and ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb came there when he conquered Jerusalem, and again after the conquest of Syria, when he concluded a treaty with the Christians requiring them to pay the jizyah and imposed the well-known conditions upon them, and came a third time as far as Sargh, accompanied by leading figures among the earliest Emigrants and Helpers, none of them went to Abraham’s cave or to any other sites associated with the prophets in Syria, whether in Jerusalem, Damascus, or elsewhere. These include the three sites on Mount Qāsiyūn: on its western side, the hill associated with Jesus—peace be upon him; on its eastern side, the station attributed to Abraham—peace be upon him; and in its upper central part, the Cave of Blood, associated with Abel’s murder by Cain.
The earliest forerunners did not deliberately seek out these places or others like them, visit them, or hope to obtain blessings from them, for they are sites of polytheism. Hence devils are frequently found there. More than one person has seen them in human form. People call them “men of the unseen,” imagining that they are human beings hidden from sight, whereas they are only jinn. Jinn, too, are called “men,” as Allah Most High says:
“And there were men among humankind who sought refuge with men among the jinn, so they increased them in burden.”
Humans are called ins because they are perceived—that is, seen—as Allah Most High says:
“Indeed, I have seen a fire.”
That is, “I saw it.” Jinn are called jinn because of their concealment: they hide from sight—that is, they remain concealed—as Allah Most High says:
“So when the night covered him.”
That is, it overtook him, covering and concealing him. No human being remains permanently hidden from