View source for The pillars of the Ka'ba

'''The pillars of the Ka'ba''' are the four corners of this structure, each of which is positioned towards one of the four directions, namely east, west, north, and south. These corners are referred to as "Rukn" (plural: Arkan). Specifically, these corners are named as follows: Rukn al-Hajar al-Aswad (Eastern Corner), Rukn al-Shami (Western Corner), Rukn al-Iraqi (Northern Corner), and Rukn al-Yamani (Southern Corner).

==View==
The overall view of the Kaaba reveals a four-sided structure with four corners (square), each of which is called a pillar, and collectively they are known as the pillars of the Kaaba. Each of these pillars also has alternative names. For instance, each pillar is referred to by the name of a specific region towards which it faces: the Iraqi pillar, the Shami pillar, and the Yemeni pillar.

The pillars of the Kaaba play a significant role in the manifestation of certain rituals and customs of the Hajj pilgrimage. One such pillar is the Black Stone Corner, which marks the beginning and end of the circumambulation (Tawaf). <ref>Ṣabrī Pāshā, Ayyūb. ''Mawsūʿa mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn'', vol. 2, p. 264.</ref>

==The Hajar al-Aswad Pillar==
{{Main Article: Hajar al-Aswad pillar}}
The eastern pillar, known as the pillar of the Black Stone (Rukn al-Hajar al-Aswad), is the starting point of the Tawaf. This pillar is located in the southeast of the [[Ka'ba]].<ref>Azraqī, '' Akhbār Makkah'', Vol. 1, p. 65; Kurdī,''Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm'', vol.3, p. 236; Ibn Jubayr,''Riḥla Ibn Jubayr'', p. 53.</ref> 
This corner is situated in the southeast of the Kaaba. It is the closest corner to the entrance door of the Kaaba and faces the [[Well of Zamzam]]. Opposite Rukn al-Hajar al-Aswad lies the well-known [[Mount Abu Qubais]]. <ref>Maqdisī al-Bashārī, '' Aḥsan al-taqāsīm fī maʿrifat al-aqālīm'', p. 72.</ref> The section of the Kaaba's wall near this corner is called [[Al-Multazam]].



==The Iraqi Pillar==
{{Main Article: Rukn al-Iraqi}}
Rukn al-Iraqi is the second corner of the Kaaba encountered during the circumambulation (Tawaf), <ref>Baghdādī, ''Marāṣid al-ʾiṭṭlāʿ ʿlā ʾasmāʾi al-amkina wa al-buqāʿ'', vol. 2, p. 629; Fārisī al-Aṣṭakhrī, ''Al-Masālik wa al-mamālik'', p. 16.</ref>
following Rukn al-Hajar al-Aswad and preceding Rukn al-Shami. It is situated towards the [[Bab al-Umrah]] (Umrah Gate). <ref>Marjānī, '' Bahjat al-nufūs wa al-asrār'', vol. 2, p. 763; Kurdī,''Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm'', vol. 3, p. 248; Ibn Baṭūṭa,''Al-Raḥla Ibn Baṭūṭa'', vol. 1, p. 374.</ref> 
This corner is named Rukn al-Iraqi due to its orientation towards [[Iraq]] and the fact that it faces the qibla for the people of Iraq. <ref>Ṭūsī, '' Muṣbaḥ al-mutahajjid wa silāḥ al-mutaʿabbid'', p. 27; Ibn Ṭāwūs, ''Falāḥ al-sāʾil wa najāḥ al-masāʾil fī ʿamal al-yawm wa al-layl'', p. 129; Shurrāb,'' Al-Ma'ālim al-Athīrah fī al-Sunnah wa al-Sīrah'', p. 129.</ref>
==The Shami Pillar==
{{Main Article: Rukn al-Shami}}
Rukn al-Shami is the third corner of the Kaaba encountered during the circumambulation [[(Tawaf)]]. .<ref>Qalqashandī,''Ṣubḥ al-Aʿshá fī ṣināʿat al-inshā'', vol. 4, p. 258; Muʿtamid al-Dawlah, '' Safarnāmah-i Farhād Mīrzā'', p. 257; Kurdī,''Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm'', vol. 3, p. 247-248.</ref>
] It follows Rukn al-Iraqi and precedes Rukn al-Yamani. This corner is situated towards the [[Bab al-Ziyada]] (Increase Gate). <ref>Khwārazmī, ''Iṣārat al-targhīb wa al-tashwīq ilá al-masājid al-thalātha wa al-bayt al-ʿatīq'', vol. 1, p.  289-290; Marjānī, '' Bahjat al-nufūs wa al-asrār'', vol. 2, p. 763; Ibn Baṭūṭa,''Al-Raḥla Ibn Baṭūṭa'', vol. 1, p. 374.</ref>

