Most durable Arab Quarters maybe close to desert (8)

I believe the answer is:

stablest

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'close to desert' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'most durable arab quarters' is the wordplay.
'most' means to remove the last letter.
'durable' becomes 'stable' (I've seen this before).
'arab quarters' becomes 'est' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'stable' with its final letter taken off is 'stabl'.
'stabl'+'est'='STABLEST'

'maybe' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stablest that I've seen before include "Most unshakable" , "superlatively durable" , "most secure" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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