Prophet Ibrahim

The story of Ibrahim al-Khalil (peace be upon him).

He is Ibrahim, son of Tarikh, son of Nahur, son of Sarugh, son of Raghu, son of Falagh, son of 'Abar, son of Shalakh, son of Arfakhshad, son of Sam, son of Nuh (peace be upon him). This is the text of the People of the Book in their book; I have noted, under their names and according to their own indications, their lifespans written in Indian numerals, as they mentioned them; and we have already covered the age of Nuh (peace be upon him), which dispensed with repeating it.

The hafiz Ibn 'Asakir reported, in the biographical notice of Ibrahim al-Khalil taken from his history, from Ishaq ibn Bishr al-Kahili, author of the Kitab al-Mubtada, that the name of Ibrahim's mother was Umayla; then he cited from him, in the account of her giving birth to him, a long account. Her name was Nuna, daughter of Karnaba, son of Kutha, of the Banu Arfakhshad, son of Sam, son of Nuh (peace be upon him).

Ibn 'Asakir reported by another route that Ibrahim's kunya was Abu adh-Dhifan. They said: when Tarikh reached the age of 75, Ibrahim, Nahur and Haran were born to him, and Lut (peace be upon him) was born to Haran. In their view, Ibrahim was the one of the three who held the middle rank, and Haran died in his father's lifetime in his land, the one in which he was born, namely the land of the Chaldeans, that is, the land of Babylon. This is the correct and widespread version among the people of the sira, the chronicles and the reports; the hafiz Ibn 'Asakir authenticated it after reporting it via Hisham ibn 'Ammar: from al-Walid: from Sa'id ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz: from Makhul: Ibrahim was born in the Ghouta of Damascus, in a village called Barza, on a mountain called Qasiyoun.

The truth is that he was born in Babylon; this place of prayer was attributed to him only because he prayed there when he came to the aid of Lut (peace be upon him). So Ibrahim married Sara, and Nahur married Milka, daughter of Haran, that is, the daughter of his brother. Sara was barren and bore no children. Tarikh set out with his son Ibrahim, his wife Sara and his brother's son, Lut son of Haran, and brought them out of the land of the Chaldeans to the land of the Canaanites; they settled in Harran, and Tarikh died there at the age of 250.

This indicates that he was not born in Harran, but that his birth took place in the land of the Chaldeans, that is, the land of Babylon and its surroundings. Then they migrated heading for the land of the Canaanites, which is the land of Bayt al-Maqdis, and they settled in Harran, which at that time was the land of the Kashdaniyyin; the same applied to the land of the Jazira and of Syria. They worshipped the seven planets; those who inhabited the city of Damascus followed this religion: they faced the north pole and worshipped the seven planets with all sorts of acts and words; for this reason, each of the seven ancient gates of Damascus had its temple dedicated to one of these planets, to which festivals and sacrificial offerings were devoted. Likewise, the people of Harran worshipped the planets and the idols; and all those who were on the face of the earth were disbelievers, except for Ibrahim al-Khalil, his wife and his brother's son, Lut (peace be upon him).

The Khalil is the one through whom Allah removed those darknesses and rendered void that misguidance: Allah granted him rectitude in his youth, sent him as a messenger, and took him as an intimate friend in his maturity. "And We had certainly given Ibrahim his rectitude before: We knew him well" (al-Anbiya, 51), that is, he was worthy of it.

"And Ibrahim, when he said to his people: worship Allah and fear Him: that is better for you, if you knew. You worship, besides Allah, only idols, and you forge a lie. Those whom you worship besides Allah possess no provision for you: so seek your sustenance from Allah, worship Him and be grateful to Him: to Him you will be brought back. And if you deny, communities before you denied: nothing is incumbent on the messenger but clear transmission.

Do they not see how Allah originates creation, then renews it? That is easy for Allah. Say: travel through the earth and see how He originated creation: then Allah will produce the later genesis: Allah has power over all things. He punishes whom He wills and shows mercy to whom He wills: and to Him you will be turned back.

You cannot cause failure on earth nor in heaven: and you have, besides Allah, neither protector nor helper. And those who disbelieve in the verses of Allah and in meeting Him: those despair of My mercy: and those will have a painful punishment. So the only answer of his people was to say: kill him, or burn him: but Allah saved him from the fire. In that are signs for a people who believe.

He said: you have taken, besides Allah, only idols out of affection among you in the life of this world: then, on the Day of Resurrection, some of you will disown others, and some of you will curse others: your refuge is the Fire, and you will have no helpers. And Lut believed in him. He said: I am emigrating to my Lord: He is the Mighty, the Wise."

Surat al-'Ankabout, 16-26

"Then We gave him Isaac and Jacob, and We placed in his descendants prophethood and the Book: We gave him his reward in this world: and he is, in the hereafter, among the righteous."

Surat Maryam, 49-50

Then the Most High mentioned his debate with his father and his people, as we shall mention, Allah the Most High willing. The first of his calls was addressed to his father, for his father was one of those who worshipped idols: he is, after all, the most deserving of men of sincere counsel.

"And mention in the Book Ibrahim: he was a truthful man, a prophet. When he said to his father: O my father, why do you worship what neither hears nor sees, and can avail you nothing? O my father, there has come to me of knowledge what has not come to you: so follow me, I will guide you to a straight path. O my father, do not worship the devil: the devil was rebellious against the Most Merciful.

O my father, I fear that a punishment from the Most Merciful may touch you, and that you may become an ally of the devil. He said: do you turn away from my gods, O Ibrahim? If you do not desist, I will surely stone you: so leave me for a long while. He said: peace be upon you: I will ask my Lord to forgive you: He has been gracious to me.

I withdraw from you, and from what you invoke besides Allah, and I invoke my Lord: perhaps I shall not be, by the invocation of my Lord, unhappy."

Surat Maryam, 41-48

The Most High mentions the dialogue and the controversy that took place between him and his father, and how he called his father to the truth with the most delicate wording and the finest of allusions: he made clear to him the nullity of the worship of idols he was upon, worship that does not hear the call of its worshipper and does not see where he is: how then could it avail him anything, or do him any good in the matter of provision or support?

Then he said, drawing attention to what Allah had given him of guidance and beneficial knowledge, he who was younger in age than his father: "O my father, there has come to me of knowledge what has not come to you: so follow me, I will guide you to a straight path" (Maryam, 43). That is: straight, clear, easy, inclined to goodness: it will lead you to happiness in your lower life and your hereafter. When he presented this rectitude to him and conveyed this sincere counsel to him, he did not accept it from him, nor take it from him: rather, he threatened him and warned him: "do you turn away from my gods, O Ibrahim? If you do not desist, I will surely stone you" by words and by deeds, "and leave me for a long while", that is: break with me and prolong your absence.

Then Ibrahim said to him: "peace be upon you": may nothing unpleasant reach you from me, may no harm reach you from me: rather, you are safe from my side: "I will ask my Lord to forgive you: He has been gracious to me", that is: gentle: He has guided me to His worship and sincerity toward Him. "I withdraw from you, and from what you invoke besides Allah, and I invoke my Lord: perhaps I shall not be, by the invocation of my Lord, unhappy. Ibrahim did indeed ask forgiveness for him, as he had promised him in his supplications; then, when it became clear to him that he was an enemy of Allah, he disavowed him: for Ibrahim's asking of forgiveness for his father was only a promise he had made to him; and when it became clear to him that he was an enemy of Allah, he disavowed him. Ibrahim was indeed most tender and most forbearing (Hud, 75).

Isma'il ibn 'Abd Allah narrated to us: my brother 'Abd al-Hamid narrated to me: from Ibn Abi Dhi'b: from Sa'id al-Maqbari: from Abu Hurayra, who said: Ibrahim will meet his father Azar on the Day of Resurrection, and on Azar's face will be soot and dust. Did I not tell you: do not disobey me? So today I do not disobey you. Lord, You promised me that You would not disgrace me on the day they are resurrected: and what disgrace is deeper than that of a father far removed? I have made Paradise forbidden to the disbelievers. Ibrahim, what is beneath your feet? He looked: behold, a carcass smeared with blood: it was seized by its legs and cast into the Fire. This is how he reported it, in the story of Ibrahim, uniquely.

