then He said, “and by those who apportion each matter” (51:4). These are the angels, whose rank is higher than all the previously mentioned tiers.
As for what Ibn Qutaybah and other Muslim scholars have related about Ishmael’s being reared in the wilderness of Paran, the Torah records it in exactly these words:
“Abraham rose early, took the boy, together with some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, placing them upon her. He said to her, ‘Go.’ Hagar set out and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water she had ran out, she laid the boy under a tree and sat down opposite him at about the distance of a bowshot, so that she would not see the child die. She lifted up her voice and wept. Allah heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of Allah called to Hagar and said, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Do not fear, for Allah has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Rise, lift up the boy and hold him firmly, for I will make him into a great nation.’ Then Allah opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She filled the skin, gave the boy drink, and Allah was with the boy. He grew up and settled in the wilderness of Paran.”