Az Zubayr (Arabic: الزبير) is a town in Basra Governorate in Iraq, just south of Basra. The name can also refer to the old Emirate of Zubair.
The name is also sometimes written Az Zubair, Zubair, Zoubair, El Zubair, or Zobier.
The city was named al-Zubair because one of the Sahaba (companions) of the Prophet Muhammad, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, was buried there.
During the Ottoman times, the city was a self-ruling emirate ruled by an Emir (or Sheikh) from Najdi families, such as Al Zuhair, Al Meshary, and Al Ibrahim families. Like other Emirates under the Ottoman Empire, the Emirate of Zubair used to pay dues and receive protection from the Ottomans. In the 19th century, the city of Zubair witnessed relatively large migrations from Najd. Up until the 1970s and 1980s, the town was predominantly populated by people of Najdi origin. Now only a few families remain of the old inhabitants. Most of the them moved back to their homeland of Najd and other regions of Saudi Arabia and to Kuwait. In the period when Najdis inhabited the city it was dominated by the Sunni denomination of Islam, in stark contrast to the Shia-dominated Basra nearby.
Zubayr or Zubair is an Arabic masculine given name and a surname, meaning superior. People with that name include:
Zubair or Zubayr may refer to:
You left your black gloves on my table
You left your dying horse in the stable
Thinking of a way to get you to stay
And up I was to fight the wind and waves for you
I?m an owl with giant eyes
I?m the scarecrow in the skies
The ultimate goal out facing the north
I wanted to stay inside and look down below with you
You never said then when I was in your arms
That was the moment that you lost your charm
[Incomprehensible]
And the trees, they never grew any leaves
Shake my arms, shake my head
I fell asleep when you got well
And I?m turning for the lights tonight