And he said in the tafsir: Ibrahim ibn Tahman said: from Ibn Abi Dhi'b: from Sa'id ibn Abi Sa'id al-Maqbari: from his father: from Abu Hurayra. This is how an-Nasa'i reported it: from Ahmad ibn Hafs ibn 'Abd Allah: from his father: from Ibrahim ibn Tahman, in these words. Al-Bazzar also reported it from the hadith of Hammad ibn Salama: from Ayyub: from Muhammad ibn Sirin: from Abu Hurayra: from the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in similar terms: and his version contains a singularity. He also reported it from the hadith of Qatada: from 'Uqba ibn 'Abd al-Ghafir: from Abu Sa'id: from the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in similar terms. "And when Ibrahim said to his father Azar: do you take idols as gods? I see you and your people in clear misguidance" (al-An'am, 74). This indicates that the name of Ibrahim's father was Azar. The majority of the genealogists, among them Ibn 'Abbas, hold that his father's name was Tarah, written with a kha; he would have been nicknamed after an idol he worshipped, called Azar.

The correct view is that his name was Azar; he may have had two proper names, or one of the two was a nickname and the other a proper name: this opinion is possible, and Allah knows best.

"Thus We showed Ibrahim the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, that he might be among those who have certainty. When the night covered him, he saw a star and said: this is my Lord. But when it set, he said: I do not love those that set. When he saw the moon rising, he said: this is my Lord.

But when it set, he said: if my Lord does not guide me, I shall surely be among the people gone astray. When he saw the sun rising, he said: this is my Lord: this is greater. But when it set, he said: O my people, I am free of what you associate. I have turned my face toward Him who created the heavens and the earth, in pure and sincere religion: and I am not of those who associate.

His people disputed with him. He said: do you dispute with me about Allah, while He has guided me? I do not fear what you associate with Him, unless my Lord wills something. My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge: will you not then take heed?

And how should I fear what you have associated, while you do not fear that you have associated with Allah that for which He has sent down upon you no authority? Which of the two parties has more right to security, if you knew? Those who believed and did not veil their faith with wrongdoing: those have security: and they are the guided. And such is Our argument: We gave it to Ibrahim against his people: We raise in degrees whom We will: your Lord is Wise, Knowing."

Surat al-An'am, 75-83

This is the moment of the debate with his people, in which he demonstrated to them that these visible bodies, the shining stars, cannot qualify for divinity, nor be worshipped alongside Allah: for they are created, nourished, made, governed and subservient: now they rise, now they set and vanish from this world, whereas the Most High Lord: nothing is absent from Him and no hidden thing escapes Him: He is the Everlasting who endures without end: there is no god but He, and no lord besides Him. He first demonstrated to them the incapacity of the star, Venus: for this reason he rose from it to the moon, brighter than it and more beautiful in its grace: then he rose to the sun, the strongest of the visible bodies in light, radiance and splendor, and demonstrated that it is subservient, made to move, measured and nourished. Among His signs are the night, the day, the sun and the moon: "do not prostrate yourselves to the sun nor to the moon: prostrate yourselves to Allah who created them, if it is Him you worship" (Fussilat, 37).

When he saw the sun rising, that is, appearing, he said: this is my Lord: this is greater: then, when it set, he said: O my people, I am free of what you associate: I have turned my face toward Him who created the heavens and the earth, in pure religion: and I am not of those who associate. His people disputed with him: he said: do you dispute with me about Allah, while He has guided me? I do not fear what you associate with Him, unless my Lord wills something. That is: I do not care about these gods you worship besides Allah: they profit nothing, they neither hear nor understand: rather, they are nourished and subservient like the stars and their like: or else made, carved and turned on the lathe.

It is apparent that this exhortation about the stars was addressed to the people of Harran, for they worshipped them: and it refutes the claim of whoever alleged that he said "this is my Lord" when he came out of the flock as a small child, as Ibn Ishaq and others mentioned: that claim rests on Israelite reports that cannot be trusted, especially when they contradict the truth. As for the people of Babylon, they worshipped idols: they are the ones he debated over their worship, and he smashed it before their eyes, humiliated it and demonstrated its nullity. He said: "You have taken, besides Allah, only idols out of affection among you in the life of this world: then, on the Day of Resurrection, some of you will disown others, and some of you will curse others: your refuge is the Fire, and you will have no helpers" (al-'Ankabout, 25).

"And We had certainly given Ibrahim his rectitude before: We knew him well. When he said to his father and his people: what are these statues to which you are devoted? They said: we found our fathers worshipping them. He said: you were certainly, you and your fathers, in clear misguidance.

They said: have you come to us with the truth, or are you among those who play? He said: your Lord is rather the Lord of the heavens and the earth, He who created them: and I am among you a witness to that. And by Allah, I shall surely plot against your idols after you turn away. So he reduced them to pieces, except the largest of them: perhaps they would return to it.

They said: who did this to our gods? He is certainly among the wrongdoers. They said: we heard a young man speak of them: he is called Ibrahim. They said: then bring him before the eyes of the people: perhaps they will bear witness.

They said: was it you who did this to our gods, O Ibrahim? He said: rather, it was this largest of them who did it: so ask them, if they can speak. So they returned to themselves and said: it is you who are the wrongdoers. Then they hung their heads: you know well that these do not speak.

He said: do you worship, besides Allah, what profits you nothing and cannot harm you? Shame upon you and upon what you worship besides Allah: do you not then understand? They said: burn him and support your gods, if you are to act. We said: O fire, be coolness and safety for Ibrahim.

They intended to plot against Ibrahim: but it is they whom We made the worst losers."

Surat al-Anbiya, 51-70

"And recite to them the story of Ibrahim. When he said to his father and his people: what do you worship? They said: we worship idols and remain devoted to them. He said: do they hear you when you call upon them?

Do they profit you or harm you? They said: rather, we found our fathers doing thus. He said: do you then see what you have been worshipping, you and your ancient fathers? They are certainly all enemies to me, except the Lord of the worlds, who created me and guides me, who feeds me and gives me drink, and when I am ill, He heals me, who will cause me to die then bring me to life, and from whom I hope that He will forgive me my fault on the Day of Judgment.

My Lord, grant me sound judgment and join me with the righteous."

Surat ach-Chou'ara, 69-83

"And indeed, Ibrahim was among his followers, when he came to his Lord with a sound heart. When he said to his father and his people: what do you worship? Is it falsehood, gods besides Allah, that you desire? What then do you think of the Lord of the worlds?

Then he cast a look at the stars and said: I am indeed sick. So they turned away from him, departing. Then he slipped away to their gods and said: do you not eat? What is wrong with you that you do not speak?

Then he turned upon them, striking with the right hand. Thereupon they came toward him, hastening. He said: do you worship what you carve, while Allah created you and what you make? They said: build for him a structure and throw him into the blazing furnace.

They intended to plot against him: but it is they whom We made the lowest."

Surat as-Saffat, 83-98

Allah the Most High informs, concerning Ibrahim, His intimate friend (peace be upon him), that he repudiated among his people the worship of idols, belittled it before them and diminished it: "what are these statues to which you are devoted?", that is: to which you remain devout and submissive. They said: "we found our fathers worshipping them": their only argument was the practice of the fathers and forefathers, and the worship of the rivals of Allah in which they were. He said: "you were certainly, you and your fathers, in clear misguidance. "When he said to his father and his people: what do you worship?

Is it falsehood, gods besides Allah, that you desire? What then do you think of the Lord of the worlds? What do you think of Him: what will He do with you when you meet Him, while you have worshipped other than Him? "Do they hear you when you call upon them?

Do they profit you or harm you? They said: "rather, we found our fathers doing thus": they conceded to him that they hear no caller, profit nothing and harm nothing: and what drove them to worship them was only the imitation of their forebears, who were misguided like them, ignorant fathers. "Do you then see what you have been worshipping, you and your ancient fathers? They are certainly all enemies to me, except the Lord of the worlds.

And this is a conclusive proof of the nullity of the divinity of the idols they claimed: for he disavowed them and diminished them: had they harmed, they would have harmed him, and had they had any effect, they would have acted upon him. They said: "have you come to us with the truth, or are you among those who play? These words you speak to us, by which you belittle our gods: "your Lord is rather the Lord of the heavens and the earth, He who created them: and I am among you a witness to that. No: I say this to you in earnest, with resolve: your god is Allah, there is no god but He: He is your Lord and the Lord of everything, Creator of the heavens and the earth, who created them without any preceding model: He alone therefore deserves worship, without partner: and I am among you a witness to that.

