Al-Makarr, Means The
Residence Or The Place Of Quiet; Makinat, The Firmly-Fixed, (In The
Right Faith); Al-Harim, The Sacred Or Inviolable; And, Finally,
Al-Balad, The Town, And Al-Madinah, The City By Excellence.
So an
inhabitant calls himself Al-Madani, whilst the natives of other and
less-favoured "Madinahs" affix Madini to their names.
Its titles are
Arz-Allah, Allah's Land; Arz al-Hijrah, the Land of Exile; Akkalat
al-Buldan, the Eater of Towns; and Akkalat al-Kura, the Eater of
Villages, on account of its superiority, even as Meccah is entitled Umm
al-Kura, the Mother of Villages; Bayt Rasul Allah, House of Allah's
Prophet; Jazirat alArab, Isle of the Arab; and Harim Rasul Allah, the
Sanctuary of Allah's Prophet. In books and letters it has sometimes the
title of Madinah Musharrafah, the Exalted; more often that of Madinah
Munawwarah, the Enlightened-scil. by the lamp of faith and the column
of light supposed to be based upon the Prophet's tomb. The Moslems are
not the only people who lay claim to Al-Madinah. According to some
authors-and the legend is more credible than at first sight it would
appear-the old Guebres had in Arabia and Persia seven large fire
temples, each dedicated to a planet. At "Mahdinah," as they pervert the
word, was an image of the Moon, wherefore the place was originally
called the "Religion of the Moon." These Guebres, amongst other sacred
spots, claim Meccah, where they say Saturn and the Moon were conjointly
venerated; Jerusalem, the Tomb of Ali at Najaf, that of Hosayn at
Kerbela, and others.
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