Province
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Hail
| Hail is renowned for generosity, authentic food and well preserved traditions such as the Ardah dance. It is also the birthplace of Hatim Al Tay the legendary host who is famous world wide for his gracious hospitality. |
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This is the birthplace of the Arabian Horse, a fiercely loyal animal whose courage, speed and strength over long distances embodies the ideals of Bedouin culture. |
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The rugged Shammar mountain range and fierce desert make Hail one of the most inaccessible places in the world, which has been extremely attractive to explorers and adventurers. Some of the most vivid first-hand impressions of Arabian life come from the journals of European explorers like Doughty, Palgrave, Guarmani and Lady Anne Blunt, who all received a warm welcome in Hail.
The province also hosts many museums, archaeological sites and extraordinary Paleolithic rock art which date human inhabitation here back 8,000 years.
One of Hail's most precious resources is the water which lies deep within the basalt rock. Over the centuries, the inhabitants have dug a network of wells to provide drinking water, as well as to feed vast irrigation canals that sustain extensive date palms, vegetables, fruit, and fodder for the camels, goats and sheep - the staples of the Bedouin diet.
Today there are more than 30 gardens and 25 landscaped parks in the city - including an artificial lake and 300m high waterfall. There's also a large modern sports complex with outdoor soccer and track fields and indoor courts for basketball, volleyball, handball and other sports. And these days Hail is becoming increasingly associated with the excitement of motor rallying mainly through the Hail Rally which is attracting national and regional interest.
When, towards the end of the Abbasid Caliphate, the purity of the Arab language was threatened with dilution by foreign influences, the Muslim scholars of Hail took upon themselves the responsibility for protecting and promulgating Arabic in its purest form. As a result the city became an important center of scholarship and learning. |
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Many snowboarders turn to the granular rock powder to get their summer kicks. Sandboarding, like its brothers snowboard and skateboarding, is an excellent alternative to surfing
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Hail is world famous for the quality of its Arabian Horses. There are 15 horse farms in the province, and horses are sold to other provinces in the Kingdom and internationally
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Located on the edge of the Nafud Al-Kabir Desert and on an historical trade route, Jubba is an ideal base for safari operations
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Oh how strange are the deserted campsites‚
And their long-gone inhabitants‚
And how strangely time changes all,
The camel of youth walks slowly now‚
Its once quick pace is gone.
'Qasidah' by Jarir ibn Rasheed
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While there's no doubt that Hatim al-Tai is a real man, there is a lot of romance about who he was, and about his actual acts of generosity and hospitality - but one thing is certain - he was very, very generous
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