"This city is my home & destination"

For it the wind and rain pray in a holy dance for the god of “Rayman” (a mountain in Ibb) which overlooks the Mashnnah from behind the unseen.

And oh water is praying, playing its level of peace,

And roses seek refuge from the futility of separation

Every time a miscreant enters it, the city got bored, and the evening spiders pass by so that you may turn as you like."

That is the city of Ibb; cloudy in summer, and its people are inclined to settlement and co-existence, desiring calm and living in peace. As the city is characterized by the beauty of nature, it does not cease to push you towards life and leads you to a state of passion, as if you are the only one concerned with what it is. Ibb is one of the masterpieces of nature on Earth, and as a city that grows and expands day after day, it manages to lure you into its unique and numerous worlds of charms, and its elegant character, in addition to being a feeling of comfort, warmth and reassurance; You are here in the manifestation of a city with open horizons and distinguished in terms of its weather, its atmosphere and its mild climate throughout the seasons of the year.

The entire eastern side of the city is surrounded by the Rayman mountain range, according to the historical name. It extends to the southernmost side with another higher mountain chain, the “Smara” mountain range, overlooking the districts of (Al-Qafar) and (Al-Mukhader), and with the famous Samara Castle whereas the northernmost side of Rayman, there the outskirts of the Maytam region, with its valleys, plains and green bottoms.

On the mighty Rayman peak, one of the most important Yemeni forts, known as the "Hab Fort", has been proudly standing since ancient times. It is mentioned that, in an ancient time, it was the headquarters of the Himyarite Qil (Yarim Dhu Ra’in), where his grave was found in the year of Al-Ramada. It is also located among four other fortresses mentioned in successive folklore: Khodd, Anwar, Hab and Al-Ta'akar. They are distributed at different distances and destinations from the city, as if they were entrusted with the safeguarding the city and securing its surroundings.

Greenery covers every side of Rayman, while fresh water springs flow between its rocky joints, whether during the rainy seasons in summer or springs and groundwater spilling in the rest of the seasons, thus forming streams and waterfalls, including the Wadi Al-Janat Falls (7 km south of the city), and also the Mashanna Falls. The Mashanna waterfalls fed the city of Ibb with water through a waterwheel that was built in ancient times in the form of arches (bars) with exquisite specifications that reflected the high efficiency of the ancients in this type of water channels engineering system. It was built with gypsum (Nora) saturated with animal fats to cover the floors and walls of the waterwheel to prevent water leakage. The waterwheel continued to supply the city with water until the beginning of the twentieth century, when it was removed due to lack of knowledge of its archaeological value.

 On a frosty summer evening, rains usually coincide with the rays of the sun at the end of the day, and you notice from the top of Rayman mountain its joyful reflection on the cemented roofs of houses and asphalt streets. Rayman mountain loves us and we love it and appreciate the old custodian of the city's sighs, and the good shepherd of its joyous fate and its vast glory, and it does so out of its eternal patriarchy and its original desire to embrace the consequences of this reassuring crowd inhabitants below it; From its summit, you can browse the open horizons in the far distance and observe the manifestations of captivating nature in its most wonderful forms and the highest levels of aesthetics; You can also, from any angle at its vast summit, see the full sight of the city, both old and new parts, and notice that huge launch of urbanization outside the walls of the ancient city, which has settled since ancient times on a rocky plateau at the bottom of the mountain; The city's history dates back to the late Himyarite period. Like other ancient Yemeni cities, it is surrounded by a strong stone wall that is interspersed with five gates: Bab Al-Jadid, Bab Al-Kabeer, Bab Al-Nasr, Bab Sunbul, and Bab Al-Rakzeh.

Bab Al-Jadid

 It is located next to the old governorate building in Ras (Al-Jaha); One of the most important neighborhoods of the old city, and it has the Green District Cinema, the only cinema in the city. It was established in 1964 AD; At one point, I used to be one of the Cinema funds with many of my friends. We constantly watched the shows (promotional advertisements for the movies), which were hung in some facade of Shahid al-Kibsi Street or at the facade of the central market. In addition to advertisements for shows opposite the entrance to the cinema; Tickets at the time were four riyals, and balcony tickets were seven riyals. The shows were mostly of Indian, Japanese and American films; In the last seventies, women used to go to the cinema. However, with the decline in the public interest in cinema and the religious prohibition, it cinema has now become just a dilapidated facility, with no cinema shows and no one is ever going to it.