"And by Allah, I shall surely plot against your idols after you turn away. He swore to plot against these idols they worship after they turn away to their festival. He said this in secret, within himself: some of them heard it. They had a festival to which they went once every year to the outskirts of the town: his father called him to attend it.

"I am indeed sick", as the Most High said: "Then he cast a look at the stars and said: I am indeed sick. He made insinuations to them in his speech until he reached his goal: the humiliation of their idols and the support of the true religion of Allah, against the nullity of what they were upon of the worship of idols, idols that deserve to be smashed and humiliated to the utmost. When they went out to their festival and he remained in their town, he slipped away to their gods: that is, he hastened to them in concealment.

He found them in a great hall, and before them they had placed kinds of foods as offerings: "do you not eat? What is wrong with you that you do not speak?" Then he turned upon them, striking with the right hand: for the right hand is stronger, harder, swifter and more overpowering. So he smashed them with an axe in his hand and reduced them to pieces, that is, to debris: he smashed them all except the largest of them: perhaps they would return to it. He placed the axe in the hand of the great one, as a sign that it repudiated these small ones being worshipped alongside it. When they returned from their festival and found what had befallen their worshipped one, they said: "who did this to our gods? He is certainly among the wrongdoers."

This is for them a manifest proof, were they to reason: what befell their gods whom they worshipped: had they been gods, they would have defended themselves against whoever wished them ill: but they said, out of their ignorance, the weakness of their reason and the abundance of their misguidance: "who did this to our gods? He is certainly among the wrongdoers. They said: "we heard a young man speak of them: he is called Ibrahim", that is: he speaks of them with blame, criticism and contempt: he is the one who stands over them and smashes them: "And by Allah, I shall surely plot against your idols after you turn away.

They said: "then bring him before the eyes of the people: perhaps they will bear witness", that is: before the greatest assembly, before the witnesses: perhaps they would bear witness to his statement, hear his speech and see with their own eyes the retribution he would suffer: and this was one of the greatest aims of the Khalil (peace be upon him): that all the people gather and he establish against all the worshippers of idols the proof of the nullity of what they were upon, in the manner of Pharaoh: "your appointment is on the day of the festival, and let the people be assembled at midmorning" (al-Qassas, 38).

When they gathered and brought him, they said: "was it you who did this to our gods, O Ibrahim? He said: "rather, it was this largest of them who did it. That is: the one most inclined to have me smash the others: and he only made insinuations to them: "so ask them, if they can speak. By these words he wanted them to hasten to say: these do not speak: thus they would confess that they are inert matter like the rest of inert matter.

So they returned to themselves and said: "it is you who are the wrongdoers", that is: for leaving it without a guardian or a watchman. Then "they hung their heads", that is: they fell back into their error: his statement "it is you who are the wrongdoers" would then mean: in their worship of them. Qatada said: the worst perplexity seized the people, that is: they bowed their heads: "you know well that these do not speak. "Do you worship, besides Allah, what profits you nothing and cannot harm you?

Shame upon you and upon what you worship besides Allah: do you not then understand? "Thereupon they came toward him, hastening", that is: they hurried. He said: "do you worship what you carve", that is: how can you worship idols that you yourselves carve out of wood and stone, shaping and forming them as you wish, "while Allah created you and what you make"? Whether the word is rendered as a verbal noun or in the sense of the agent, the meaning of the speech requires that you are created and that these idols are created: how then could a created being worship a created being like himself?

For your worship of them is no more fitting than their worship of you, which is absurd: the other is therefore absurd by analogy: for worship is fitting and due only to the Creator alone, without partner. They said: "build for him a structure and throw him into the blazing furnace. They intended to plot against him: but it is they whom We made the lowest. They abandoned argument and debate when they were cut off and defeated, when no proof or pretext remained to them, and resorted to the use of their strength and power, to support what they were upon of folly and tyranny.

The Lord mocked them, exalted His word, His religion and His proof. They said: "burn him and support your gods, if you are to act. "We said: O fire, be coolness and safety for Ibrahim. They intended to plot against Ibrahim: but it is they whom We made the worst losers.

And that is because they set about gathering wood from every place they could: they spent a period gathering it for him, to the point that a woman among them, when she fell ill, would vow that if she were cured she would carry wood for the burning of Ibrahim. Then they dug a great pit and placed that wood in it, and lit the fire: it blazed, roared and flared with sparks the like of which had never been seen. Then they placed Ibrahim (peace be upon him) in the bucket of a catapult which a man of the Kurds called Hizan had made for them: he was the first to make catapults, and Allah made the earth swallow him: he keeps sinking into it until the Day of Resurrection. Then they began to shackle and chain him, saying: there is no god but You: glory be to You: Yours is the praise and Yours the dominion: no partner have You.

When the Khalil (peace be upon him) was placed in the bucket of the catapult, shackled and chained, and then they threw him, he said: Allah suffices us: He is the best disposer: Ibrahim said it at the moment he was cast into the fire, as al-Bukhari reported:

"Those to whom the people said: the people have gathered against you: so fear them: it increased them in faith and they said: Allah suffices us: He is the best disposer. So they returned with favor from Allah and bounty: no evil touched them."

Surat Al 'Imran, 173-174

Abu Hisham ar-Rifa'i narrated to us: Ishaq ibn Sulayman narrated to us: from Abu Ja'far ar-Razi: from 'Asim ibn Abi an-Najud: from Abu Salih, who said: when Ibrahim was thrown into the fire, he said: O Allah, You are One in heaven and I am alone on earth, worshipping You: do You have a need? As for You, no.

It is reported from Ibn 'Abbas that the angel of rain kept saying: when shall I be commanded to send the rain? The command of Allah was swifter: "We said: O fire, be coolness and safety for Ibrahim" (al-Anbiya, 69). 'Ali ibn Abi Talib said, concerning "safety": do not harm him: had Allah not said "and safety for Ibrahim", its coolness would have harmed Ibrahim. On that day, the people of the earth derived no benefit from any fire, and nothing of it burned except his fetters. It is reported that Jibril (peace be upon him) was with him, wiping the sweat from his face: nothing of the fire reached him. The angel of shade was with him as well. And Ibrahim became as if within a coat of mail: the fire encircled him, while he was in a green garden: and the people looked at him, unable to reach him. The finest word was that which the father of Ibrahim said when he saw his son in that state: "What an excellent Lord your Lord is, O Ibrahim."

Ibn 'Asakir reported that the mother of Ibrahim looked at her son (peace be upon him) and called him: my son, I wish to come to you: so pray to Allah to deliver me from the heat of the fire around you. He did. She came toward him, and nothing of the heat of the fire touched her; when she reached her son she embraced him, kissed him, then went back. I was informed that Ibrahim stayed there, either 40 or 50 days, saying: never did I have days or nights of a sweeter life than those in which I was there, and I wished all my life and existence were like when he was there. Prayers of Allah and His peace be upon him.

They wanted to take vengeance: they were forsaken; they wanted to rise: they were lowered; they plotted against him: "but it is they whom We made the worst losers", "the lowest": they thus won loss and abasement, in this world; as for the hereafter, their fire will not be upon them coolness nor safety, nor will they be greeted in it with greeting and peace: "it is an evil resting place and abode" (al-Fourqane, 13).

'Ubayd Allah ibn Musa, or Ibn Sallam, reported it to us: Ibn Jurayj informed us: from 'Abd al-Hamid ibn Jubayr: from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab: from Umm Sharik that the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) ordered the killing of the gecko and said: it used to blow on Ibrahim. Muslim reported it from the hadith of Ibn Jurayj; the two shaykhs reported it, as did an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah from the hadith of Sufyan ibn 'Uyayna, both from 'Abd al-Hamid ibn Jubayr ibn Shayba, in these words. Muhammad ibn Bakr narrated to us, who said: kill the gecko, for it used to blow the fire on Ibrahim. So 'A'isha used to kill them. Isma'il narrated to us: Ayyub narrated to us: from Nafi' that a woman entered upon 'A'isha: what is this spear? We kill the geckos with it: to the effect that, when Ibrahim was cast into the fire, all the beasts strove to extinguish it for him except the gecko, which kept blowing it on him. Ahmad reported it alone, by these two routes, in mauquf form.

'Affan narrated to us: Jarir narrated to us: Nafi' narrated to us: Sa'iba, freedwoman of al-Fakih ibn al-Mughira, told me: I entered upon 'A'isha: O Mother of the Believers, what are you doing with this spear? She said: this is for these geckos: we kill them with it, for the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) informed us that, when Ibrahim was cast into the fire, no animal on earth strove to extinguish the fire from him except the gecko, which blew on him. So the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) ordered us to kill it. Ibn Majah reported it: from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shayba: from Yunus ibn Muhammad: from Jarir b. Hazim, in these words.

