Bab al-Saghir Cemetery, Damascus: Companions and the Ahlul Bayt in the Old City
Just outside one of Damascus's old southern gates lies a cemetery that has been in continuous use since the earliest years of the Umayyad caliphate, roughly the mid-seventh century. Bab al-Saghir Cemetery is often described to visitors as the resting place of numerous companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and members of his family. Some of that is well supported. A fair amount of it rests on tradition alone. This article tries to be honest about the difference, because a site this significant deserves more than a simple list of famous names.
A Gate and a Cemetery With a Long History
The gate itself, Bab al-Saghir, predates Islam, built originally by the Arameans and later dedicated first to Zeus and then to Jupiter under Roman rule. By the medieval period it served as one of Damascus's main southern gates, reinforced under Nur al-Din in the twelfth century, and it withstood a Crusader siege in 1148. The cemetery beside it grew in importance once Damascus became the Umayyad capital and has remained active, in one form or another, ever since, including burials of modern figures such as the Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani.
Bab al-Saghir is an integral part of the spiritual journey through Damascus, and we take our guests there often. The names below have been passed down in this city for well over a thousand years, carried by the people who have lived beside these graves for generations. Some are recorded in the histories and some are held in local memory, and they are received here with the respect that long tradition deserves.
Companions of the Prophet ﷺ
The name most often repeated here is Bilal ibn Rabah (RA), the Prophet's ﷺ first muezzin. A separate tradition places his grave outside of Damascus, but this is likely the place of his burial, and it is the tradition Damascenes have held for centuries.
Asma bint Umays (RA), who was married in succession to Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, Abu Bakr, and Ali ibn Abi Talib, is also identified with a grave here. Other companions are named on some lists and not on others, and a few of the names in wider circulation, such as Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Umm Kulthum bint Ali, are placed in Medina by their own biographies. Lists of this kind vary, and your guide will tell you which graves are visited here and what is said about each.
The Ahlul Bayt Section
The most visited part of the cemetery centers on a twin-domed shrine known as that of Sayyida Sukayna, remembered as a daughter of Imam al-Husayn (RA). The name is carried by more than one figure in the sources, and there is a separate shrine to Sayyida Ruqayya elsewhere in the Old City, so the histories differ on how the two relate. What is not in question is that this shrine is the heart of the cemetery for the many visitors who come to it, and it is rarely without someone sitting in quiet recitation.
Nearby stands a smaller tomb associated with the name Fatima. Visitors are sometimes told this is Fatima al-Zahra (RA), the Prophet's ﷺ own daughter, though she is buried in Medina. The tomb here is usually attributed to Fatima al-Sughra bint al-Husayn, a descendant of the Prophet ﷺ through his grandson.
The cemetery also holds a shrine known as the Ru'us al-Shuhada, the Heads of the Martyrs, commemorating those killed at Karbala. A popular list names sixteen, while an inscription found at the site in the early twentieth century names three. Both are recorded, and visitors come to all of them.
Rulers and Later Figures
Several Umayyad-era figures are traditionally associated with burials here, most often the first Umayyad caliph, Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan.
A Place Loved by Many
Bab al-Saghir attracts lovers of the Ahlul Bayt and the companions from all walks of life. Visitors come to recite Qur'an, offer supplication, and reflect quietly among people who shaped the earliest history of Islam. It is a peaceful, humble corner of the Old City, and one that leaves a lasting impression on almost everyone who walks through it.
Visiting the Cemetery
This is a working cemetery as well as a place of visitation, so it asks for the same quiet you would give any graveyard. Ask us before you come and we will tell you what is open and how best to approach it.
Why It Stays With You
Bab al-Saghir is one of the places that stays with people. Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, members of his household, and generations of Damascenes rest within a few steps of one another, and the city's religious memory is gathered in one quiet corner of the Old City. It rewards a visitor who comes to sit with it rather than to walk it in a hurry.
