A mention of some occurrences that took place during the period of interruption ‑ among them the rebuilding of the Ka‘bah (1).
It has been said that Adam was the first to build it, and a marfū‘ report is related to that effect from ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Amr; its chain, however, contains Ibn Luhay‘ah, who is weak (2). The strongest opinion is that the first to build it was Abraham, the Friend (of Allah), as noted earlier (3).
Simāk b. Ḥarb likewise transmitted from Khālid b. ‘Ar‘uwah, from ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, that “it later collapsed, whereupon the Amalekites rebuilt it; it collapsed again and Jurhum rebuilt it; then it collapsed once more and Quraysh rebuilt it” (4).
I say: We shall come to Quraysh’s reconstruction of it—a work completed five years before the Prophet’s mission, though some say fifteen. Al-Zuhrī stated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had reached puberty by then. All of this will be discussed in its proper place, God willing; He alone is our trust.
[The Account of Ka‘b b. Lu’ayy]
Abū Nu‘aym related through the isnād of Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. Zabālah, from Muḥammad b. Ṭalḥah al-Taymī, from Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. al-Ḥārith, from Abū Salamah, who said:
“Ka‘b b. Lu’ayy used to gather his people on Friday—a day Quraysh called al-‘Arūbah (5)—and address them, saying:
‘To proceed: listen and learn, grasp and know. A still night and a radiant day, the earth a cradle, the sky a roof, the mountains pegs, and the stars beacons. Those who came first are like those who come last; the female and the male, every pair will one day wither away (7). So keep the bonds of kinship, honor your in-laws, and cultivate your wealth. Have you ever seen a dead man return, or one who has perished brought back to life? The final abode lies before you, and things are not as you suppose. Beautify and revere your Sanctuary, cling to it, for a momentous news awaits it: from it will emerge a noble Prophet.’
Then he would say:
[From al-Ṭawīl]
‘Day and night unfailingly bring new events;
Alike to us are the courses of her night and day.’