653 – Anas (Allah be pleased with him) relates: “The Prophet ﷺ performed the Zhuhr, ʿAsr, Maghrib, and ʿIshaʾ prayers; then he lay down for a short rest at al-Muhassab. After that he mounted, proceeded to the House, and circumambulated it.” Reported by al-Bukhari (1).

654 – ʿAʾishah (Allah be pleased with her) said that she herself would not do so—that is, she would not camp at al-Abtah—and she would remark: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ only stopped there because it was the most convenient place from which to depart.” Reported by Muslim (2).

Glossary of the hadith:
• raqda: a brief nap; the term is spelled with an unpointed rāʾ, a quiescent qāf, followed by dāl and a feminine tāʾ.
• al-Muhassab: both ḥāʾ and ṣād are unpointed; the form is in the pattern mufʿal, a passive participle derived from ḥaṣbāʾ (small pebbles). It was so named because floodwaters would deposit gravel there. Here it denotes the valley of Ibrāhīm, which descends from the upper part of Mecca and exits from its lower end. In this context its limits run from the bend of the road to the al-Ḥajūn (al-Maʿlā) cemetery. It is also called al-Abtah and al-Baṭḥāʾ. I knew it before the area was paved: its ground was all pebbles. Today there are no pebbles, no Muhassab, no Baṭḥāʾ—the road has been asphalted, its sides tiled, buildings have risen on both flanks, and al-Muhassab has become one of Mecca’s major commercial markets.