Editing Najaf (section)

===Medieval and modern history===
In early 14th century, Sheikh [[Ibn Battuta]] visited the burial site of [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]] during his travels in Iraq after his pilgrimage to Mecca. During this period, Najaf was called Meshhed Ali. As Translated by [[Samuel Lee (linguist)|Samuel Lee]], Ibn Battuta in his Arabic ''[[Rihla]]'' relates:<ref>{{cite book|last1=Batuta|first1=Ibn|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_22IbAQAAMAAJ|title=The travels of Ibn Batūta;|last2=Lee|first2=Samuel|date=1829|publisher=London, Printed for the Oriental translation committee, and sold by J. Murray [etc.]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_22IbAQAAMAAJ/page/n52 31]–33|author-link1=Ibn Battuta|author-link2=Samuel Lee (linguist)|access-date=11 June 2018|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

{{Blockquote
|text=We next proceeded to the city of Meshhed Ali where the grave of Ali ibn Abu Talib is thought to be. It is a handsome place and well peopled. There is no governor here, except a sort of tribune. The inhabitants consist chiefly of rich and brave merchants. About the gardens are plastered walls adorned with paintings, and within them are carpets, couches and lamps of gold and silver. Within the city is a large treasury kept by the tribune, which arises from the votive offerings arrived from different parts: for when anyone happens to be ill, or suffer under any infirmity, he will make a vow, and thence receive relief. The garden is also famous for its miracles; and hence it is believed that the grave of Ali is there. <br>

Of these miracles, the "night of revival" is one: for, on the 17th day of the month Rejeb, cripples come from different parts of Fars, Room, Khorasaan, Irak, and other places, assemble in companies from twenty to thirty in number. They are placed over the grave soon after sun-set. People then, some praying, some reciting the Quran, and others prostrating themselves, wait expecting their recovery and rising, when about the night, they all get up sound and right. This is a matter well known among them: I heard it from a creditable person, but was not present at one of those nights. I saw, however, several such afflicted persons, who had not yet received, but were looking forward for the advantages of this "night of revival".
}}

In the 16th century, Najaf was conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The [[Safavid dynasty]] of Iran maintained continuous interest to this Shia site. During the [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–1639)]], they were twice able to capture the city, but lost it again to the Ottomans in 1638.

Under the rule of the [[Ottoman Empire]], Najaf experienced severe difficulties as the result of repeated raids by Arab desert tribes and the Persian army with acute water shortages causing lack of a reliable water supply. The number of inhabited houses in the city had plummeted from 3,000 to just 30 by the start of the 16th century.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

When the Portuguese traveller [[Pedro Texeira]] passed through Najaf in 1604, he found the city in ruins, inhabited by little more than 500 people.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nakash|first=Yitzhak|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BXJqeTr6p78C&pg=PA20|title=The Shi'is of Iraq|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2003|isbn=0691115753|access-date=2009-09-13}}</ref> This was largely the result of a change in the course of the [[Euphrates]] river eastwards in the direction of [[Hilla]], leaving Najaf and [[Kufa]] high and dry, leading to the destruction of the local formerly rich agriculture, demise of the palm groves and orchards, followed by the salinization of the underground water due to evaporation.

During the 18th century, the scholarly life of Najaf came to be dominated by [[Farsi]]-speaking ‘[[Ulema]]’ ({{langx|ar|عُلُمَاء}}, Scholars) from [[Iran]].<ref>Yitzhak Nakash, ''The Shi'as of Iraq'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994) p. 16</ref>

The water shortages were finally resolved in 1803 when the Euphrates made its way to the city once again. The shift in the river's flow was the product of a century-long effort by the Ottomans to shift the flow of the river, so as to deprive marsh-dwelling tribes like the Khaza'il of the watery environment that allowed them to evade state control. These long-term efforts rendered successful the construction of the Hindiyya Canal in 1793, which further shifted the flow of the Euphrates. These hydrological shifts were to have religious implications. Most notable was the consolidation and spread of Shi'ism. As the shrine city of Najaf gained access to water again, its notables and holy men began to wield considerable power in the area.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Husain|first=Faisal|date=October 2014|title=In the Bellies of the Marshes: Water and Power in the Countryside of Ottoman Baghdad|journal=Environmental History|volume=19|issue=4|pages=638–664|doi=10.1093/envhis/emu067}}</ref> In 1811, the last [[city wall]] was rebuilt.<ref name="transformation">{{cite journal|last1=Farhan|first1=Sabeeh|last2=Akef|first2=Venus|last3=Nasar|first3=Zuhair|date=December 2020|title=The transformation of the inherited historical urban and architectural characteristics of Al-Najaf's Old City and possible preservation insights|journal=Frontiers of Architectural Research|volume=9|issue=4|pages=820–836|doi=10.1016/j.foar.2020.07.005|issn=2095-2635|doi-access=free}}</ref>