Mention of the debate of Ibrahim al-Khalil with the one who wished to contest the Grand, the Sublime, wearing the sash of grandeur and the robe of arrogance, and who claimed lordship while he was only one of the weak slaves.

"Have you not seen the one who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord, because Allah had given him kingship? When Ibrahim said: my Lord is He who gives life and causes death, he said: I give life and cause death. Ibrahim said: then Allah brings the sun from the east: so bring it from the west. The disbeliever was confounded: Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people."

Surat al-Baqara, 258

The Most High mentions the debate of His intimate friend with this tyrant king, the rebel who claimed lordship for himself: the Khalil (peace be upon him) invalidated his proof, demonstrated the extent of his ignorance and the weakness of his reason, constrained him with the decisive proof and made clear to him the way of demonstration.

This king is the king of Babylon; his name is Nimrod, son of Kan'an, son of Kush, son of Sam, son of Nuh: thus said Mujahid. (Others say:) Nimrod, son of Falih, son of 'Abar, son of Salih, son of Arfakhshad, son of Sam, son of Nuh. He was one of the kings of the world.

He indeed ruled the world, as they mention, among four: two believers and two disbelievers: the believers: Dhul-Qarnayn and Sulayman (peace be upon them); the disbelievers: Nimrod and Bukhtanassar. They mention that this Nimrod remained in his kingship 400 years: he had become tyrannical and transgressing, swollen with pride and rebellious, preferring the life of this world. When Ibrahim al-Khalil called him to worship Allah alone without partner, ignorance, misguidance and the long respite led him to deny the Maker: he therefore disputed with Ibrahim al-Khalil and claimed lordship for himself: "My Lord is He who gives life and causes death": he said: "I give life and cause death."

Qatada and as-Suddi said: he means that when two men were brought to him whose execution had become obligatory, if he ordered the execution of one and pardoned the other, it was as if he had given life to this one and caused death to the other: and this is in no way a counter-argument to the Khalil: it is speech external to the stance of the debate, which neither refutes nor answers: it is pure diversion: and in reality it is an interruption. The Khalil indeed demonstrated the existence of the Maker through the coming-to-be of these observable realities: the giving of life to animals and their death, which requires the existence of a Doer of that upon which they necessarily depend, and that they do not subsist by themselves: there must be a Doer of these observable events: their creation, their subjugation, the setting in motion of these stars, the winds, the clouds, the rain, the creation of these animals that exist before our eyes, then their death. For this reason Ibrahim said: "my Lord is He who gives life and causes death."

As for his saying "I give life and cause death": if he meant thereby that he is the Doer of these observable realities, he was insolent and obstinate; if he meant what Qatada, as-Suddi and Muhammad ibn Ishaq mention, he said nothing relating to the words of the Khalil: for it neither precluded a premise nor opposed the proof. And since the interruption of this king's debate might be hidden from many people, present or otherwise, he mentioned another proof demonstrating the existence of the Maker, the nullity of Nimrod's claim and his open interruption. He said: "then Allah brings the sun from the east: so bring it from the west. That is: this sun is subservient: every day it rises from the east, as its Creator, its mover and its subduer subjugated it: and He is Allah, there is no god but He, Creator of everything.

If you are as you claim, the one who gives life and causes death, then bring this sun from the west: for He who gives life and causes death is He who does what He wills, whom none can prevent or overcome: rather He has subdued everything, and everything obeys Him. If you are as you claim, then do this: and if you do not do it, you are not what you claim: and you know, as everyone knows, that you have no power over any of this: rather you are more incapable and smaller than to create a mosquito or defend yourself against it. So he demonstrated his misguidance and his ignorance, his lie in what he claimed, the nullity of what he pursued and boasted of before the ignorant of his people: no speech remained for him with which to answer the Khalil: he was cut off and fell silent: "the disbeliever was confounded: Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people."

As-Suddi mentioned that this debate took place between Ibrahim and Nimrod on the day he came out of the fire: he did not meet him except on that day: it was then that this debate took place between them.

'Abd ar-Razzaq reported: from Ma'mar: from Zayd ibn Aslam that Nimrod had food, and people would flock to him for the ration: Ibrahim came among those who came for the ration: this debate took place between them: and Ibrahim was not given food as the people were given: rather he went out with no food at all. When he drew near to his family, he went to a dune of dust, filled his two palms with it and said: I will occupy my family when I arrive to them. When he arrived, he set down his saddlebags, came, reclined and slept: his wife Sara went to the two palms and found them full of excellent food: she prepared a meal from it. When Ibrahim awoke, he found what they had prepared: where does this come from?

From what I brought. Zayd ibn Aslam said: Allah sent to that tyrant king an angel commanding him to believe in Allah: he refused; then He called him a second time: he refused; then a third time: he refused. (The angel said to him:) gather your hosts and I will gather mine. Nimrod therefore gathered his army and soldiers at sunrise: Allah sent upon them swarms of mosquitoes where they could not see the disc of the sun: Allah let them loose upon them: they ate their flesh and blood, leaving them putrefied bones: one of them entered the king's nostrils and remained in his nostrils 400 years: Allah the Most High tormented him with it: he kept striking his head with the mallets during that entire period, until Allah destroyed him by it: and Allah the Most High knows best.

The emigration of Ibrahim to Syria and Egypt

"And Lut believed in him. He said: I am emigrating to my Lord: He is the Mighty, the Wise. And We gave him Isaac and Jacob, and We placed in his descendants prophethood and the Book: We gave him his reward in this world: and he is, in the hereafter, among the righteous."

Surat al-'Ankabout, 26-27

"And We saved him and Lut to the land which We blessed for the worlds. And We gave him Isaac and Jacob, in addition: and each We made righteous. And We made them leaders guiding by Our command: and We revealed to them the doing of good deeds, the establishment of prayer and the giving of zakat: and they worshipped Us."

Surat al-Anbiya, 71-73

When he emigrated from his people for Allah, emigrating from their midst, his wife was barren, no child was born to her, and he had no child at all: only his brother's son was with him, Lut son of Haran son of Azar: and Allah the Most High granted him afterwards righteous children, and placed in his descendants prophethood and the Book: every prophet sent after him is therefore from his descendants, and every Book sent down from heaven upon a prophet of the prophets after him falls upon one of his lineage and posterity: a garment of glory from Allah and a nobility for him, in that he left his land, his people and his relatives, and emigrated to a land where he could establish himself to worship his Lord and call creation to Him. The land he set out for in emigration is the land of Syria: "to the land which We blessed for the worlds": so said Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Abu al-'Aliya, Qatada and others.

Al-'Awfi reported: "to the land which We blessed for the worlds": "Indeed, the first House established for mankind is the one at Bakka: blessed and guidance for the worlds" (Al 'Imran, 96). Ka'b al-Ahbar alleged it was Harran. We have already transmitted from the People of the Book that he came out of the land of Babylon, he and his brother's son Lut, and his brother Nahur, and Ibrahim's wife Sara, and his brother's wife Milka: they settled in Harran, and Tarikh, the father of Ibrahim, died there.

Ibrahim and Lut set out toward Syria: Ibrahim met Sara, daughter of the king of Harran, who had criticized her people over their religion: he married her on condition that he would not alter her situation. Ibn Jarir reported it: it is a strange account: the well-known account is that she was the daughter of his uncle Haran, after whom Harran is named: as for whoever alleged that she was the daughter of his brother Haran, the sister of Lut, as as-Suhayli narrated from al-Qutubi and an-Naqqash, he has gone far astray, spoke without knowledge and claimed that marriage with a brother's daughter was lawful at that time: he has no proof for that: even if it had been lawful at a time, as transmitted from the rabbis of the Jews, the prophets do not engage in it: and Allah knows best. Then it is established that Ibrahim (peace be upon him), when he emigrated from Babylon, went out with Sara, emigrating from his land, as was mentioned before: and Allah knows best.

The People of the Book mentioned that, when he arrived in Syria, Allah revealed to him: I make this land the land of your descendants after you: Ibrahim therefore built an altar for Allah, in gratitude for this blessing, and pitched his tent east of Bayt al-Maqdis: then he set out traveling to the Yemen: and there was famine, that is drought, hardship and high prices: so they moved to Egypt: and they mentioned the story of Sara with its king: I am his sister: and they mentioned that the king took her into his service and gave him Hajar: then he expelled them from the land: they returned to the land of the east, that is, the land of Bayt al-Maqdis and its surroundings, with him cattle, slaves and wealth.

