Hufaidh
Encyclopedia
Hufaidh is a mythical island in the marshes of southern Iraq
, believed to exist by the Madan
or Marsh Arabs
.
The Madan informants of the traveller Wilfred Thesiger
asserted that:
"on it are palaces, and palm trees and gardens of pomegranates, and the buffaloes are bigger than ours. But no one knows exactly where it is... anyone who sees Hufaidh is bewitched, and afterwards no one can understand his words...They say the Jinns can hide the island from anyone who comes near it."
It is, perhaps, analogous to the Irish mythical island of Hy-Brazil. If it ever did exist, the drainage of the marshes under Saddam Hussein
would have destroyed it as an island in any case.
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, believed to exist by the Madan
Madan
Madan may refer to:*Madan , an ethnic group from southern Iraq*Medan *Madhan a.k.a. Madan or Mathan, the pen name of a famous Indian cartoonist, journalist and writer*Sudalai Madan, a popular non-Vedic deity in southern IndiaPlaces...
or Marsh Arabs
Marsh Arabs
The Marsh Arabs , also known as the Maʻdān , are inhabitants of the Tigris-Euphrates marshlands in the south and east of Iraq and along the Iranian border....
.
The Madan informants of the traveller Wilfred Thesiger
Wilfred Thesiger
Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, CBE, DSO, FRAS, FRGS was a British explorer and travel writer born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.-Family:...
asserted that:
"on it are palaces, and palm trees and gardens of pomegranates, and the buffaloes are bigger than ours. But no one knows exactly where it is... anyone who sees Hufaidh is bewitched, and afterwards no one can understand his words...They say the Jinns can hide the island from anyone who comes near it."
It is, perhaps, analogous to the Irish mythical island of Hy-Brazil. If it ever did exist, the drainage of the marshes under Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
would have destroyed it as an island in any case.