In recent years there has been a lot of talk about a return to one of Magic: The Gathering's earliest planes: Rabiah.
Bringing back a plane after a long hiatus usually requires something drastic, especially if the original wasn't well received at first. The Kamigawa block of the mid 2000s underwent a complete 'magic meets technology' shift when Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty came out in 2022. Likewise the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block of the late 2000s, which was the worst selling expansion ever at the time of release in 2007, melded the day/night lands into a mixed plane for the 2026 Lorwyn Eclipsed expansion. In recent years, a possible return to Alara has also been teased, with similar changes being thrown about.
But there is one plane that was thought to be impossible to bring back but nearly returned in recent years that has turned a lot of heads - a return to Rabiah.
Rabiah, the Middle Eastern fantasy plane from the 1993 Arabian Nights expansion, has been seen as impossible for many reasons. The fact that the plane name was a joke, that it is based off the real world, some unfortunate cultural implications, and much more. In fact, it was so much seen as a 'one and done' plane that the entire scale of the liklihood of what planes can be returned to in future expansion was named after the plane because of how impossible it was. AKA, the Rabiah Scale.
Nonetheless, Rabiah has been close to being seen again in recent years. In 2023, a scene taking place in Rabiah in the March of the Machine expansion was planned, but this was later switched to the Eldraine plane. Then, in 2025, it was revealed that a return to Rabiah was actually, in Mark Rosewater's words "On the table".
"A world revamp (ala Kamigawa) is on the table," said Rosewater on his Tumblr. "The source material is definitely something we could build a cool world out of. The big question is would we call it Rabiah? The name isn't great (it's creation was kind of a dumb joke), so that doesn't help."
One of the many hang ups is still the name, although there is precedent for name changes. In 2025, the plane of Kaladesh became Avishkar for Aetherdrift because of heightened cultural sensitivity. So that isn't a problem. Previously, Rosewater also noted that Rabiah could just become more generalized Arabian/Persian influenced as well. And, as for sets in real world locations, many expansions and UB sets in the decades since have burrowed into more real world locations, dampening that part of the argument.
It's been more than three decades since Magic has been to Rabiah. It is still listed as a "10" on it's own namesake scale. But there is also increasing buzz and talk from developers about it. What was once seen as impossible is becoming a tiny bit more possible now.
