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1,000 years on, Darb Zubaydah still serves travelers to Makkah

Extending approximately 1,400 kilometers, Darb Zubaydah or Zubaydah Trail has facilitated Hajj pilgrimages and travel across barren deserts, exemplifying the engineering brilliance that distinguished Islamic civilization in organizing infrastructure to serve humanity.

Sunday May 25, 2025 10:17 PM, Mohammad Abdullah Faizee

Rafha: Darb Zubaydah, one of the most prominent historical roads in the Arabian Peninsula, evolved from an ancient trade route into a major Islamic-era Hajj route stretching from Kufa in Iraq through northern Saudi Arabia to Makkah, passing near Rafha in Northern Borders Region.

Extending approximately 1,400 kilometers, the road has facilitated Hajj pilgrimages and travel across barren deserts, exemplifying the engineering brilliance that distinguished Islamic civilization in organizing infrastructure to serve humanity.

Darb Zubaydah reached its peak during the era of the first Abbasid Caliphate, becoming one of the most important Hajj and trade routes of the time.

Naming of the Trail

Named after Queen Zubaydah, the grand-daughter of Caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur and wife of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, who famously financed much of its infrastructure, the road became known for its carefully planned stations, rest stops, and water collection systems.

The idea for establishing the trail came after Queen Zubaydah experienced great hardships on her journey to perform Hajj in the year 176 AH. She then ordered the construction of rest areas and ponds along the routes of valleys in a well-organized manner that helped collect rainwater, streams, and runoff within water canals.

Along its length, successive stations were established to support travelers. Ingeniously designed ponds were built in carefully selected locations and spaced at planned intervals to collect water for pilgrims.

Source of Water in Desert

In addition, deep wells were dug to provide reliable water supply. These stations also served as rest and safety points, offering essential resources that helped alleviate the hardships of traveling through the harsh desert environment.

The road was lined with flags — stone markers shaped like cones, placed at specific distances to indicate the route. These flags, constructed from stones of varying sizes, were usually erected near water sources and crossroads to guide pilgrims and travelers.

The road also featured mile markers engraved on stones to show distances, with each marker spaced approximately 12 miles (24 km) apart. Flags were typically positioned in the middle of the route and raised to make them easily visible from a distance.

These markers demonstrated the precision of the route’s organization and the carefully planned distances designed to assist pilgrims and travelers.

Engineering Features

Darb Zubaydah possesses significant historical and engineering features that require preservation and documentation.

One of the oldest route to Makkah, Zubaydah Trail not only represents an ancient means of transportation, but also demonstrates a high level of awareness in serving pilgrims and organizing desert routes.

Some of the ponds still retain pure water to this day, reflecting the quality and durability of their construction.

UNESCO World Heritage Bid

Saudi Arabia in 2022 submitted Darb Zubaydah to be included in UNESCO World Heritage List.

“The road that connected Makkah to the Iraqi cities of Kufa and Baghdad during the Abbasid period is known as the Darb Zubaydah (Zubaydah’s trail) after Zubaydah bint Jafar, wife of the Abbasid Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, who supported charitable works on the numerous stations along the trail. It was the most important hajj route during the Abbasid Caliphate, between 750 to 850 CE, a period renowned as a golden age of Muslim civilization”, UNESCO writes in introduction to Darb Zubaydah.

“The Abbasid Caliphate — which reigned over a vast empire stretching from North Africa to the western borders of China from the late 8th to early 10th centuries — acted as the decisive trigger of the development and full exploitation of the route’s potential”, UNESCO wrote.

UNESCO further highlighted how building on the Darb Zubaydah also became a means for powerful and wealthy individuals to compete in charity. Rest houses, wells and cisterns were named after their sponsors, fostering a real competition among wealthy donors.

“In the century after her death, many shelters, hostels, wells, and reservoirs on the Kufa-Makkah road were known by the name ‘Zubaydah’ or ‘Umm Ja`far’, amply indicating the extent of her constructions and renovations, and the sheer number of these stations likely explains how the whole network of roads was given her name”, UNESCO wrote.

[Mohammad Abdullah Faizee is Staff Writer at ummid.com. With inputs from Saudi Press Agency (SPA)]

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