Mount Qaf in Arabic tradition is a mysterious mountain renowned as the furthest point of the earth owing to its location at the far side of the ocean encircling the earth. Because of its remoteness, the
North Pole is sometimes identified with this mountain. According to
Hatim Tai’s account, the Qaf Mountains were said to be composed of green emerald, peridot or chrysolite, whose reflection gave a greenish tint to the sky. It is regarded as the home of the Jinn race and the place beyond which the
unseen divine world begins. In Arabic literature, Qaf was the loftiest of the mountain ranges created by
God to support the earth and was the parent of all other earthly mountains, to which it was linked by subterranean ranges. The range is separated from the world of men by the oceans that surround the known world. Qaf, as the primeval mountain, came to symbolise the cosmic mountain where the natural and supernatural met and the link between the
terrestrial and
celestial worlds was established. It is said that the
anqa and
rukh will come here. The emerald-made cities
Jabulqa and Jabulsa, situated in darkness, are said to be contiguous to the mountain Qaf.
Zakariya al-Qazwini published
ʿAjā'ib al-makhlūqāt wa gharā'ib al-mawjūdāt ("The Wonders of Creation", literally "Marvels of things created and miraculous aspects of things existing") in the 13th century, a book that was influential in early modern Islamic society. According to Qazwini's cosmology, the sky is held by
God so that it does not fall on Earth. The Earth is considered flat (later Islamic scholars believed that it was round) and surrounded by a series of mountains —including Mount Qaf— that hold it in its place like pegs; the Earth is supported by the
Kuyuthan that stands on
Bahamut, a giant fish (
Bahamūt) dwelling in a cosmic ocean; the ocean is inside a bowl that sits on top of an angel or
jinn. According to certain authors, the
Jabal Qaf of
Muslim cosmology is a version of
Rupes Nigra, a mountain whose ascent —such as
Dante's climbing of the
Mountain of Purgatory, represents the pilgrim's progress through spiritual states. ==Sufi tradition==