son of Mudrikah, son of Ilyas, son of Mudar, son of Nizar, son of Maʿdd, son of ʿAdnān.

My father said: Between Maʿdd and Ismaʿil there are a little more than thirty forefathers; he neither named them nor deemed their line authoritative.

I add: The rest of these names are non-Arabic, and some of them can be written only approximately.

It has been said about Allah’s words, “and his close kin who shelter him” (Q 70:13), that the Prophet’s ﷺ close kin (faṣīlah) are the Banū ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib—his uncles and their sons—while his clan (fakhdh) is the Banū Hāshim. The Banū ʿAbd Manāf are his sub-tribe (baṭn), Quraysh his resident tribe (ʿamārah), the Banū Kinānah his broader tribe (qabīlah), and Muḍar his confederation (shaʿbah).

Al-Awzāʿī said: Shaddād Abū ʿAmmār related to me, saying: Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ related to me, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah chose Kinānah from the descendants of Ismaʿil, chose Quraysh from Kinānah, chose Hāshim from Quraysh, and chose me from among the sons of Hāshim.” Muslim related this.

His mother was Āminah bint Wahb ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Zuhrah ibn Kilāb, and thus, by one male ancestor, she was closer in descent to Kilāb than her husband ʿAbd Allāh.