==The Yamani Pillar==
{{Main Article: Rukn al-Yamani}}
Rukn al-Yamani, according to the circumambulation (Tawaf) route, is recognized as the fourth and final corner of the Kaaba, preceding Rukn al-Hajar al-Aswad. <ref>Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī,'' Muʿjam al-buldān'', vol. 4, p. 465; Ibn Baṭūṭa,'' Al-Raḥla Ibn Baṭūṭa'', vol. 1, p. 374; Muʿtamid al-Dawlah, '' Safarnāmah-i Farhād Mīrzā'', p. 375.</ref>
This corner (pillar) is situated on the southern side of the Kaaba, hence it is also known as the Southern Corner.<ref>Nāṣir Khusraw, ''Safarnāmah-i Nāṣir Khusraw'', p. 129; Burckhardt, ''Tarḥāl fī al-Jazīrah al-ʿArabīyah'', p. 176; Khalīlī, ''Mawsūʿat al-ʿAtābāt al-Muqaddasah'', vol. 2, p. 333.</ref> 
According to narrations, an angel is present at Rukn al-Yamani who says "Amen" to the prayers of the believers. Additionally, this angel conveys the believers' blessings upon the Prophet to him.<ref>Kulaynī, ''Al-Kāfī'', vol. 4, p. 408.</ref>
The section of the Kaaba's wall near this corner is known as Al-[[Mustajar]].
==Notes==
{{Notes}}
==references==
{{References}}
*Azraqī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. ''Akhbār Makka. Qom: Maktaba al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, [n.d].
*Bashārī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Maqdisī al-. ''Aḥsan al-taqāsīm fī maʿrifat al-aqālīm''. Cairo: Maktabat Madbūlī, 1411 AH.
*Burckhardt, John Lewis. ''Tarḥāl fī al-Jazīrah al-ʿArabīyah''. translated by Ṣabrī Muḥammad Ḥasan, Cairo: Al-Markaz al-Qawmī lil-Tarjama, 2007 CE.
*Farhād Mīrzā Muʿtamid al-Dawlah. ''Safarnāmah-i Farhād Mīrzā (Hidāyat al-Sabīl wa Kafāyat al-Dalīl)''.  Edited by Ghulām Riḍā Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Tehran: Ilmī, 1366 SH.
*Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Baghdādī, Ṣafīī al-dīn ʿAbd al-Muʾmin. ''Marāṣid al-ʾiṭṭlāʿ ʿlā ʾasmāʾi al-amkina wa al-buqāʿ''. Beirut: Dār al-Jayl, 1412 AH.
*Ibn Baṭūṭa, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh. ''Al-Raḥla Ibn Baṭūṭa''. Edited by ʿAbd al-Hādī Tāzī. Rabat: Ākādimīyya al-Mamlikat al-Maghribīyya, 1417 AH.
*Ibn Jubayr, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. ''Riḥla Ibn Jubayr''. Beirut: Dār al-Maktaba al-Hilāl, 1986.
*Ibn Ṭāwūs ʿAlī ibn Mūsā. ''Falāḥ al-sāʾil wa najāḥ al-masāʾil fī ʿamal al-yawm wa al-layl''. Qom: Intishārāt al-Islāmī, [n.d].
*Iṣṭarkḫrī, Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad al-Fārisī al-. ''Al-Masālik wa al-mamālik''. Edited by Aḥmad ibn Sahl Abū Zayd, Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1927 CE.
*Khalīlī, Jaʿfar. ''Mawsūʿat al-ʿAtābāt al-Muqaddasah''. Beirut: al-A'lami, 1407 AH.
*Khwārazmī, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq al-. ''Iṣārat al-targhīb wa al-tashwīq ilá al-masājid al-thalātha wa al-bayt al-ʿatīq''. Edited by Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-Ẓahabī, Mecca: Maktabah Nizār Muṣṭafá al-Bāz, 1418 AH.
*Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-.''Al-Kāfī''. Edited by ʿAlī-Akbar Ghaffārī, Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyah, 1363 SH.
*Kurdī, Muḥammad Ṭāhir. ''Al-Tārīkh al-qawīm li Makka wa bayt Allāh al-karīm''. Beirut: Dār al-Khiḍr,  1420 AH.
*Marjānī, ʿAbdullāh al-. ''Bahjat al-nufūs wa al-asrār''. Beirut: Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī, 2002.
*Nāṣir Khusraw. ''Safarnāmah-i Nāṣir Khusraw''. Edited by Muḥammad Dabīr Siyāqī. Tehran: Zawār, 1381 SH.
*Qalqashandī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-. ''Ṣubḥ al-Aʿshá fī ṣināʿat al-inshā'''.  Edited by Muḥammad Ḥusayn Shams al-Dīn. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyah, [n.d].
*Ṣabrī Pāshā, Ayyūb. ''Mawsūʿa mirʾāt al-ḥaramayn''. Cairo: Shirkat al-Dawlīyya li-l-Ṭibāʿa, 2004.
*Shurrāb, Muhammad Muhammad Ḥasan. ''Al-Ma'ālim al-Athīrah fī al-Sunnah wa al-Sīrah''. Beirut: Dār al-Qalam, 1411 AH.

*Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-. ''Miṣbaḥ al-mutahajjid wa silāḥ al-mutaʿabbid''. Edited by Ismāʿīl Anṣārī Zanjānī, Prepared by ʿAlī Asghar Marvārīd. Beirut: Fiqh al-Shīʿah, 1411 AH.
*Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī. ''Muʿjam al-buldān''. Second edition. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1995.
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