RECORD OF ESMA’IL, U. W. B., ETC.; WITH AN EXPLANA­TION
OF HIS AFFAIRS AND OF HIS MISSION.

As has already been said, his blessed birth took place in Syria, but he was in his infancy exiled to Mekkah, where he grew up and attained maturity. He learned equitation and archery in the tribe of Jorham that lived in the vicinity; he had been presented by this tribe with seven sheep, which increased by the favour of the Lord and sender of blessings to such numbers that the calculators of the world were unable to find out their amount. Masu’di relates in the ‘Akhbâr-uz-zamân’ that the first people who were inclined to associate with Esma’il and came to the Zemzem well, were the tribe of A’mâlek, after whom the Jorhamites arrived from the country of Yemen, and established themselves in Mekkah. As the story of Esma’il’s marriage and of Ebrahim’s coming to visit him has been related above, it need not be repeated in this place; but as the recital has also been narrated in a more eloquent manner, and is now before the author, unfolded in a trustworthy chronicle, it has strong claims to a place in this work; accordingly, the double-tongued reed proceeds to jot it down, and says that after the completion of the house of God, and Ebrahim’s return, Esma’il became very rich in cattle and sheep, the people agreed with each other and gave him A’mra, the daughter of Aa’d Bin Asama of the tribe of A’mâlek, for a wife. Some time after Ebrahim had separated from Esma’il he again wished to see him, and, mounting Borâq, sped to the sanctuary, but before leaving Syria his wife Sarah had, on account of the great jealousy to which she was subject, requested her husband not to alight in Esma’il’s house. He agreed, and after taking leave of her and performing the journey, he reached the noble city of Mekkah, arrived at the door of Esma’il’s habitation; but not finding his son at home, he saw a female coming out of the house, who proved, on inquiry, to be Esma’il’s spouse, and to the question how they fared, A’mra replied: ‘As God willeth,’ without adding an epithet of gratitude to the name of the universal Bene­factor. After that Ebrahim asked where Esma’il was, but she replied: ‘What asketh thou about a man who is not in the house?’ and to the question when her husband would return, A’mra rejoined that she knew not. To all his inquiries she returned proud answers, and never asked Ebrahim to alight, nor did she make use of any civilities. Therefore Ebrahim said to her: ‘When thy husband returns, give him my salutation, and say: Thy father advises thee to change thy threshold.’ A’mra complied. And when Esma’il arrived at home, some time after his father’s departure, he smelt the odour of his presence, and saw the marks of the hoofs of Borâq; he asked his spouse whether anyone had been there in his absence, and she informed him that an aged man, looking so-and-so, had come to the house, and she told him the message he had entrusted her with. Esma’il then said that this was his own father, and added: ‘As he was not pleased with thee, he advised me to divorce thee.’ Accordingly, Esma’il separated himself from her, and married Saida, the daughter of Masâs Bin O’mar the Jorhamite. When Ebrahim came the next time to Mekkah, he hastened to pay a visit to his son, but the latter happened to be engaged in the chase as on the former occasion, and on meeting his wife, Ebrahim accosted her with the question: ‘Who art thou?’ She replied: ‘I am the daughter of Masâs Bin O’mar, and the wife of Esma’il.’ Ebrahim further asked, ‘How do you do?’ She continued: ‘Praise be to Allah, we spend our life in comfort and happiness.’ Ebrahim asked, ‘What kind of a man is thy husband?’ She continued: ‘The best of consorts.’ After this Saida requested Ebrahim to alight to enable her to perform the duties of hospitality; but on his reply that he had no power to do so, she said that, as his hair was entangled, he should kindly allow her to wash it and to anoint it. Ebrahim agreed, whereon Saida placed a stone under his right foot, but kept the other in his stirrup till she had washed one half of his hair, then Saida moved the stone to the other side to enable him to place his left foot on it until she had washed the other side of his blessed head; the mark, however, of his blessed foot remained impressed on the stone. Some commentators assert that the said spot is the Place of Ebrahim.* When Saida had finished washing Ebrahim’s head, she put some cheese on a dish and held it with both her hands until he had, mounted as he was, consumed the cheese. Then he told Saida to inform her husband on his return that Ebrahim had said: ‘The threshold of thy house is good, and fail not to keep it.’ When the Friend of the Merciful was about to return, he asked Saida whether they had any bread in the house, but she replied that she knew not what bread was, and to the question whether she had any fruit or dates she gave the same reply. Then Ebrahim began to weep, and said: ‘O Lord, I have caused my seed to dwell in an uncultivated country, near Thy holy house,’ as far as the words ‘and give them fruits.’* It is said that there was no necessity to mark the place, because the words ‘near Thy holy house’ point it out sufficiently. Ebrahim had uttered the above words by way of helplessness, after he had finished building the Ka’bah, as appears from the context of the recital.

In short, after Ebrahim had returned to Syria, Esma’il arrived at night in his house, and smelt the odour of his beloved father as well as of Borâq. He asked his wife whether anyone had come to the house during the day, and she said: ‘Yes, an old man has honoured it with his presence, the like of which in nobility I have never seen before; he possessed the dignity of kings, the aspect of the pious and the light of the prophets. Look at the marks of his feet which have remained on this stone.’ Hereon Esma’il assembled his children, and said, ‘This is the place of your father;’ all his followers likewise wept, and kissed that stone with the greatest reverence.

Historians have recorded that by the blessing of Ebrahim’s prayer the Almighty—w. n. b. e.—commanded Jebrâil and Mikâil to take up the localities of Tayif and of Ramlah, and to set them down near Mekkah, to enable the children of Esma’il to live in comfort and abundance, because in those two places victuals and fruits are very plentiful. Allah—w. n. b. e.—has said: ‘Remember Esma’il in the book, for he was a righteous man, who kept his promise; a messenger [i.e. apostle] and a prophet.’* Kalbi, who is one of the most trustworthy expounders, has said that Esma’il was so true to his promises, that on a certain occasion when he had said that he would stop in a certain place to wait for the arrival of a man, the latter had forgotten it and never went there until a whole year elapsed, when he found Esma’il still present in the locality. Some say that Esma’il had waited for him three days, when he at last made his appearance; the best words, however, are nearest to the truth, and Allah is most wise!

It is related that after the decease of his father Esma’il went to Syria, for the purpose of visiting the tomb of his parent; he also took possession of his inheritance, and was likewise honoured with the dignity of a prophet. The Almighty—w. n. b. e.—sent him to convert a community of Pharaonites who had emigrated from Egypt and were settled in the country of Yemen. Esma’il went among them, and was inviting that sinful and rebellious tribe during a long series of years to accept the orthodox religion of Ebrahim, but those obstinate wretches refused to partake of the greatest felicity, and having remained wandering in the desert of deception and perdition, they never reached the fountain-head of guidance and favour.

It is said that Esma’il had twelve sons, the oldest of whom was called Thâbut; and of all his children only the last mentioned and Qidâr continued to dwell around the sanctuary; the remainder dispersed all over Arabia, where they settled and begat a numerous progeny, who conquered their antagonists wherever they met them. It is related that when old age and debility had overtaken Esma’il, he appointed Qidâr to be his successor, and was a short time afterwards taken up from this dreary abode of our world, into the gardens of the paradise of promise.