shaykh.”6 He awoke and prayed, “O Lord, make this clearer to me!” Then he was granted another vision in his sleep: “Dig Zamzam, hidden between the viscera and blood,7 where the crow searches, in the anthill, facing the red-stained altars.”8
ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib got up and strode over to the Sacred Mosque, where he sat down inside looking for the sacred signs that were hidden from him. At the Ḥazwarah market a cow had been slaughtered, but it broke free with its last gasps and fled from its butcher until death overtook it inside the Mosque where Zamzam lay. The cow was butchered at that spot and its meat carried away. A crow then approached, swooping down to land in the cow’s inedible remains, and began searching in the anthill.9
ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib stood and began digging at that very spot. The Quraysh came to him and asked, “What are you doing? We have never taken you for an ignorant man. Why are you digging in our mosque?”10 ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib replied, “I am digging this well, and I will defy anyone who prevents me from doing so!” Straightaway he began digging, he and his son al-Ḥārith. In those days, he had no other son besides him. People from the Quraysh would watch them both warily, often even intervening and fighting them. Others from the Quraysh forbade them from doing so because of what they knew of the prestige of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib’s lineage, his honesty, and his commitment to his religion in those days. Thus it was that, although it was possible for him to dig, he was also subjected to harm and abuse; and so he swore an oath: if ten sons were to be granted to him, he would sacrifice one of them. Continuing to dig, he eventually discovered swords that had been buried in Zamzam.11 When the Quraysh saw that he had unearthed the swords, they said, “Give us a share of what you have found.” “No!” ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib replied. “These swords belong to God’s House.”
He dug still more until water sprang forth. Then he dug out the bottom and dredged the well so that it would not run dry. Next he built a basin over the well. Straightaway he and his son began to draw out water and to fill that basin so that pilgrims might drink from it, but some of the Quraysh, full of resentment, would break the basin at night. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib would repair it when he awoke, but after they had ruined it several times, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib called out to his Lord. Again he was granted a vision in his sleep, and a voice instructed him, “Cry out: ‘By God, I will not permit the well to be used by one undertaking ablutions. Rather, it is free to all and a source of refreshment for those seeking to quench their thirst.’ Then you will have fulfilled your obligations toward them.”12 ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib went before the Quraysh while they were disconcerted in the mosque and proclaimed the vision shown to him and then departed. Thereafter, not one of the Quraysh would ruin his basin without being afflicted by some bodily illness, and eventually they left him to tend to his basin and provide water for the pilgrims.
1.1.3
ثمّ تزوّج عبد المطّلب النساء، فولد له عشرة رهط. فقال: اللهمّ إنّي كنت نذرت لك نحر أحدهم وإنّي أقرع بينهم. فأَصِبْ بذلك من شئتَ. فأقرع بينهم، فصارت القرعة على عبد الله بن عبد المطّلب، وكان أحبّ ولده إليه. فقال: اللهمّ هو أحبُّ إليك أو مئة من الإبل؟ قال: ثمّ أقرع بينه وبين مئة من الإبل، فصارت القرعة على مئة من الإبل، فنحرها عبد المطّلب مكان عبد الله.
وكان عبد الله أحسن رجل رُئي في قريش قطّ، فخرج يومًا على نساء من قريش مجتمعاتٍ. فقالت امرأة منهنّ: يا نساء قريش! أيّتكنّ يتزوّجها هذا الفتى؟ فتَصْطَبّ١ النور بين عينيه فإنّ بين عينيه نورًا. فتزوّجته٢ آمنة ابنة وهب بن عبد مناف بن زهرة. فجمعها، فالتقت، فحملت برسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم.
١ مم: نصطت؛ بد: تصطاد.
٢ مم: فزوجته.
After this, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib married several women, and ten sons were born to him, a full troop. “O Lord,” he said, “I gave You my oath that I would sacrifice one of them. I shall cast lots for them,13 so choose in this way whomever You will.” He cast lots between them, and the lot fell upon ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, who was the most beloved of all his children, so he said, “O Lord, which is more desirous to You, he or a hundred camels?” He cast lots between his son and a hundred camels, and the lot fell upon the hundred camels. Thus, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib sacrificed the camels in ʿAbd Allāh’s stead.14
Now ʿAbd Allāh was the finest-looking man ever seen among the Quraysh, and one day when he passed by some Qurashī women gathered together, one of the women said, “O ladies of Quraysh! Which of you shall be wedded to this young man?”—and the light between his eyes shimmered, for light shone from between them.15 Thus it was that Āminah bint Wahb ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Zuhrah was wedded to him. He consummated the union and took her maidenhead, whereupon she became pregnant with the Messenger of God.
1.1.4
ثمّ بعث عبد المطّلب عبد الله بن عبد المطّلب يمتار له تمرًا من يثرب، فتوفّي عبد الله بها. وولدت آمنة رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم. فكان في حجر عبد المطّلب، فاسترضعه امرأة من بني سعد بن بكر.
فنزلت به الّتي ترضعه سوق عكاظ. فرآه كاهن من الكهّان، فقال: يا أهل عكاظ! اقتلوا هذا الغلام! فإنّ له ملكًا! فراعت به أمّه الّتي ترضعه، فنجاه اللهُ.
ثمّ شبّ عندها حتّى إذا سعى وأخته من الرضاعة تحضنه. فجاءت١ أخته من أمّه الّتي ترضعه، فقالت: أي أمّتاه! إنّي رأيتُ رهطًا أخذوا أخي آنفًا، فشقّوا بطنه! فقامت أمّه الّتي ترضعه فزعةً حتّى أتـته. فإذا هو جالس منتقعًا لونه. لا ترى عنده أحدًا.
فارتحلت به حتّى أقدمته على أمّه. فقالت لها: اقبضي عنّي ابنك، فإنّي قد خشيت عليه. فقالت أمّه: لا، والله ما بابني ممّا٢ تخافين. لقد رأيت وهو في بطني أنّه خرج نور منّي أضاءت منه قصور الشام. ولقد ولدته حين ولدته، فـخرّ معتمدًا على يديه رافعًا رأسه إلى السماء.
فافتصلته
