While the mother of Isma‘īl was breastfeeding her son Isma‘īl, Ibrahīm brought them to a place near the House; under a tree on the spot of Zamzam and the highest place in the Mosque. During those days there was nobody in Makkah nor was there any water

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Ibrahīm (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) brought the mother of Isma‘īl,— Hajar, the Copt, whom the King of Egypt had gifted to his wife Sarah — and her son Isma‘īl - who was then being breastfed - to the vicinity of the Ka‘bah. He left them near a big tree over Zamzam, on a high place upon which the Sacred Mosque would later be built. At that time there were no people there nor was there any water.

He left them a leather container of dates and a waterskin. Then Ibrahīm departed to the Levant. The mother of Isma‘īl followed him and wondered where he was going and leaving them in a valley with no people or anything to eat and drink. She asked that many times, but Ibrahīm did not turn to her and instead continued on. Then she asked if Allah had asked him to do this and Ibrahīm said: 'Yes.' She said that Allah would not let them down and returned to her son, while Ibrahīm moved on.

When he reached the Thaniyyah near Al-Hajūn, where they could not see him, he stood in the direction of the Ka‘bah and supplicated, raising his hands, saying that he had left his offspring behind in a valley in Makkah with no vegetation, so they would be devoted to worshipping Allah at the Sacred House (where it is forbidden to hunt, cut trees, and fight) and do their prayers.

He supplicated to Allah to make people’s hearts quick to love them and to provide them with fruit, so they might thank Allah for His blessings. Allah answered the prayers of Ibrahīm. Hajar breastfed Isma‘īl, drank the water, and ate the dates that she had until there were no more water or dates. She and her son became thirsty then, so she looked at her son writhing in pain, hitting the ground, and rolling around on it. Hajar left as she could not look at him in such a state.

She found Safa, the closest mountain to her, and stood on it. Then she looked towards Makkah trying to find people. When she reached the low valley, she did not want to look at her son, so she hastened like an exhausted person, arriving on Marwah. She went seven times between Safa and Marwah in the hope that she would find someone, but she did not. This is the origin of the Sa‘i ritual that people perform during Hajj and ‘Umrah.

When she stood on Marwah, she heard a voice and told herself to listen. As she stayed silent, she heard something again. So, she knew that she had really heard it and needed relief. It was the Archangel Jibrīl in the Zamzam area. He dug with his heel or with his wing until water emerged. So Hajar made something like a basin and scooped water into her waterskin and the water gushed forth as she was scooping.

Ibn ‘Abbās reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “May Allah bestow Mercy on Isma‘īl's mother! Had she not scooped that water, Zamzam would just have been a stream flowing on the surface of the earth.” By this the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) meant that the water would have been a stream. Hajar drank and let her child drink.

The angel told her: “Do not be afraid of being neglected; this is the House of Allah, which will be built by this boy and his father, and Allah never neglects His people.'' The place for the House was elevated like a hillock. Torrents would come down from both sides, but would not submerge it. Later, some people from the tribe of Jurhum passed by Hajar and Isma‘īl. They were coming by the Way of Kadā' and stopped in the low area of Makkah.

They saw a bird hovering over a place and concluded that the bird was hovering over water, although they had never seen water in that valley before. They sent one or two messengers to check it out. Those who were sent came back with the news of there being water. So the people went to the place and Isma‘īl’s mother was sitting by the water, so they asked her permission to camp in her area.

She allowed them to do so, on condition that they would have no right to the water; meaning that she had full rights to the water and that she could give or withhold it if she wished. They agreed. Isma‘īl’s mother was comfortable with them being there, as she hated staying alone. So the Jurhum sent for their families to come and stay there too. They all lived together and increased in numbers. Isma‘īl grew up and learned Arabic from them and their liking for him grew.

When he attained puberty, they married him to a woman from their tribe. Isma‘īl’s mother later died. Ibrahīm came to visit his son after he had married, but did not find him. So he asked his wife where he was and she told him that he had gone out to hunt for them. He asked her about their livelihood and condition, and she told him that they were living in a terrible condition.

Finding her complaining and dissatisfied with what Allah was testing them with, Ibrahīm feared that his son would develop the same feelings, so he told him to divorce her by saying to the woman: “When your husband returns, convey my greetings to him and tell him to change the threshold of the door (of his house).” This is a metaphor for divorce, as a woman is to her husband like a threshold to a door. When Isma‘īl came back from hunting, he felt as if something had happened at his home.

So he asked his wife if someone had visited them. She told him that a man had been. She described him and said that he asked her about their condition and that she had told him that they were in distress. Isma‘īl asked her if the man had given her any advice. She said that the man had sent him his greetings and asked him to change the threshold of his door. Isma‘īl recognized the man to be his father and realized that he had told him to divorce his wife.

So he asked the woman to rejoin her family; meaning that she was divorced. He married another woman from the Jurhum tribe. After a while, Ibrahīm came to visit Isma‘īl but did not find him. His wife said that he had gone out to seek provisions. Another report says that she invited Ibrahīm to come and have some food and water. He asked her about their condition and she said that they were doing well and thanked Allah.

He asked her what kind of food they ate and she said meat and the water of Zamzam and rain water was what they drank. So Ibrahīm prayed that Allah would bless their meat and water. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said that if they also had grain at that time, Ibrahīm would have invoked divine blessings on it too. Ibn ‘Abbās said that if anyone outside Makkah only eats meat and water, they would suffer from stomachaches and a bad temperament.

Then Ibrahīm asked the woman to convey his greetings to Isma‘īl and told him to keep the threshold of his door. When Isma‘īl returned from hunting, he felt as if something had happened. Another narration says that he perceived the scent of his father. He asked his wife what had happened, so she told him, speaking in good terms of an old man and reporting his questions about their livelihood. She also told him that the old man had greeted Isma‘īl and asked him to keep the threshold of his door.

Upon this, Isma‘īl said that that man had been his father who had told him to keep his wife. After a while, Ibrahīm came again while Isma‘īl was under a tree close to Zamzam repairing his arrow before attaching the arrowhead to it. When he saw him, he stood up and welcomed him. They did as a son and a father would do; shaking hands and embracing. Ibrahīm told Isma‘īl that Allah had given him an order to build a house on an elevated place; on the hillock.

Ibrahīm raised the foundations of the House there and built on them. Isma‘īl brought the stones and Ibrahīm would descend from the Maqām to take the stones from him and climb up to put them where appropriate. When the building was very tall, he brought the Maqām stone. When he reached the corner, he put it in its place, thus making the Maqām connected to the House.

While he was building and Isma‘īl was handing him the stones, they were both praying that Allah would accept their building of the House, as Allah heard their prayers and knew their work. The statement that Isma‘īl learned Arabic is strong proof that the Arabic language is an ancient language and that it existed even before Ibrahīm. However, Isma‘īl was the first to have pronounced clear Arabic.

A Hadīth says: “The first (person) whose tongue spoke clear Arabic was Isma‘īl when he was a fourteen-year old boy.'' [Ash-Shirāzi; classified as Sahīh by Al-Albāni]