Bab Al-Nasr: 

There is a steam hot spring bath next to it called (Al-Sukhna) which leads to the (Al-Maja'ara) zone.

Bab al-Rakzeh: It is located to the southern side of the city, and it is the only gate that is still standing today, and there is a guard shift above it. It leads to Al-Rakzeh lane overlooking Wadi Al-Dhahoub and Dar Al-Qadasi.

Bab Sunbol

Subol gate is located on the northern side of the city and leads to (the cemetery) and there is the Al-Hubaishi Orphanage, which was established in the eighties of the last century, at the initiative of the late Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Hubaishi (Abu Al-Shabab). Al-Hubaishi was the sponsor of social initiatives, charitable endeavors, and generous morals. Away from the orphanage, his character has had an exceptional presence in public and private life. He was friendly and modest with different classes and segments of society. For decades, he had an audible voice and a tangible role in social reality; Moreover, he forms his own symbolism and is often exemplary in his intuitive words and sense of humor.

Entering the city through Bab Sunbul leads you to (Al-Shu’bah); A neighborhood of shantytowns and random construction inhabited by the marginalized group. Next to that, the (Al Shaab) road starts, which is an asphalt road that leads towards the orphanage junction and witnesses a steady urbanization in modern style, especially towards Rayman Mountain and the asphalt road that leads to Ba'adan District.

The touch of familiarity will surprise you as you wander through the alleys of the old city paved with flat stones, and between its antique houses, the old market with its tiny shops, some of which use cafes or restaurants for popular foods. Infornt of it, stands the sellers of Maluj and LAhuh at lunch time, Lahuh is a (thin bread) and “mluj” (a type of bread that is thicker than lahuh and made from the flour of maize, which is famous for its cultivation in Ibb, or is made from wheat). Life here is very simple; you may get amused by the music of elderly person tape recorder who passes by carries an old voice with a song by the great singer, late Ali Bin Ali Al-Ansi or Ali Al-Sama. During the night, Umm Kulthum songs often yell from more than one place like “Has love seen drunk like us, you are my life, ...” ..." You say to yourself: From here the road passed the chariots of the horses of the Himyarite kings and princes, and here history recorded its great events;

The old city, with its cultural heritage and monuments, gives you the freedom to recall worlds you have not witnessed, times you did not live, and which you wished you had, while the people of Ibb give you that feeling of familiarity by the simplicity of handling things, with them you feel that you are a light person and enjoy the smoothness of your presence and the importance of being yourself.

Bab Al-Kabeer

It is located in the western side of the city, and close to it is there is the Writers' Union in the Al-Bayhani neighborhood. In the front of the zone, a picture of Professor Muhammad Al-Rabadi; that image is all that remains of the memories of the time of peaceful struggle and attempts of social reform and achieving public awareness of rights and freedoms. Al-Rabadi was one of the symbols of Ibb Governorate and one of the prominent figures of Yemen; he used to be a writer, poet, eloquent lecturer, and an honest parliamentarian who represents people's concerns and expresses their aspirations, based on a moral commitment and a patriotic tendency far from falsehood and pretense. That is the least that can be said about Professor Al-Rabadi, who was a social and political figure, and one of those who passed once from the same path and whose presence is still alive in our minds. As for the Writers’ Union, it was seized by force, during previous years, by an armed group that made it a place for al-Muqil (Qat Chewing) and resting.

Moreover, if you enter the city through Bab Al-Kabeer, you will see a number of Samaser "hostels” (the Samaser is the plural of Samsarah which was used in the past to accommodate travelers), and from there to Al-Thawra Street and leads to Al-Awqaf Street, and there on one side of it is the house of Judge Yahya Al-Shuwaiter, who retained his passion for fine art. Until his eighties, and in appreciation of his artistic history, the Al-Saeed Foundation for Science and Culture in Taiz held a plastic exhibition for him in 2011, in which he displayed paintings that reflected the spirit of the artist who spends his life without giving up his passion and thinking about the added value of art and literature.

