 Following the Arab conquest in the 7th century , Haifa was used to refer to a site established on Tell es @-@ Samak upon what were already the ruins of Sycaminon ( Shiqmona ) . Haifa ( or Haifah ) is mentioned by the mid @-@ 11th @-@ century Persian chronicler Nasir Khusraw , and the 12th- and 13th @-@ century Arab chroniclers , Muhammad al @-@ Idrisi and Yaqut al @-@ Hamawi . 
