Ibn ʿAsākir (1) relates, with his chain of transmission to Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: “Beside the grave of Abraham the Friend (peace be upon him) a stone was discovered on which the following words were inscribed (2):

[verses in rajaz metre]
A heedless man is beguiled by hope—
when his appointed term arrives, he dies.
Whoever draws near to his demise—
no stratagem will avail him.
How shall the last remain
when those before him have departed?
To the grave a man is followed by nothing
save his deeds.

(3) The Children of Abraham
The first to be born to him was Ishmael, from Hagar the Copt of Egypt. After that came Isaac, from Sarah, daughter of Abraham’s paternal uncle. He then married Qanṭūrā bint Yaqṭan the Canaanite, who bore him six sons: Midian, Zimrān, Sarj, Naqshān, Nashq—and the sixth is not named. Later he married Ḥajūn bint Ahīn, who bore him five: Kīsān, Sūrāj, Amīm, Lūṭān, and Nāfis. This is how Abū al-Qāsim al-Suhaylī records the matter in his work al-Taʿrīf wa-l-Iʿlām.

[The Story of the People of Lot (peace be upon him)]

(5) Among the great events that took place during the lifetime of Abraham the Friend (peace be upon him) is the story of the people of Lot (peace be upon him) and the devastating punishment that struck them (6). Lot was the son of Hārān son of Tārikh—who is Āzar, as mentioned earlier—and thus Lot was the nephew of Abraham. Abraham, Hārān, and Nāḥūr were brothers, as we have already noted. Some claim that this Hārān built the town of Ḥarrān, but this is weak, for it conflicts with what is found in the Scriptures of the People of the Book; Allah knows best.

Lot, at the instruction and with the permission of his uncle Abraham (peace be upon them), moved away from his settlement and took up residence in the city of Sodom, in the land of