  Al-Mandhar Zone

One of the residential neighborhoods closest to the old city, which is located on a small rocky hill that rises along the southern edge of the city, you will see Nasser General Hospital at the top of the Al-Manzar neighborhood, the city's oldest hospital; It was built in the late 1960s with the support of the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. A few meters away from it is the hospital's Chinese housing building, where the Chinese medical missions that have been in succession at the hospital for decades residing until 2015, when the last Chinese medical mission left one day before the war - according to Dr. Anwar Al-Mansoub, Deputy Director-General, in his speech for "Khuyut".

My God's Mountain

In the southwest of the city, stands "Jabal Rabi", or God's Mountain which has a tourist resort overlooking Wadi Al-Zahoub with its green meadows. From its summit, one can also see the agricultural terraces on the mountains of Hubaish and the village of Al-Danawa, the home of the popular rebel known as the Balfakeeh Saeed, who rebelled in the mid-nineteenth century against the rule of Imam Al-Hadi Muhammad bin Al-Mutawakil, declaring the establishment of his independent state to combat injustice and abuse. It is well known in the Yemeni folk tradition that the imam [...] sent military troops to pursue Balfakeeh Saeed, who named him, sarcastically, “Saeed the Jew.”

Siirt Bay

  It is a small park and a water fountain established with the support of the mayor of Siirt, Libya, on a visit to the governorate during the days of the governor, Saleh Abbad Al-Khulani. In that visit, the Yemeni and Libyan sides approved the twinning of the city of Ibb and the city of Siirt. It was only a while before the park was sold to an investor who turned the place into a miserable amusement park stuffed with rickety machines.

Siirt Bay is located at the corner of Al-Odain Street, which extends about 2.5 km into the city. It is witnessing, especially at the beginning, a huge commercial movement, especially in the field of fabrics and ready-made clothes. It is often crowded throughout the days and nights leading up to Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha; There are also back streets to Al-Odain Street on either side, but they are not of a parallel length. While the street extends all the way to "Al-odain Roundabout", from which the Western Ring Road branches off. After the intersection, Al-Odain Street re-extends in the direction of "Al Sobol"; The area that witnesses an outsized urban development, whether towards the village of “Aigra” and “Akmat Al-Safani” on the northern side, or towards the village of “Kaheb” along the Thirty road, it is as if the majority of the displaced people from Taiz Governorate, especially the wealth people and merchants, decided to settle in this area from city. Beyond "Al Sobol", "Moshwara" area, which is well known as a unique tourist park overlooking the Al-Odain district and its fertile and vast fields and valleys, appears on the near horizon.

 Ibb University

The university was established in 1996 AD, and the decision was issued at that time with the confiscation and fencing of a large area of ​​land in the center of the city, then the government compensated the owners of the lands within that area. The space also included the halls and the deanship of the Faculty of Agriculture that had been established before the founding of the university, on the ruins of what was called the Agricultural Institute in which the milk factory, which is now dilapidated, was one of the institute’s facilities along with a barn containing dozens of (Dutch) buffaloes, of which only three buffalo and one Yemeni cow remained.

 The university includes several specialties, including the College of Medicine, which was recently separated from the university by a decision of the Supreme Political Council in Sana'a, to be within the framework of the Jableh City Hospital. Additionally, there are many stalled projects at the university since 2011, for example, the Central Library building, which was established in 2010, and the College of Medicine building, according to Eng. Ahmed Al-Hashidi, an employee of the Projects General Administration.

Not far from the university, is the Ibb Sports Stadium and the indoor gym, which, like other vital facilities, were subjected to raids by the Arab coalition aircraft led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE on April 12, 2015. As a result of those raids, the stadium’s stands were destroyed beside the many cracks and gaps in different parts of its outer perimeter. As for the gymnasium, it was leveled with the ground.

  On the south side of the university, Mount Haratha is located and contains the Bin Laden tourist resort, part of which was destroyed by the Arab coalition planes as well; There is also Ibb Radio, which follows the same broadcasting policy og Sana'a Radio. On the opposite side of Jabal Haratha, you will find the main street, or what is now called Taiz road; Because it goes towards Taiz governorate, and there is also a bus station "farzah" of Taiz. In the past, Farza of Taiz, was teeming with Peugeot cars that transported travelers between the two cities, but now it is just ruins as a result of the situation imposed by the war. Taiz has become two governorates, the eastern and northern parts of which are under the control of the Ansar Allah group (Houthis), while the city western and southern parts are under the control of the internationally recognized government.

