It was the first House in the earth that had been taken as a...

It was the first House in the earth that had been taken as a place of worshipping Allah. Allah has said, [1] Qur'an, 95:1-3. [2] The Encyclopedia of the Sacred Places; Mecca, vol. 1 p. 11. [3] Qur'an, 3:96. [4] Masalik al-Absar, vol. 1 p. 94.

(Most surely the first house appointed for mankind is the one at Becca, blessed and a guidance for people).[1] It is the most honored House that Allah has glorified and said about, (And when We made the House a pilgrimage for men and a (place of) security, and: Appoint for yourselves a place of prayer on the standing-place (for prayer) of Abraham.

And We enjoined Abraham and Ishmael saying: Purify My House for those who visit (it) and those who abide (in it) for devotion and those who bow down (and) those who prostrate themselves).[2] Abraham (a.s.) asked Allah to grant Mecca security and endow its people with fruits.

Allah has said, (And when Abraham prayed: My Lord, make this a region of security and bestow upon its people fruits, such of them as believe in Allah and the Last Day).[3] Allah has imposed on His people the pilgrimage to this glorified House by saying, (and pilgrimage to the House is incumbent upon people for the sake of Allah, (upon) every one who is able to undertake the journey to it).[4] Mecca has other names, as well, mentioned in the lexicons that one can refer to.

Its locality Mecca extends from the west to the east in a distance of about three kilometers long and nearly half of that wide in a valley inclining from the north to the south between two mountain chains that are about to join each other in the east, west, and the south; that is to say the three gates of Mecca. Therefore, a comer cannot see its buildings except when he is at its gates. The north mountain chain consists of the mountain of al-Falaj [1] Qur'an, 3:96. [2] Qur'an, 2:125.

[3] Qur'an, 2:126. [4] Qur'an, 3:97. (al-Falaq) in the west, and then the mountains of Qay’aqan, al-Hindi, La’la’, and Kada’ at the top of Mecca where the Prophet (a.s.) entered Mecca at conquering it. The south mountain chain consists of the mountain of Abu Hadeedah to the west, then Kada’, then Abu Qubays to the east of these two mountains, and then Khandamah. From the Kaaba, you can see the versants of these mountains full of houses and buildings in series until the bottom of the valley.

[1] Mecca lies in a barren valley surrounded by black mountains with no water source except the well of Zamzam and the water that is brought from other places.