Chapter (1)
Concerning the Descendants of Ishmael—the Arabs of the Ḥijaz—and their affairs during the Age of Ignorance up to the time of the Prophetic mission

The account of Ishmael himself, peace be upon him, has already been given in the section on the prophets (2), together with the story of how his father Abraham the Friend, peace be upon him, carried him along with his mother Hagar and settled her (3) in the valley of Mecca among the mountains of Paran, where there was neither inhabitant nor sound. Ishmael was then a suckling infant (4). Abraham departed, leaving them there by God’s command, and Hagar had with her nothing but a pouch of dates and a waterskin (5). When these provisions were exhausted, God caused Zamzam to gush forth for Hagar—a spring that is “a food that satisfies and a cure for illness”—as has been set out earlier in the lengthy ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās narrated by al-Bukhārī (6).

Subsequently the tribe of Jurhum—one of the ancient, original Arab peoples—came to Hagar in Mecca on the understanding that they would have no right to the water beyond what they themselves drank and made use of. Hagar found companionship in them, and the Friend, peace be upon him, would keep an eye on their situation from time to time. It is said that he would ride the Burāq from the land of Jerusalem on his journeys to and fro. When the boy grew up, thrived, and could walk with his father, the episode of the sacrifice took place; as previously explained, the correct view is that the intended victim was Ishmael.

When he reached maturity he married a woman from Jurhum, then divorced her and married another, al-Sayyidah bint Muḍāḍ ibn ʿAmr, the chief of Jurhum. To him were born the twelve sons (7) already mentioned: Nābit, Qaydar, Adbīl (8), Mīshā, Masmaʿ, Māsā, Dumā (9), Adhr, Yaṭūr, Nayshā, Ṭīmā, and Qaydhumā. So records Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq (10) and others, citing the books of the People of the Scripture. He also had one daughter named Nasamah, whom he married to