Muhammad ibn Mahbub narrated to us: Hammad ibn Zayd narrated to us: from Ayyub: from Muhammad: Ibrahim lied only three times: his saying "I am sick", and his saying "rather, it was this largest of them who did it", and his saying "she is my sister". One day, while he was with Sara, they came upon a tyrant of the tyrants: here is a man with a woman among the most beautiful of people. He sent to him and questioned him about her: who is this? My sister.

He said to Sara: there is no believer on the face of the earth besides me and you: and this man asked me: so I told him you are my sister: do not belie me. He sent for her: when she entered upon him, he reached out to take her: his hand was seized: call upon Allah for me: I will do you no harm. She called upon Allah: he was released. Then he took her a second time: his hand was seized likewise, or stronger: call upon Allah for me: I will do you no harm.

She called: he was released. He then called some of his veiled guards: you have brought me no human being: you have brought me a devil: and he pierced the shank of Hagar. She is your mother, O children of the water of the sky.

The hafiz Abu Bakr al-Bazzar reported it: from 'Amr ibn 'Ali al-Fallas: from 'Abd al-Wahhab ath-Thaqafi: from Hisham ibn Hassan: from Muhammad ibn Sirin: from Abu Hurayra, who said: Ibrahim never lied except three times, all of it for the cause of Allah: his saying "I am sick"; "rather, it was this largest of them who did it"; and while he was traveling in the land of a tyrant of the tyrants, he made a halt: the tyrant was informed that a man had halted here with a woman among the most beautiful of people: he sent to him and questioned him about her: she is my sister: this man asked me about you: so I said: you are my sister: and there is no submitter today besides me and you: you are my sister: do not belie me before him. She was brought along: when he reached out to take her, his hand was seized: call upon Allah for me: call upon Allah for me: I will do you no harm. She called: he was released three times: you have brought me no human being: you have brought me a devil: send her out: and give her Hajar.

She came while Ibrahim was standing in prayer: when he sensed her, he turned: begone! Allah sufficed against the plot of the tyrant: and Hajar was given to me. The two shaykhs reported it from the hadith of Hisham: we know of no chain from Muhammad, from Abu Hurayra except Hisham: and others reported it in mauquf form.

'Ali ibn Hafs narrated to us: from Wurqa', who is Ibn 'Umar al-Yashkuri: from Abu az-Zinad: from al-A'raj: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: Ibrahim lied only three times: "I am sick"; "rather, it was this largest of them who did it"; "she is my sister". Ibrahim entered a village in which was a king of the kings, or a tyrant of the tyrants: it was said: Ibrahim has entered tonight with a woman among the most beautiful of people. The king, or the tyrant, sent to him: who is this with you? My sister.

Then send her. He sent her to him: do not belie my word: for I have told him you are my sister: should there be a believer on earth besides me and you. When she entered upon him, he rose toward her: she turned to performing ablution and praying: O Allah, if You know that I have believed in You and in Your messenger, and that I have not uncovered my private parts except to my husband, then do not give the disbeliever power over me: he fell into convulsions until he kicked with his leg. Abu az-Zinad said: Abu Salama ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman said: if he dies, it will be said: she killed him.

He was released. Then he rose toward her: she turned to performing ablution and praying: O Allah, if You know that I have believed in You and in Your messenger, and that I have not uncovered my private parts except to my husband, then do not give the disbeliever power over me: he fell into convulsions until he kicked with his leg. Abu az-Zinad said, and Abu Salama said: if he dies, it will be said: she killed him. He was released.

On the third or fourth occasion, he said: you have sent me nothing but a devil: return her to Ibrahim: and give her Hajar. She returned and said to Ibrahim: have you sensed? Allah repelled the plot of the disbeliever and pierced the shank of a slave girl. Ahmad reported it alone by this route, and it fulfills the conditions of the sahih: al-Bukhari reported it: from Abu al-Yaman: from Shu'ayb ibn Abi Hamza: from Abu az-Zinad: from al-A'raj: from Abu Hurayra: from the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), in abbreviated form.

My father narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us: from 'Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jud'an: from Abu Nadra: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, concerning the three words Ibrahim uttered: none of them served as a dispensation against the religion of Allah: "I am sick"; and "rather, it was this largest of them who did it"; and he said to the king when he wanted his wife: she is my sister. His saying in the hadith "she is my sister" means: in the religion of Allah; and his saying to her: there is no believer on the face of the earth besides me and you, means: two believing spouses besides me and you: and carrying it upon this sense is required: for Lut was with them, and he is a prophet (peace be upon him). Begone! Allah repelled the plot of the disbeliever: in another version: of the transgressor: and he is the king: and pierced the shank of a slave girl.

Ibrahim, from the moment she was taken to the king, stood praying to Allah (may His glory be proclaimed), asking Him to protect his family and repel the violence of the one who intended ill toward his family: and she did the same: whenever the enemy of Allah wanted to assault her, she rose to her ablution and her prayer, and called upon Allah (may His glory be proclaimed) with the great supplication mentioned: "and seek help through patience and prayer" (al-Baqara, 45). So Allah protected her and preserved her, for the protection of His servant and messenger, His beloved and intimate friend Ibrahim (peace be upon him).

Some scholars went so far as the prophethood of three women: Sara, the mother of Musa and Maryam, peace be upon them: what the majority holds is that they are truthful women: Allah was pleased with them. I saw in some athar that Allah (may His glory be proclaimed) lifted the veil in what lay between Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and her: he did not cease seeing her from the time she left him until she returned to him: he was a witness of her while she was with the king, and of how Allah protected her from him: so that this would be most comforting to his heart, most gladdening to his eye and most reassuring to his rest: for he loved her with intense love for her religion, her kinship to him and her dazzling beauty: no woman after Hawwa until her era was more beautiful than she: to Allah belong the praise and the favor.

This Pharaoh of Egypt was the brother of ad-Dahhak, the king famous for tyranny: he was his brother's governor over Egypt: his name was Sinan, son of 'Ilwan, son of 'Ubayd, son of 'Uj, son of 'Imlaq, son of Lawidh, son of Sam, son of Nuh: Ibn Hisham mentioned in at-Tijan that the one who wanted her was 'Amr ibn Amr al-Qays ibn Baylbun ibn Saba, who governed Egypt: as-Suhayli transmitted it: and Allah knows best.

Then the Khalil (peace be upon him) returned from the land of Egypt to the land of the east, the sacred land in which he had been, with him cattle, slaves and abundant wealth: Hajar the Coptic Egyptian accompanied them. Then Lut (peace be upon him) moved with what he possessed of abundant wealth, by the order the Khalil gave him in that, to the land of the Ghawr, known as the Ghawr of Zughar: he settled in the city of Sodom, mother of those lands at that time: its people were villains, disbelievers and transgressors.

Allah the Most High revealed to Ibrahim al-Khalil, commanding him to stretch his gaze and look north and south, east and west, and gave him the glad tidings that all this land He would make for him and his descendants until the end of time, and that He would multiply his progeny until they became as numerous as the dust of the earth: this glad tiding attached itself to this umma: rather it was fulfilled and greater only in this Muhammadan umma: "Allah folded up the earth for me and I saw its easts and its wests: and the dominion of my umma will reach what was folded up for me of it.

Then a band of tyrants seized power over Lut (peace be upon him): they captured him, took his wealth and drove off his cattle: when the report reached Ibrahim al-Khalil (peace be upon him), he marched against them with 318 men: he rescued Lut (peace be upon him), recovered his wealth, killed many of the enemies of Allah and His messenger, routed them, and pursued them until he reached the north of Damascus: he encamped at its outskirts, near Barza: and I think the Maqam of Ibrahim attributed to him today at Barza was named so only because it was the spot where the Khalil's army stood: and Allah knows best. Then he returned, supported and aided, to his land: the kings of the land of Bayt al-Maqdis met him, glorifying him, honoring him, submissive: and he settled in his land: prayers of Allah and His peace be upon him.

