Abāya a loose outer garment, generally for men, worn traditionally also by non-Muslim communities widely throughout the Middle East. Open in the front, it is kept closed neither by buttons nor by belt.
In Iran the finest ʿabāʾs are those made of camel’s hair of the thick kind, which was soaked in a gelatinous liquid. Left to dry, and then rubbed with pumice stone. Among the poor it could be used as a blanket or rug, folded as a pillow, employed to wrap goods, or as a tote-bag, serve as table-cloth or be made into a shade against the summer sun.