and she suckled her son. The angel then said to her, “Do not fear being abandoned, (1) for a House of Allah shall be erected here by this boy and his father, and Allah never neglects His people.” In those days the site of the House stood above the surrounding land like a mound; when torrents came, they split, flowing to its right and left.

They remained thus until a travelling party from the tribe of Jurhum—or, some say, a single family of Jurhum—approached from the road of Kadaaʾ. They camped in the lower part of Makkah and noticed a bird circling overhead, (2) whereupon they said, “That bird is hovering over water, yet we know this valley to have none.” They therefore sent one or two scouts; when the scouts reached the spot, they found water. They hurried back with the news, so the whole party came, and the mother of Ishmael was sitting by the spring.

They asked, “May we settle near you?” She replied, “Yes, but you will have no claim to the water.” They said, “Agreed.” Ibn ʿAbbas reported that the Prophet ﷺ commented, “Her fondness for company led her to grant them this.” They settled there, later summoning their kinsfolk, who also settled alongside them, until they became a community with tents all around. Meanwhile the boy grew up, (3) learned Arabic from them, adopted their finer qualities, (4) and, when he attained maturity, impressed them greatly; so they married him to one of their women.

The mother of Ishmael then passed away. After Ishmael’s marriage, Abraham came to see how his family were faring. (5) Not finding Ishmael, he asked his wife where he was. She replied, “He has gone out to seek provision for us”—in another version: “He has gone hunting for us.” Abraham then asked her about their life and circumstances.

She said, “We are in hardship and distress,” and she complained to him. He said, “When your husband returns, convey my greetings to him and tell him to change the threshold of his door.”

When Ishmael came back, he sensed that something had happened and asked, “Has anyone visited you?” She said, “Yes, an old man of such and such description came. He asked after you and I told him. He also asked about our livelihood, and I told him we were in hardship and distress.”

He asked, “Did he leave you any message?” She replied, “Yes, he told me to convey his greetings to you and said, ‘Change the threshold of your door.’”

Ishmael said, “That was my father, and he has instructed me to separate from you. Go back—”