The birth of Isma'il, son of Ibrahim

Ibrahim (peace be upon him) asked Allah for righteous descendants: Allah gave him glad tidings of that: and when Ibrahim had spent ten years in the land of Bayt al-Maqdis: "the Lord has deprived me of children: so enter upon this maidservant of mine: perhaps Allah will grant us a child from her." When she gave herself to him, Ibrahim entered upon her: scarcely had he entered upon her when she conceived from him. When she conceived, she raised herself in soul and became haughty toward her mistress: Sara was jealous of her and complained of that to Ibrahim: do with her as you wish. Hagar feared and fled: she settled by a spring there: "fear not: Allah will make of this boy you carry a good." He commanded her to return, and gave her the glad tidings that she would bear a son whom she would name Isma'il: and that he would be the wild one among people: his hand over all, and the hand of all against him: and that he would possess all the lands of his brothers: she thanked Allah (may His glory be proclaimed) for that.

This glad tiding was fulfilled only through the son of her son Muhammad, prayers of Allah and peace be upon him: it is by him that the Arabs prevailed, and that they possessed all the lands east and west: and Allah granted them of beneficial knowledge and righteous deed what He had granted no nation before them: and that is only by the nobility of their messenger over the other messengers, the blessing of his message, the glad tidings concerning him and his perfection in what he brought: and the universality of his mission to all the inhabitants of the earth.

They said: she bore him, and Ibrahim's age was 86 years, 13 years before the birth of Ishaq. When Isma'il was born, Allah revealed to Ibrahim, giving him the glad tidings of Ishaq from Sara: he fell prostrate before Allah: "I have answered your prayer concerning Isma'il: I have blessed him, multiplied him and increased him with great growth: twelve grand ones will be born to him: and I will make him a chief of a great people. This too is a glad tiding concerning this great umma: and these twelve grand ones are the twelve caliphs announced in the hadith of 'Abd al-Malik ibn 'Umayr: from Jabir ibn Samura, who said: there will be twelve commanders: a word I did not understand: so I asked my father: what did he say? He said: all of them from Quraysh.

The two shaykhs reported it: and in a version: this matter will not cease to stand: and in a version: mighty, until there be twelve caliphs, all of them from Quraysh.

Among them are the four imams: Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman and 'Ali: among them also 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz: and among them some of the Banu al-'Abbas: what is meant is not that they succeed one another in twelve consecutive reigns: but that their existence is necessary: and what is meant is not the twelve imams in whom the Rafidites believe, the first of whom is 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and the last of whom is the Awaited One in the cellar of Samarra, namely Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-'Askari according to their claim: for those of them were no more beneficial than 'Ali and his son al-Hasan ibn 'Ali at the moment when he abandoned fighting, handed authority to Mu'awiya, extinguished the fire of fitna and quieted the millstones of wars among the Muslims: and the rest of them were among the ordinary subjects: they had no authority over the umma in any matter: as for what they believe about the cellar of Samarra, it is an illusion in the heads and a confusion in the souls: it has no reality, no existence and no trace.

The point is that when Isma'il was born to Hagar, the jealousy of Sara toward her intensified: she asked the Khalil to make her face absent from her: he therefore took her and her son and traveled with the two of them until he set them down where Mecca stands today: her child was then a suckling. When he left them there and turned his back, Hagar rose toward him and clung to his garments: O Ibrahim, where are you going, leaving us here, when we have nothing to suffice us? He did not answer her: did Allah command you this? Yes. Then He will not waste us. In the Kitab an-Nawadir: Sara became angry with Hagar and swore that she would cut three of her limbs: the Khalil therefore ordered her to pierce her ears and lower her train: her oath was thus fulfilled. She was the first of women to undergo circumcision, the first to pierce her ears, and the first to lengthen her train.

The emigration of Ibrahim with Isma'il and his mother Hajar to the mountains of Farane

'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad narrated to us: 'Abd ar-Razzaq narrated to us: Ma'mar narrated to us: from Ayyub as-Sakhtiyani and from Kathir ibn Kathir ibn al-Muttalib ibn Abi Wada'a, one from the other (Yazid: one of the two above the other): from Sa'id ibn Jubayr: when the women first took the belts, it was in imitation of the mother of Isma'il, who took a belt to hide her traces from Sara. Then Ibrahim came with her and with her son Isma'il, while she was nursing him, until he set them down near the House, near a great tree above Zamzam, in the upper part of the Sanctuary: there was in Mecca, on that day, no one, and there was no water: he set them down there, leaving with them a waterskin in which there were dates, and a waterskin in which there was water. Where are you going, Ibrahim, leaving us in this valley in which there is no man nor anything? She said that to him many times, and he did not turn toward her: did Allah command you this?

Yes. Then He will not waste us. She returned, and Ibrahim departed, until he was at the defile where they could not see him: he turned his face toward the House and supplicated: "Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in an uncultivated valley, near Your sacred House. Lord, that they may establish prayer: so make the hearts of a part of the people incline toward them: and provide them with fruits: perhaps they will be grateful" (Ibrahim, 37).

The mother of Isma'il kept nursing Isma'il and drinking from that water, until what was in the waterskin ran out: she became thirsty, and her son became thirsty: she kept looking at him twisting, writhing: she went off, unable to bear looking at him: she found that Safa was the nearest mountain to the land adjoining her: she stood upon it, then faced the valley to see whether she saw anyone: she saw no one: she descended from Safa until she reached the valley, raised the hem of her garment, then ran the exhausting run of a man: when she crossed the valley, she came to Marwa, stood upon it and looked whether she saw anyone: she saw no one: she did that seven times. The Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: that is the going to and fro of the people between the two. Then: hush: she was seeking her son: she heard a voice: if you have a helper near you.

It was the angel at the site of Zamzam: he dug with his heel, or he said: with his wing, until the water appeared: she began wading into it, saying with her hand: thus, and scooping water into her waterskin: and the water kept welling up after she scooped. The Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: may Allah have mercy on the mother of Isma'il: had she left Zamzam: had she not scooped water, Zamzam would have been a flowing spring. She drank, and nursed her child: the angel said to her: do not fear abandonment: here is the House of Allah: this boy and his father will build it: and Allah does not let His own perish. The House was elevated above the ground, like a hill: the floods came to it, passing on its right and on its left: it was thus until a company of Jurhum, or some people of a household of Jurhum, passed by them, coming from the road of Kada': they alighted in the lower part of Mecca and saw a bird circling: this bird certainly circles about water: we have known this valley before:

and there is no water in it. So they sent one or two scouts: they found the water: they returned and informed them of the water: the mother of Isma'il was by the water: will you give us permission to alight near you? Yes: but you have no right to the water. Yes: that pleased the mother of Isma'il, who loved company.

So they alighted, and sent for their families: they alighted with them, until there were with them people of households among them: the boy grew, learned Arabic from them: he pleased them and impressed them when he grew up: when he reached puberty, they gave him in marriage a woman from among them. The mother of Isma'il died. Ibrahim came after Isma'il had married, to inspect his trace: go out and seek for us. He then asked Isma'il's wife about their life and condition: we are in bad shape: we are in hardship and difficulty: she complained to him: when your husband comes, convey to him the salam, and tell him to change the threshold of his door.

Isma'il came: as if he had sensed something: has anyone come to you? Yes: an old man such and such came to us: he asked us about you: I informed him: and he asked me how our life was: I told him we are in toil and hardship. Did he recommend anything to you? Yes: he ordered me to convey to you the salam, and to tell you: change the threshold of your door.

That is my father: and he ordered me to part from you: join your family. So he divorced her and married another of them. Ibrahim stayed away from them as long as Allah willed: then he came: go out and seek for us. How are you?

He asked her about their life and condition: we are in good state and ease: she praised Allah: what is your food? Meat. And your drink? Water.

O Allah, bless them in meat and water.

They had no grain that day: had they had grain, he would have prayed for them concerning it: and no one approaches the two of them outside Mecca without it proving unfavorable to him. When your husband comes, convey to him the salam, and order him to make firm the threshold of his door. Has anyone come to you? Yes: an old man of fine appearance came to us: she praised him: he asked me about you: I informed him: and he asked me how our life was: I told him we are in good state: did he recommend anything to you?

Yes: he conveys to you the salam: and he orders you to make firm the threshold of your door. That is my father: and you are the threshold: he ordered me to keep you. Then he stayed away from them as long as Allah willed: then he came after that: and Isma'il was fashioning arrows for himself beneath a great tree near Zamzam: when he saw him, he rose toward him: and the two did as a son does with a father and a father with a son: O Isma'il, Allah has commanded me a matter. Then do what your Lord has commanded you.

