Layla ( ar, لیلى) is a town in central

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. It is the principal town of the

Al-Aflaj Al-Aflaj Governorate is one of the 22 governorates of Riyadh Region, Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia, and its base is Layla (town), Layla city. Al-Aflaj is located more than 300 km away from the capital Riyadh, it has a number of agricultural villa ...

oasis in

Riyadh Region The Riyadh Province ( ar, منطقة الرياض '), also known as the Riyadh Region, is a region of Saudi Arabia, located in the geographic center of the country. It has an area of and with a 2017 population of 8,216,284, it is the second-la ...

, some 330 km south of the capital,

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

. It is believed to have been named after Layla of

Bani 'Amir The Banū ʿĀmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa ( ar, بنو عامر بن صعصعة) was a large and ancient Arab tribe originating from central Arabia, that dominated Najd for centuries after the rise of Islam. The tribe is an Arab Adnanite tribe and its ...

, a 7th-century woman from the local tribe of Bani 'Amir who was immortalized in the poetry of her lover Qays ibn Al-Mulawwah. The romance of Qays and Layla is perhaps the most famous romance of Arabic literature, and was chronicled by

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Nizami in ''

Layla wal Majnun ''Layla & Majnun'' ( ar, مجنون ليلى ; Layla's Mad Lover) is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Bedouin poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his ladylove Layla bint Mahdi (later known as Layla al-Aamiriya). "The Layla ...

'' ("Layla and the Madman"). Several tribes have governed the town across two millennia, including tribes of Kaab ibn 'Amir, then 'Uqayl ibn 'Amir and Alshathri. The population of the town and its surrounding villages and hamlets is nearly 76,000, largely consisting of settled

Bedouins The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arabs, Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert ...

from the

Dawasir Al-Dawasir Al-Dawasir (Arabic: الدواسر) i is an Arab tribe whose main base is in the south of Najd in the governorates of Wadi Al-Dawasir, Al-Sulail , Al-Aflaj, and Al-Kharj. The tribe is divided into two groups, namely Al Zayed (Azd) an ...

tribe. Layla neighbours a dry lake bed called ''Umm Jabal''. A

crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

has been named after this town.

References

Populated places in Riyadh Province {{SaudiArabia-geo-stub

See also

References