TA'IF, AT-

also spelled Tayif, city, western Saudi Arabia. Lying at an elevation of 6,165 feet (1,879 m) on a tableland southeast of Mecca, it is the nation's principal summer resort. Once the seat of the pagan goddess Allat, it is revered now as the site of the tomb of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas, a cousin of the prophet Muhammad, and for the graves of two infant sons of the Prophet. At-Ta'if is the site of the signing of the treaty of 1934, which demarcated a portion of the Saudi ArabiaYemen boundary. The city, noted for its production of fruit and woven coats, is the site of a military hospital and the Akramah Dam for irrigation (completed 1956). A modern highway links the city to Mecca and Jidda. Pop. (1980 est.) 300,000.