Will you help me? I will help you. Allah has commanded me to build here a House. He pointed to a raised mound above what was around it: there they raised the foundations of the House: Isma'il brought the stones, and Ibrahim built: until the structure was raised: he brought this stone and placed it for him: he stood upon it while building: and Isma'il handed him the stones: "Lord, accept this from us: You are the Hearing, the Knowing" (al-Baqara, 127).

And the two went on building, going around the House: "Lord, accept this from us: You are the Hearing, the Knowing."

'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad narrated to us: Abu 'Amir 'Abd al-Malik ibn 'Amr narrated to us: Ibrahim ibn Nafi' narrated to us: from Kathir ibn Kathir: from Sa'id ibn Jubayr: when it was spoken between Ibrahim and his family of what he had gone out with, Isma'il and the mother of Isma'il, with them a sack in which there was water.

He mentioned its entirety in a manner similar to what preceded: and this hadith belongs to the words of Ibn 'Abbas, interwoven with the elevation of part of it: and it contains singularities: it seems to be among what Ibn 'Abbas received from the Israelite reports: it states that Isma'il was a suckling at that time: and according to the people of the Torah, Allah commanded Ibrahim to circumcise his son Isma'il, and everyone he had of slaves and others: so he circumcised them: and that after the passing of 99 years of his life: the age of Isma'il that day would then be 13 years: and that is obedience to the command of Allah (may His glory be proclaimed) within his household: which indicates that he did it as an obligation: for this reason the correct view among the sayings of the scholars is that circumcision is obligatory upon men, as is established in its place.

It is established in the hadith reported by al-Bukhari: Qutayba ibn Sa'id narrated to us: Mughira ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman al-Qurashi narrated to us: from Abu az-Zinad: from al-A'raj: the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: Ibrahim the prophet (peace be upon him) underwent circumcision at the age of 80, with an adze. 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ishaq followed him: from Abu az-Zinad: and 'Ajlan followed him: from Abu Hurayra. Muhammad ibn 'Amr reported it: from Abu Salama: from Abu Hurayra. Muslim reported it thus: from Qutayba, in these words: and in some wordings: Ibrahim underwent circumcision after 80 years had passed over him: and he was circumcised with an adze: and the qadum is the tool.

a site. This wording does not preclude exceeding eighty: and Allah knows best, for what is to come, at the mention of his death: from Abu Hurayra, that he said: Ibrahim underwent circumcision at the age of 120: and lived after that 80 years. Ibn Hibban reported it in his Sahih: and in this context there is no mention of the story of the sacrificed one, nor that he was Isma'il: and he mentioned the visits of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) only three times: the first after Isma'il had married, after the death of Hagar: and how could he leave them from the child's infancy, as was mentioned, until the time of his marriage, without attending to their condition? It was mentioned that the earth was folded up for him: he rode al-Buraq when he traveled to them: how then would he have been indifferent to examining their condition, while they were in the utmost severe need and urgent want?

It seems that part of this context is received from the Israelite reports, embroidered with something of the elevated reports: and the story of the sacrificed one is not mentioned in it: yet we have demonstrated that the sacrificed one is Isma'il, according to the correct view, in Surat as-Saffat.

The story of the sacrificed, Isma'il son of Ibrahim

"And he said: I am going to my Lord: He will guide me. Lord, grant me a child from among the righteous. So We gave him glad tidings of a forbearing boy. Then, when he reached the age of accompanying him, he said: O my son, I see in a dream that I am slaughtering you: so look, what do you think.

He said: O my father, do what you are commanded: you will find me, if Allah wills, among the patient. Then, when they had both submitted and he laid him upon his forehead, We called him: O Ibrahim, you have believed in your vision: thus do We reward the doers of good. This was indeed the manifest trial. And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice.

And We left for him praise among the later generations: peace upon Ibrahim: thus do We reward the doers of good: he is among Our believing servants. And We gave him glad tidings of Ishaq, a prophet from among the righteous. And We blessed him and Ishaq: and of their descendants are the doers of good, and those who wrong themselves manifestly."

Surat as-Saffat, 99-113

The Most High mentions concerning His intimate friend Ibrahim that, when he emigrated from the land of his people, he asked his Lord to grant him a righteous child: Allah the Most High gave him glad tidings of a forbearing boy: and he is Isma'il (peace be upon him): for he is the first born to him, at the age of 86 of the Khalil: and this is what there is no dispute about among the people of the creeds: he is the first of his children and his firstborn. "Then, when he reached the age of accompanying him", that is: he grew up and began attending to his affairs as his father did. "Then, when he reached the age of accompanying him", that is: he grew up and traveled: and could bear what his father did of going and coming and labor. When that was, it was shown to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) in a dream that he was commanded to slaughter this son.

And in the hadith from Ibn 'Abbas, in elevated form: the dream of the prophets is revelation. 'Ubayd ibn 'Umayr said it as well.

And this is a trial from Allah (may His glory be proclaimed) for His intimate friend: that he slaughter this cherished son who came to him in old age, he who had already reached old age after being commanded to settle him and his mother in a barren land, a valley with no living being and no companion, no cultivation and no pasture: he obeyed the command of Allah in that, left the two of them there with trust in Allah and reliance upon Him: Allah made for the two of them relief and a way out: and provided for them from where they did not reckon: then, after all this, when he was commanded to slaughter this son whom he had devoted to the command of his Lord, who was his firstborn and his only one, who had none other than him, he answered his Lord, obeyed His command and hastened to His obedience: then he presented it to his son, so that it would be sweeter to his heart and lighter upon him than taking him by force and slaughtering him by subjugation: "O my son, I see in a dream that I am slaughtering you: so look, what do you think.

The forbearing boy then outdid himself in goodness toward his father, the Khalil Ibrahim: "O my father, do what you are commanded: you will find me, if Allah wills, among the patient. And this answer is at the height of uprightness and of obedience to the father and to the Lord of the servants. "Then, when they had both submitted and he laid him upon his forehead": the two submitted, that is: they submitted to the command of Allah and resolved upon it: this is an inversion of the preceding and the following: the meaning of "he laid him upon his forehead" is: he laid him upon his face: he wanted to slaughter him from the nape so as not to watch him at the moment of his slaughter: thus said Ibn 'Abbas, Mujahid, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Qatada and ad-Dahhak.

Rather he laid him down as sacrificial animals are laid down: and the edge of his temple remained stuck to the ground: and "the two submitted", that is: Ibrahim pronounced the name of Allah, proclaimed His greatness, bore witness, and surrendered the son to death: he passed the knife over his throat: nothing was cut: between it and his throat was placed a plate of copper: and Allah knows best.

"O Ibrahim, you have believed in your vision", that is: the aim of your trial, your obedience, your hastening to the command of your Lord and your offering of your son as sacrifice is fulfilled, just as you permitted your body to the flames and your wealth was laid out for the two guests: "this was indeed the manifest trial", that is: the apparent, evident trial. "And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice", that is: We set as ransom for the slaughter of his son what Allah the Most High facilitated for him of compensation: the well-known account from the majority is that it was a white ram, blind in one eye, horned: Samurah saw it tied to a sidr tree on Thabir. From 'Abd Allah ibn 'Uthman ibn Khuthaym: from Sa'id ibn Jubayr: a ram that had grazed in Paradise for forty autumns: it pastured in Paradise until Thabir split open for it: and it wore a red cloth. A ram blind in one eye, horned, descended upon him from Thabir: it had a bleating: he slaughtered it: and it is the ram which the son of Adam offered: and it was accepted from him.

Ibn Abi Hatim reported it. So he slaughtered it at Mina: he slaughtered it at the Maqam. As for what was reported from Ibn 'Abbas, that it was a wild ass foal, and from al-Hasan, that it was a buck of the wild sheep named Jarir: it can hardly be sound from either of them: then most of the athar here are taken from the Israelite reports: and the Quran suffices concerning what took place of the great matter and the dazzling trial, and that he was ransomed with a great sacrifice.

It has come in the hadith that it was a ram: Sufyan narrated to us: Mansur narrated to us: from his maternal uncle Musaffa: from Safiyya bint Shayba, who said: a woman of the Banu Sulaym informed me: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sent to 'Uthman ibn Talha. She asked 'Uthman: why did the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) call you? He said: I saw the two horns of the ram when I entered the House: I forgot to order you to cover them: so cover them: for it is not fitting that there be in the House anything that distracts the one praying. Sufyan: the two horns of the ram remained in the House until the House burned: and they burned. It is likewise reported from Ibn 'Abbas that the head of the ram remained hanging near the spout of the Kaaba, dried out: and this alone is a proof that the sacrificed one is Isma'il: for he was the one residing in Mecca: and Ishaq, we do not know that he visited it in his youth: and Allah knows best.

