Medina, Arabic Al-Madīnah, formally Al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah (“The Luminous City”) or Madīnat Rasūl Allāh (“City of the Messenger of God [i.e., Muhammad]”), ancient Yathrib, city located in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, about 100 miles (160 km) inland from the Red Sea and 275 miles from Mecca by road.