And on the topic of retranslation... I just tried tossing アザーラ (NA version: Azala) into Google, and while most of the results were for information on Chrono Trigger, a few referred to something called メディナ・アザーラ, Medina Azahara in English. I can't say whether there's a deliberate connection or not, but it's possible that Azala's supposed to be al-Zahra or Azahara (depending on which rendition of the Arabic you use). Any thoughts on this?
Very interesting! I don't know what to think about this personally... There are definitely a bunch of Arabo-Islamic references in the game, like the Black Wind (Huayra Yana), Medina, and Prophet Maou (Prophet Muhammad), so this thing with Azala is quite possible. On the other hand, those kinds of references seem to be restrained to the Mystics and Magus, so I'm not sure why the leader of the Reptites in Prehistory would get an Arabic reference. I think this Azahara connection is less pertinent than the other Arabo-Islamic ones. Magus's life parallels Muhammad's life in tons of ways and precise events, while Azala and Azahara don't seem to have much in common besides the fact that Azala's fortress becomes buried and Azahara are buried ruins. Then again, maybe it was the only connection intended, "buried ruins". There is also, maybe, the possibility that this Wikipedia article is not complete in information. The Islamic Black Wind isn't mentioned in Wikipedia either.
Edit: Just as a side-note, Zahra means "brilliant, bright" in Arabic.
