-Ḳura’. From Tebûk one can see the hills of Ḥesma’ in the west and Šarawra in the east. Ḥesma’ is said to be an extensive rough area near Ajla, containing bad water and belonging to the Ǧuḏâm. According to Ibn as-Sikkît as quoted by Jâḳût, the Ǧuḏâm own the mountain range and the area between the borders of the Tîh beni Isrâʻîl near Ajla and the territory of the Beni ʻUḏra in Ḥarra Nuhejl, the name of their district being Ḥesma’. In the wells of Ḥesma’, it is said, water has been preserved from the Flood and that is why the water of these wells is so bad. In the tradition concerning the escape of the poet al-Mutanabbi from Egypt, Ḥesma’ is described as region with good pastures, fine palm trees of the lîn species, and innumerable isolated rocks, the sides of which are so steep that those who try to catch a glimpse of their summits almost dislocate their necks. The summits of some of these rocks are invisible and inaccessible. As the poet an-Nâbiṛa had already stated, Ḥesma’ is perpetually swathed in clouds of dust. Only those who have seen it can really form an idea of what it is like, for in the whole world there is no other region which resembles it. Among the mountains of Ḥesma’ should be mentioned the huge and lofty Mount Iram, on which, according to the surmise of the nomads, grapevines and pine trees grow. According to the tradition of Abu Hurejra, the Prophet designated with the word as-Sunbuk that part of Ḥesma’ belonging to the Ǧuḏâm. In the opinion of several Arabic writers, Allâh, at the request of the Believers in Ḥesma’, caused springs to gush forth at Iram, al-Bedîʻa, Naʻmân, and ʻAlalân.—
From the southern extremity of the region of Ḥesma’ to the actual Wâdi al-Ḳura’ it is over two hundred kilometers, but to the beginning of Wâdi al-Ǧizel, which is likewise reckoned as tributary to Wâdi al-Ḳura’, it is only seventy kilometers. Jâḳût includes this region in Syria, because Tebûk, and accordingly also the greater part of Ḥesma’, used to belong to the political area of Ṣoṛar—Ṣoṛar being at the southern end of the Dead Sea. From Tebûk the peaks of Ḥesma’ rise up to the west and northwest; Šarôra’, however, is seen not to the east, as stated by Jâḳût, but to the northeast. According to Ibn as-Sikkît, it would seem that the eastern edge of al-ʻAraba opposite the harbor of Ajla belonged to Ḥesma’, while the western belonged to the desert of Tîh beni Isrâʻîl.
The Ḥarra Nuhejl, which Ibn as-Sikkît mentions, is unknown to me. Wüstenfeld writes in a note (Jâḳût, Muʻǧam, Vol. 5, p. 152) that Nuhejl nowhere occurs in Arabic literature and that it should probably be Nihja, which is referred to by the poet al-Mutanabbi on his journey from Egypt to Irak (ʻErâḳ). Al-Mutanabbi, however, nowhere mentions Nihja on this journey but refers to it in describing the expedition of Sejfaddawle against the nomads; and this Nihja is not situated in the proximity of the region of Ḥesma’ but to the southwest of Tudmor (Palmyra). The encampments of the Beni ʻUḏra were in the neighborhood of al-Ḥeǧr and thus on the eastern edge of Ḥarrat al-ʻAwêreẓ and Ḥarrat ar-Rḥa’, so that we should locate the volcanic territory of Nuhejl in the eastern lava spurs to the northwest of al-Ḥeǧr, somewhere near the lava lake of Sâlûm. There we meet with the name Mhejr, which recalls Nhejl (Nhejr), for n at the beginning of a word is often interchanged with m, l at the end of a word being interchanged with r.
The natives of Ḥesma’ are acquainted with the lîn species of palm. This species is said to flourish particularly well in the oasis of Šarma’. Clouds of dust, or rather of sand, can be observed in the region of Ḥesma’ almost every other day. They cover the whole country, so that even on a clear day it is impossible to see beyond fifty meters. These clouds of sand are a proof of considerable erosion and of the violent winds blowing through Ḥesma’. In consequence of erosion, the rocky soil of Ḥesma’ had been rendered as smooth as a horse’s hoof, and that is why the commentators on the oral tradition call it as-Sunbuk (fore part of a horse’s hoof).
On Mount Iram, or the modern Ramm, grapevines and pine trees would thrive even now, but I have never seen any pine trees to the south of ʻAmmân. The spring of al-Bedîʻa mentioned by Ibn as-Sikkît is identical with the oasis of al-Bedîʻ, which, however, is situated about thirty kilometers east of the southwestern extremity of Ḥesma’ proper. The well of Naʻmân I locate in the modern an-Naʻemi on the south-western border of Ḥesma’, while ʻAlalân is probably the famous camping place of ʻAlaḳân provided with the water of al-ʻElli, a name which recalls ʻAlalân.