—the Friend of God—until the idols were finally toppled by Muhammad ﷺ.

Fourteenth Aspect (1): In the prophecy (2) of Isaiah it is said about Mecca, “Lift up your eyes to what surrounds you, and you will be delighted and rejoice, for Allah Most High will cause the treasures of the sea to reach you, and the armies of the nations will make pilgrimage to you. Trains of bedecked camels will cover your land (3), and the ground will grow too narrow for the heavily laden caravans that gather at your gates. The rams of Midian will be driven to you, the people of Sheba will arrive, the flocks of Paran will march toward you, and the men (4) of Nebaioth (5) will serve you.”

What is meant here are the custodians of the Kaʿbah, the descendants of Nebaioth son of Ishmael. They say that every one of these descriptions has come to pass for Mecca (6): the treasures of the sea have been brought to it, the hosts of the nations have performed pilgrimage to it, the flocks of Paran have reached it as gifts, sacrificial animals, and offerings, the earth has become too cramped for the streams of bedecked camels bearing people and their provisions, and the people of Sheba—that is, the Yemenis—have come to it.

Fifteenth Aspect: Isaiah also says concerning Mecca, “I have sworn by Myself, just as I swore in the days of Noah that I would flood the earth with a deluge, that I will never again be wrathful (7)…”