Samira'
Samira'
A principal Darb Zubayda station where pilgrims sighted the crescent moon, especially for Ramadan, and where Bedouin raids inflicted heavy losses on Hajj caravans. It lay between Fayd and al-Hajir and served as a critical water supply point.
Plan your visit
Practical information verified separately from the historical record.
Before you go: Check with the operator or a local guide before departure; field access details have not yet been verified.
Why visit?
Explore a station that reveals the security and water crises faced by medieval pilgrims, documented in raids, drought records, and crescent observations.
Samira' was a prominent Hajj station on the Darb Zubayda between Fayd and al-Hajir, about twenty-three miles from al-Hajir. Pilgrims climbed its heights to sight the crescent moon and determine the start of Hijri months, especially Ramadan. In 269 AH Bedouin raiders attacked a Hajj caravan nearby and seized about five thousand camels. In 364 AH severe water shortage forced pilgrims to turn back toward Medina.
The station included reservoirs such as Birkat al-Jufayla, Birkat al-Hasna (Harid), and Birkat Kutayfa, evidence of systematic water management in one of the route's most sensitive sections. Islamic sources record several occasions when Samira' became the point from which caravans retreated during years of drought and raiding.
Samira' offers a vivid picture of the challenges that shaped the Kufan Hajj experience: moon sightings tied to the ritual calendar, sudden Bedouin violence, and the constant struggle for water in central Arabia.