@LissanX: It seems to me that sources in English are more likely to drop the definite article than retain it. Srnec (talk) 23:05, 21 May 2020 (UTC)Reply

Untitled edit

@LissanX: From my experience, words borrowed from Arabic that are virtually exclusive to Arab, or sometimes Islamic, subjects frequently maintain the definite article, while all others normally drop it. For example, Al-Mi'raj, Al-Andalus, Al-Karak, Al-Aqsa, Al Ain, Al-Kafi, Sahih Al-Bukahri, Al-Azhar, Al-Qaeda, Al-Akhdam, etc. In my opinion, the definite article should be kept for this article because it is strictly related to Arabian mythology, and also to distinguish it from Philippine mythology's Wakwak. — LissanX (talk) 23:31, 21 May 2020 (UTC)Reply

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Al-Wakwak is an island, or possibly more than one island, in medieval Arabic geographical and imaginative literature. Sources variously identify al-Wakwak as representing Japan, Madagascar, Sumatra or Java, with others describing it as an island in the China Sea ruled by a queen with an entirely female population. This painting in watercolor and gold on paper was created in Mughal India in the early 1600s, and depicts a plant that brings forth animal life in multiple forms, derived from a conflation of medieval Persian and Quranic sources, including descriptions of al-Wakwak as inhabited by half-plant and half-animal creatures. The work is now in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio.

Painting credit: unknown

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