And when your husband comes, convey my greeting of peace to him and tell him to keep the threshold of his door firm.”
When Ishmael returned he asked, “Has anyone visited you?” She replied, “Yes. An elderly man of dignified appearance came”—and she praised him—“He asked about you and I informed him. Then he inquired about our life, and I told him that we were well.”
He said, “Did he leave you with any instruction?”
She answered, “Yes. He sends you his salām and commands you to set firm the threshold of your door.”
Ishmael said, “That was my father, and you are the threshold; he has ordered me to keep you.”
Abraham stayed away for as long as Allah willed. Then he came again while Ishmael was straightening his arrows beneath a large tree near Zamzam. When Abraham saw him, he went up to him, and they greeted each other as a father and son do.
Abraham said, “O Ishmael, Allah has given me a command.”
Ishmael replied, “Then do what your Lord has commanded.”
Abraham asked, “Will you help me?”
He said, “I will help you.”
Abraham said, “Allah has ordered me to build a House here,” and he pointed to a mound that rose above everything around it.
Thereupon they raised the foundations of the House: Ishmael would bring the stones while Abraham built. When the walls grew high, Ishmael brought this stone, set it in place for him, and Abraham stood upon it building while Ishmael handed him the stones. Together they kept saying, “Our Lord, accept this from us; indeed, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.”
In another narration it is said that Abraham departed with Ishmael and Ishmael’s mother, carrying with them a waterskin filled with water. Ishmael’s mother would drink from it and her milk would flow for her infant until they reached Mecca, where Abraham placed her under a tree and then returned to his family. Ishmael’s mother followed him, and when they reached Kadāʾ she called out from behind him, “O Abraham, to whom are you leaving us?” He answered, “To Allah.” She said, “I am content with Allah,” and she went back. She kept drinking from the waterskin, and her milk continued to flow for her child until