  Back at Mount Rayman, it gives you the freedom of multi-dimensional flight in every aspect of the city; Looking with a hawk's eye to read its course, explore its depths, and explore its hidden secrets, Rayman strives to refine your senses, refine your psyche, and open your perceptions, as if you were the only one standing at its top since forever. This prompts you to determine your destination towards one of the back lanes of Al-Odain Street, and under the scorching afternoon sun, you come across a woman over the age of sixty exhausted by searching for the headquarters of a relief organization. She has roamed the streets of the city since the early morning, moving between the centers for delivering food aid, and there they told her that she must first register at the headquarters of the organization to ensure that she receives food baskets; She desperately needs that support, and in addition to being without a breadwinner, she takes care of the children of her only son, who was absentee until only a month ago when she knew that he was in the central prison after he remained for nearly six months under forcible disappearance.

  Perhaps you find yourself at the corner of Public Works Street, and an old teacher had taken it as a source of income to secure his livelihood and his children since the salaries were cut off; He sells lemonade and carrot juice, and there are also teachers whose financial conditions have turned into porters in front of warehouses and shops. At one of the entrances to the (Jara'an) market, you will see the eight-year-old IDP Abdullah; Abdullah was displaced with his mother and two of his brothers from the city of Taiz as a result of the bloody events there at the beginning of 2015. As for his father, he died in those clashes, and they settled in a shelter that accommodates the displaced at the Al-Shaheed Al-Sabahi School, adjacent to the Jaraan market. Abdullah travels all day carrying a scale to measure people's weights, and he keeps offering passersby to measure their weight for fifty riyals, while his other brother works as a boiled eggs seller in the streets. When they are lucky, Abdullah and his brother get another day, as little as 1,500 riyals. This raises the question: How can such an amount meet the hunger of a family? Perhaps the displaced in Ibb are better off than the displaced in other places; Not because of the assistance provided by the organizations, but because of the high social sense of the majority of the city’s residents, as indicated by one of the displaced from Hajjah governorate. Ahmed (an alias name) was displaced three years ago, with his wife and five children, after he was shot in the loin. 

Speaking to "Khayut", he said that the injury did not make him confined to bed, but it hindered his ability to afford the workload, no matter how simple; He can barely stand and cannot stand for long or walk normally. Ahmed and his wife cannot secure their daily need for food for them and their children for a day and a night, except what they can get from their more or less well-off neighbors.

 In addition to the sheltering center for the displaced located at the Al-Shaheed Al-Sabahi School, there are many shelters, including one that was built next to the outdoor prayer area in Jabal Al-Shuja’a, adjacent to Jabal Rabi.

Grievances, "martyrs" and motorcycles

During my morning wanderings on Al-Mohafaza Street, extending from Al-Dhehhar Roundabout in the middle of Al-Odain Street to Al-Sufi Roundabout in Taiz Street, the scene was not without a protest stand for a tribe against the killing of one of its members by one of the armed gangs resides in the suburbs and countryside adjacent to the city. The spread of armed gangs is one of the worst phenomena escalated in the past five years of the war. If you decide to roam other streets of the city, you will notice the dramatic increase in the number of motorbikes. You can also spell misery on people's faces and their dissatisfaction with their miserable reality, which in turn has led to an increase in the number of beggars, homeless and mentally ill people; those who were pushed to the sidewalks by the merciless pressures of daily life and the deteriorating living conditions.

In the various streets of the city, you will see many street lampposts, which have been extinguished for years, and have turned into a place for posting the pictures of hundreds of "martyrs" of the war victims.; the war has drained the best of Yemen's youth. Nevertheless, there is blink for hope when the city witnesses during the early morning hours every day; The spread of school students of all ages and in all parts of the city, affirming their right to live and exercise their right to craft their future, and to determination to draw their bright presence in it. I believe that the mere fact that a student goes to school becomes an act of resistance to the miserable reality of war and an open invitation to peace.