They are the Prominent Hamlets (Qurā al-Ẓāhira)
Al-Imāma wa’l-Tabṣira min al-Ḥayra|Volume 1|Book 3|Chapter 15
عبداللّه بن جعفر الحميري، قال: حدّثني محمد بن صالح الهمداني، قال: كتبت الى صاحب الزمان عليه السلام: إنّ أهل بيتي يؤذونني ويقرعونني بالحديث الذي رُوي عن آبائك عليهم السلام أنّهم قالوا: ((قوّامنا وخدّامنا شرار خلق الله)). فكتب عليه السلام: ويحكم أما تقرأون ما قال عزّ وجل: ﴿وَجَعَلْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ ٱلْقُرَى ٱلَّتِى بَـٰرَكْنَا فِيهَا قُرًۭى ظَـٰهِرَةًۭ﴾. ونحن—والله—القرى التي بارك الله فيها، وأنتم القرى الظاهرة، قال عبداللّه بن جعفر: وحدّثنا بهذا الحديث عليّ بن محمد الكليني عن محمد بن صالح، عن صاحب الزمان عليه السلام.
ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar al-Ḥimyārī, saying that Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-Ḥamadānī narrated to him, who said: “I wrote to the Master of the Era عليه السلام: “The people of my house are harming and taunting me by means of the tradition which has been transmitted from your forefathers عليهم السلام, that they said: “Our stewards and retainers are the worst of Allāh’s creation.” So, he عليه السلام wrote back: “What is the matter with you? Do you not read what He عز وجل said: ﴾We had placed between them and the towns which We had blessed hamlets prominent﴿? [34:18]—We are, by Allāh, the towns that Allāh has blessed, and you are the hamlets prominent.”[1] ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar said: “This tradition has also been narrated to us by ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-Kulaynī from Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ, from the Master of the Era عليه السلام.”