On hearing this, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib said to Abū Ṭālib, “Listen to what these people are saying!” So Abū Ṭālib began to keep a close watch over him. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib also said to Umm Ayman—who was nursing him—“O Barakah, do not neglect my son. I found him with some boys near the lote-tree, and the People of the Scripture claim that my son is the Prophet of this nation.”

ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib would never partake of any food without saying, “Bring me my boy,” and the child would be brought to sit with him. When death approached ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, he charged Abū Ṭālib to protect and guard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Thereafter ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib died and was buried at al-Ḥajūn.

Ibn Isḥāq said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reached eight years of age, his grandfather ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim passed away. He then related how ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib gathered his daughters and instructed them to lament him. They were Arwā, Umayyah, Barra, Ṣafiyyah, ʿĀtikah, and Umm Ḥakīm al-Bayḍāʾ. Ibn Isḥāq quoted the verses they composed in mourning for their father while he listened before his death—an especially intense form of lamentation—and he discussed the matter at length.

Ibn Hishām remarked, “I have not found anyone versed in poetry who recognizes these verses.”

Ibn Isḥāq further said: When ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim died, the responsibilities of Zamzam and the watering of the pilgrims passed to his son al-ʿAbbās, the youngest of his brothers. These duties remained with him until the advent of Islam, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ confirmed them in his hands.

After his grandfather’s death, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stayed with his uncle Abū Ṭālib, both because of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib’s bequest and because Abū Ṭālib was the full brother of his father ʿAbd Allāh—their mother being Fāṭimah bint ʿAmr ibn ʿĀʾidh ibn ʿImrān ibn Makhzūm.

Thus Abū Ṭālib assumed full responsibility for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who lived under his care and in his company.

Al-Wāqidī said: Maʿmar narrated to us from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid; Muʿādh ibn Muḥammad al-Anṣārī narrated to us from ʿAṭāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās; and Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar, and Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Ḥabībah narrated to us—portions of their reports merging together—saying: “When ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib passed away, …”