Mount Qaf


Mount Qaf, or Qaf-Kuh, also spelled Cafcuh and Kafkuh, or Jabal Qaf, also spelled Djebel Qaf, or Koh-i-Qaf, also spelled Koh-Qaf and Kuh-i-Qaf or Kuh-e Qaf is a legendary mountain in the popular mythology of the Middle East.

Iranian tradition

Historically Iranian power never extended over all of the Northern Caucasus and ancient lore shrouded these high mountains in mystery.
In Iranian tradition this mountain could be any of the following:
Mount Qaf in Arabic tradition is a mysterious mountain renowned as the "farthest 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. It is also the only place in this world where the roc will land.
Zakariya al-Qazwini published ʿAjā'ib al-makhlūqāt wa gharā'ib al-mawjūdāt in the 13th century, a book that was influential in early modern Islamic society. According to Qazwini's cosmology, the sky is held by Allah so that it does not fall on Earth. The Earth is considered flat and surrounded by a series of mountains —including Mount Qaf— that hold it in its place like pegs; the Earth is supported by an ox that stands on Bahamut, a giant fish 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

In some Sufistic oral traditions, as conceived by Abd al-Rahman and Attar, Mount Qaf was considered as a realm of consciousness and the goal of a murid. Hadda Sahib is said to have visited Mount Qaf in one night and was greeted by the king of peris.

In literature

Mount Qaf is also the title of a novel by Turkish author Müge İplikçi.