The Riyadh I saw

There are handicraft salesmen, who astonish you with the things they make as you walk around — from prayer beads (Misbaha) made of ancient stones to headbands made of goat wool, cotton, and silk threads, and many other goods. 

You see them making all of these products by hand in front of the wooden doors of the old shops, and with tools that are still used to this day, within the framework of heritage, tourism, history, originality, and culture.

I must point out another attractive area in that open square near Al-Masmak and the market. 

Antique collector paradise

It is a place where you see countless scattered tools —related to cooking, carpentry, and construction — visibly arranged on a huge table. These rare tools that were used decades ago, spark the interest of antique enthusiasts and collectors passing by.

And because those people collect antiques, they have turned designated rooms and parts of their homes into "museums" where they display their belongings among their furniture — in facades and corners.

Haraj is also noteworthy in the old market. It is an auction where they sell "Dallah", the antique copper and gold-coloured coffee pots. This independent auction was run by an auctioneer, and what a talented man he was!  

He loudly sounded off the characteristics and the prices of the pots for the entire market to hear. He also enclosed some short proverbs and verses of poetry, which he chanted in front of the seated collectors and merchants.

This atmosphere is like nothing else in the land of Najd, which is one of the regions of the peninsula that was home to Banu Tamim, Asad, Jadis, and Tai, the tribes who lived there in the first millennium BC. 

Most of them are related to Abraham Al-Khalil, and they passed through many religions from paganism to Judaism and Hanif. This region is formed with an unlimited visual wealth that lies on top of the sands, hills, mountains, and valleys of Riyadh, Hail, and Qassim.

It is obvious how the tourists get astonished when they visit this historic home. They are astonished by its linguistic civilisation, traditions — that were once laws — and customs that shaped the behaviour of the authentic Arabs, who were affected by the climate hardships and their love of poetry. 
 

Every modern city in the world has an old, ancient city in its heart, and you haven't travelled until you have passed through it and its heritage and until you have observed the pure meaning of the first creation.

The auction was also in the middle of a square exposed to light.  

It was full of first-edition magazines and wrapped decades-old Arabic newspapers with headlines about the great war, which once occupied people's hearts but is now old and forgotten.

Regardless of the news they included, they were considered documents, which sellers hawked for people to read and buy.

Rich linguistic heritage

Najd is known for the linguistic, poetry, beauty, and creative geniuses it introduced to the world since ancient times. 

A'sha Qais, who wrote "Al-A'sha Ode", one of the ten famous "Mu'allaqat" (long odes that were hung on the door of Kaaba), was born in Riyadh in 570 AD. This means he was born before Islam, which he realised and did not profess. 

He was born in an urban village in Wadi Hanifa called "Manfouhat al-Yamamah", where he lived and died, and which is now one of the neighbourhoods of Riyadh. 

The Kingdom's government gave the name "Al-A'sha" to one of Najd's streets, in memory of him and his ode, which began with a touching verse to a lover bidding farewell to a woman he loves called Huraira, who was pampered among her people:

Bid farewell to Huraira, as her convoy is leaving
Oh, poor man! Can you really endure the separation?

Al-A'sha's ode is linguistically very useful, as he used Najdi vocabulary that is no longer used today, such as "Al-Waji", which means a person who does not wear anything on his feet; "Nashar", which means the good smell, and "Al-Djan", which means the heavy rain that falls on the ground in abundance.

New city

My trip to Riyadh also included a visit to the new city, where I saw the features of the new architecture in the concrete towers. 

I climbed to the top of the Faisaliah Tower to see the two characters of Riyadh: the Horizontal Riyadh, which consists of Arabic houses with trees, neighbourhoods, libraries, and services; and the modern city, with its towers, economy, savings, and treasuries.

In the end, Najd remains as Ibn Manzur described it in "Lisan al-Arab" when he spoke about its position in the world:

"An area between Najd and Tihama, that has the characteristics of both. And Najd is a special name given to the area beyond the Hijaz towards Iraq."