Sous
The Sous region (also spelt Sus, Suss, Souss or Sousse) (, ) is an area in mid-southern Morocco. Geologically, it is the alluvial basin of the Sous River ("Asif n Sus"), separated from the Sahara desert by the Anti-Atlas Mountains. The natural vegetation in the Sous region is savanna dominated by the argan ("Argania spinosa"), a local endemic tree found nowhere else; part of the area is now a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve to protect this unique habitat. The region of Sous is generally fertile and has a high agricultural production. History. Medieval Arabic geographers generally divided the Sous region  into two distinct sub-regions: al-Sūs al-Aqṣā, or "farther Sus", and al-Sūs al-Adnā, or "nearer Sus". Sus al-Aqsa consisted of the southern/western part, and Sus al-Adna consisted of the northern/eastern part; however, there were never any precise boundaries between the two. The capital of the Sous was at Igli. There was also a ribat at Massa near the Atlantic coast. Ibn Hawqal makes conflicting claims about the religious makeup of the Sous region at his time. In one passage, he says that its inhabitants were Shi'is, but in another he says that  the region was divided between Sunnis of the Maliki school and Shi'is, who he calls "Mūsawiyyun". Tensions were high between these groups, he wrote, and there was a lot of warfare between them. Around 683, Uqba ibn Nafi conquered the Sous region, but after his death in 688 his conquests in Morocco slipped out of Muslim control. The Sous was reconquered around 20 years later by Musa ibn Nusayr, who began the spread of Islam among the local population.