He is the son of ʿAbd Allāh, who was the youngest (1) of his father ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib’s children and the second intended for sacrifice, ransomed—as mentioned earlier—with one hundred camels (2).

Al-Zuhrī (3) said: He was the most handsome man of Quraysh.

His paternal uncles were al-Ḥārith, al-Zubayr, Ḥamzah, Ḍirār, Abū Ṭālib—whose given name was ʿAbd Manāf—Abū Lahab—ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā—al-Muqawwim—ʿAbd al-Kaʿbah, and, according to some, these were two distinct persons—Ḥajl (al-Mughīrah), and al-Ghaydāq, famed for his generosity (Nawfal); another report says that al-Ghaydāq and Ḥajl were one and the same. These, then, were his uncles, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

His aunts were six: Arwā, Umaymah, Barra, Ṣafiyyah, ʿĀtikah, and Umm Ḥakīm—known as al-Bayḍāʾ. We shall speak about each of them later, if Allah wills.

All of them were the children of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, whose given name was Shaybah. He was so called because of a white streak of hair on his head, and he was also known as Shaybat al-Ḥamd because of his munificence.

He came to be called ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib for the following reason. When his father Hāshim passed through Madinah on a trading journey to Syria, he stayed with ʿAmr ibn Zayd ibn Labīd ibn Ḥarām ibn Khidāsh ibn Khindif ibn ʿAdī ibn al-Najjār al-Khazrajī al-Najjārī (4), the chief of his clan. Hāshim admired his daughter Salmā, sought her hand, and ʿAmr married her to him on the condition that she remain with her father. Another report states that the condition was that she give birth only in Madinah. After returning from Syria, Hāshim consummated the marriage and took her to Mecca. On another trading expedition he set out with her while she was pregnant, left her in Madinah, and continued to Syria, where he died in Gaza. Salmā gave birth to a son whom she named Shaybah. The boy remained with his maternal uncles of Banū ʿAdī ibn al-Najjār for seven years, after which his uncle al-Muṭṭalib ibn ʿAbd Manāf (5) came, took him secretly from his mother, and brought him to Mecca.

When the Meccans saw the boy riding behind al-Muṭṭalib they asked, “Who is this with you?” He replied, “My slave.” They congratulated him and began calling the boy “ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib” (Muṭṭalib’s slave); the name stuck. He rose to great prominence among Quraysh, surpassing them in honor and leadership. Their collective affairs rested with him, and after al-Muṭṭalib he assumed the duties of providing water and food to the pilgrims. He is the one who reopened the well of Zamzam after it had been blocked since the time of the Jurhum tribe, and he was the first to adorn the Kaʿbah with gold, plating its doors with the two golden gazelles (6) and the qalʿī swords (7) he had found in Zamzam.