The correct view, however, is that he did so for both reasons, for the account states that he began looking at her and she at him.

Another man there asked him about his mother, saying, “She is very elderly. If I carry her, she cannot hold on, and if I tie her in place, I fear I may kill her.” He said, “Tell me, if your mother owed a debt, would you repay it?” The man replied, “Yes.” He said, “Then perform Hajj on behalf of your mother” (1).

When he reached the valley floor of Muhassir, he urged his she-camel onward and quickened his pace. This was his usual practice in places where Allah’s punishment had descended upon His enemies, for it was there that the People of the Elephant suffered what Allah has recounted to us. The valley was therefore named Muhassir because the elephant became exhausted there (2), meaning that it grew weary and could go no farther (3). He did likewise when passing through al-Hijr and the dwellings (4) of Thamūd: he covered his head and face with his garment and quickened his pace (5).

Muhassir is an intervening tract between Minā and (6) Muzdalifah, belonging to neither.

‘Uranah is an intervening tract between ‘Arafah and al-Mash‘ar al-Harām (the Sacred Site). Thus, between every two ritual sites lies an intervening tract that belongs to neither (7).