Hail ( ) is Ḥaʼa city in north-western Saudi Arabia. It is the capital and largest city of Ha'il Region, with a population of about 605,930 (2018).
Hail is largely agricultural, with significant grain, date, and fruit production. A large percentage of the kingdom's wheat production comes from Hail Province, where the area to the northeast, away, consists of irrigated gardens. Historically, Hail derived its wealth from being on the camel caravan route of the Hajj. Hail is well known by the generosity of its people in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world as it is the place where Hatim al-Tai lived. It is also the homeland of the Rashid royal family, historical rivals to Saudi royal family.
History
The construction of the Hejaz railway between Damascus and Medina, together with new inexpensive steamship routes to Jeddah, undermined the traditional camel caravan economy of Ha'il.
The city of Ha'il was the capital of the Emirate of Jabal Shammar from 1836 until the Saudi conquest of the emirate in 1921. The emirate was led by a monarchy of the House of Rashīd. The first emir, Abdullah bin Ali Al Rashid, took power with his brother emir Obaid and Jabbr's sons. Abdullah bin Rashid continued constructing the Barzan Palace in Ha'il which had been started by Mohammad Ibn Ali. After the death of Abdullah Al Rashid (in 1848) his son and successor, Talal, completed the palace.
During the Rashidi period many foreign travellers visited Ha'il and the Rashidi emirs, and described their impressions in different journals and books, including those of Georg August Wallin (1845), William Gifford Palgrave (1865), Lady Anne Blunt (1881), Charles Montagu Doughty (1888), and Gertrude Bell (1914). Rashid emirs were considered relatively tolerant towards foreigners, including traders in Ha'il:
The last Rashidi emir was ousted from power by Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia in 1921. Ibn Saud then gave orders to destroy the Barzan Palace and also ordered the leaders of Al Rashid and Al Sabhan to move from Ha'il to Riyadh, and he assigned one person from the mentioned families, as temporary emir Prince Ibraheem bin Salem Al Sabhan in order to assure the loyalty from the Ha'il people and Shammar. After this, Ha'il fell into steep decline, as witnessed by E. Rutter in 1931:
Ha'il is the centre of Saudi Arabia's agricultural program, and most of the wheat crops of the kingdom come from the area surrounding the city. There are also a number of dairy farms for the production of dairy products near the city.
Notable people
Hatim al-Tai was a famous Arabian poet who lived before Muhammad's preaching of Islam, and the father of the latter's companion Adi ibn Hatim and Safana bint Hatim. He was a Christian, and belonged to the Tayy Arabian tribe. Stories about his extreme generosity have made him an icon to Arabs up till the present day, as in the proverbial phrase "more generous than Hatim". There is a hill overlooking the city of Hail which has a reproduction of the campfire he lit to welcome his guests, which is turned on every night and can be seen from the center of the town. He was the ruler of his tribe. After Hatim's death, his son Adi became the ruler of Tayy. He also became a Muslim in 628 after a meeting with Muhammad. Abdulaziz bin Mitab was the son of the third Amir of Al Rashid, he was adopted by his uncle Mohammed, the fifth amir, and brought up to be his heir. After Mohammed died of natural causes, Abdulaziz succeeded him unopposed. However, the Rashidi rule was insecure, as their Ottoman allies were unpopular and weakening. In 1904 the young Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, returned from exile with a small force and retook Riyadh. Abdulaziz died in the battle of Rawdat Muhanna with Ibn Saud
Geography
As-Samra Mountain overlooks the city. This is where Hatim al-Tai lit a fire on the summit to welcome guests. Today an asphalt road leads to the summit where a natural gas-powered fire is lit at night. There is a park with a lake at the bottom of the mountain, and on the side of the mountain is the Emblem of Saudi Arabia (date palm and crossed swords) made from electric lights which are turned on at night.
Aja Mountain (Jebel Aja) is on the opposite side of Ha'il city from As-Samra. A huge Saudi flag made of electric lights, turned on at night, is located on the side of the mountain. The Adayra Valley runs roughly along a north–south axis, dividing central Ha'il in two.
Climate
Ha'il has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) with hot summers and cool winters. It has a somewhat milder climate than other Saudi cities due to its higher altitude.