Ali Bey marched and entered the island of Ba, and captured people who had no connection with the Mahdi. He treated them harshly and returned to Khartoum.

From there he went to Kordofan, and the man proceeded to Qadir and penetrated into the mountains.

This is the mountain of Massa and Qadir.

In the western part of Fashoda, there is a mountain whose height does not exceed that of Jabal Muqattam. It is shaped like a rounded angle with an opening on the east. Inside the circle, rainwater collects. This mountain is called Jabal al-Qadir. Then the definite article was dropped, so it became Jabal Qadir. The name "Massa" was not known for this mountain before the appearance of the Mahdist call. It is said that the late Sheikh Hassan al-Madawi, one of the most famous Maliki scholars at Al-Azhar al-Sharif, mentioned in his book "Mashariq al-Anwar" that the Mahdi's migration would be to the mountains of Massa. The Mahdi claimed that Massa was the name of Jabal Qadir, even though all the inhabitants denied this, as it was not known before that time. Given Sheikh Hassan al-Madawi's fame in Sudan, the Mahdi's trick gained traction among many followers, who considered it a sign of the truth of his claim.

Surrounding Jabal Qadir are many mountains inhabited by black people called "Nubians." Their land is fertile and rich in abundance of cattle, sheep, and wild boars, which they eat. One wild boar is enough to fill three men. In these lands, bees are abundant, and honey is almost as plentiful as water. Tribes of Arabs settled on the slopes of these mountains, intermarrying with the Nubians, forming ties of kinship and close relations. Some of the Arabs settled in the mountains and adopted the customs and manners of the Nubians.