And this is what is apparent in the Quran: rather it is as if it is a text that the sacrificed one is Isma'il: for it mentions the story of the sacrificed one: "and We gave him glad tidings of Ishaq, a prophet from among the righteous.

Whoever makes it otherwise has imposed a burden upon himself: and the basis of the one who says it is Ishaq is only Israelite reports: and their book contains an alteration concerning it: "his firstborn Ishaq": the mention of Ishaq here is thus an interpolated, lying, fabricated insertion: for he is neither the only one nor the firstborn: the only firstborn is Isma'il: what drove them to this is envy of the Arabs: Isma'il is the father of the Arabs who inhabit the Hijaz, among whom is the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): and Ishaq is the father of Jacob, who is Isra'il, to whom the Israelites ascribe themselves: they wanted therefore to draw this honor to themselves: so they altered the word of Allah and added to it: and they are a people deluded: and they do not admit that the favor is in the hand of Allah: He gives it to whom He wills.

A large group of the early generations, and others, said it is Ishaq: they took it, and Allah knows best, from Ka'b al-Ahbar or the pages of the People of the Book: there is no authentic hadith from the Infallible in that, which would make us leave, for its sake, the apparent meaning of the Mighty Book: and this is not understood from the Quran: rather what is understood, rather what is stated, rather the text, upon reflection, is that it is Isma'il: and how excellent was the proof of Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi that it is Isma'il: "and We gave her glad tidings of Ishaq, and behind Ishaq, Jacob. He said: how could the glad tidings of Ishaq take place, and that Jacob will be born to him, and then he be commanded to slaughter Ishaq while he is small, before Jacob is even born to him? This cannot be: for it contradicts the preceding glad tiding: and Allah knows best.

"and We gave her glad tidings of Ishaq" is a complete sentence. "And behind Ishaq, Jacob" is another sentence not within the space of the glad tiding: for it is not permissible, from the standpoint of Arabic grammar, for it to be jarr-governed unless the genitive particle is repeated with it: one cannot say: I passed by Zayd and after him 'Amr, without saying: and after him by 'Amr. "And behind Ishaq, Jacob" is accusative by an implied verb whose reconstruction is: "and We gave to Ishaq Jacob": and in what he said there is a point of reflection: "then, when he reached the age of accompanying him": but Isma'il was not with him: he was rather, in his infancy, he and his mother, across from Mecca: how then would he reach the age of accompanying him? And this too is debatable: for it was reported that the Khalil would go, on most occasions, riding al-Buraq to Mecca, to look upon his child and son, then return: and Allah knows best.

To whom the saying that the sacrificed one is Ishaq was attributed: Ka'b al-Ahbar. And it was reported from 'Umar, al-'Abbas, 'Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Masruq, 'Ikrima, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Mujahid, 'Ata', ash-Sha'bi, Muqatil, 'Ubayd ibn 'Umayr, Abu Mayasara, Zayd ibn Aslam, 'Abd Allah ibn Shaqiq, az-Zuhri, al-Qasim ibn Abi Buzza, Makhul, 'Uthman ibn Hadir, as-Suddi, al-Hasan, Qatada, Abu al-Hudhayl and Ibn Sabit: and it is the choice of Ibn Jarir: and this is astonishing on his part: and it is one of the two versions from Ibn 'Abbas: but the authentic, from him and from most of these, is that he is Isma'il (peace be upon him). Mujahid said, and Sa'id, ash-Sha'bi, Yusuf ibn Mihran, 'Ata' and more than one: he is Isma'il (peace be upon him). Yunus narrated to me that Ibn Wahb informed us: 'Amr ibn Qays informed me: from 'Ata' ibn Abi Rabah: the sacrificed one is Isma'il: and the Jews alleged it is Ishaq: and the Jews lied.

'Abd Allah ibn al-Imam Ahmad said, from his father: he is Isma'il: I asked my father about the sacrificed one: he said: the authentic is that he is Isma'il (peace be upon him).

It was reported from 'Ali, Ibn 'Umar, Abu Hurayra, Abu at-Tufayl, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, al-Hasan, Mujahid, ash-Sha'bi, Muhammad ibn Ka'b and Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn 'Ali: the sacrificed one is Isma'il (peace be upon him): al-Baghawi reported it likewise from ar-Rabi' ibn Anas, al-Kalbi and Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala'. And it was reported from Mu'awiya: "O son of the two sacrificed ones": the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) laughed: to this went 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz and Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar: there is no doubt in this. From Burayda ibn Sufyan ibn Farwa al-Aslami: "and We gave him glad tidings of Ishaq, and behind Ishaq, Jacob. This is a matter I have not yet reflected upon: and I see it as you said: then he sent to a man he had in Syria, who was a Jew who had become Muslim and whose Islam was good: 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz asked him about that: and I was with 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz: which of the two sons of Ibrahim was commanded to be slaughtered?

Isma'il, by Allah, O commander of the believers: and the Jews know that: but they envy you, O assembly of the Arabs, that your father should be the one about whom there was a command of Allah and the favor which Allah mentioned of him, for his patience with what he was commanded: so they deny that and allege it is Ishaq: for Ishaq is their father. And we have mentioned this issue in detail, with its proofs and its athar, in our Book of tafsir: to Allah belong the praise and the favor.

The birth of Isaac, son of Ibrahim

"and We gave him glad tidings of Ishaq, a prophet from among the righteous. And We blessed him and Ishaq: and of their descendants are the doers of good, and those who wrong themselves manifestly" (as-Saffat, 112-113). The glad tidings of him were brought by the angels to Ibrahim and Sara when they passed by them, going on, heading for the cities of the people of Lut, to destroy them for their disbelief and their transgression.

"And Our messengers came to Ibrahim with glad tidings. They said: peace. He said: peace. Then he did not delay in bringing a roasted calf.

Then, when he saw that their hands did not reach it, he found them strange and felt fear of them. They said: fear not: we have been sent to the people of Lut. And his wife was standing: so she laughed. Then We gave her glad tidings of Ishaq, and behind Ishaq, Jacob.

She said: woe to me: shall I bear a child while I am an old woman, and this my husband an old man? This is indeed a wondrous thing. They said: do you wonder at the command of Allah? The mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, people of the house: He is Praiseworthy, Glorious."

Surat Hud, 69-73

"And inform them of the guests of Ibrahim. When they entered upon him, they said: peace. He said: we are fearful of you. They said: fear not: we give you glad tidings of a knowing boy.

He said: do you give me glad tidings while old age has touched me? With what do you give me glad tidings? They said: we give you glad tidings of truth: so be not among the despairing. He said: who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except the astray?"

Surat al-Hijr, 51-56

"Has there come to you the story of the honored guests of Ibrahim? When they entered upon him, they said: peace. He said: peace, people unknown. Then he slipped away to his family and brought a fat calf: he drew it near to them: do you not eat?

He felt fear of them. They said: fear not. And they gave him glad tidings of a knowing boy. Then his wife came forward with a cry: she struck her face and said: a barren old woman!

They said: thus says your Lord: He is the Wise, the Knowing."

Surat adh-Dhariyat, 24-30

The Most High mentions that the angels said: and they were three: Jibril, Mikail and Israfil: when they arrived to the Khalil, he counted them at first as guests: he treated them as guests: he roasted for them a fat calf among the best of his cattle: when he drew it near to them and presented it to them, he saw in them no resolve to eat at all: and felt fear of them: they said: fear not: we have been sent to the people of Lut: that is: to destroy them: Sara rejoiced at that, angry for Allah against them: and she was standing at the head of the guests, as is the custom of people, of the Arabs and others: so they gave her glad tidings of Ishaq, and behind Ishaq, Jacob: that is: the angels gave her glad tidings of that: "then his wife came forward with a cry", that is: with a shriek: "she struck her face", that is: as women do in wonderment: "woe to me: shall I bear a child while I am an old woman, and this my husband an old man": that is: how should one like me bear, while I am aged and barren too, and this is my husband, that is: my spouse, an old man: she wondered at the coming of a child, the condition being this: "this is indeed a wondrous thing.

They said: "do you wonder at the command of Allah? The mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, people of the house: He is Praiseworthy, Glorious. And likewise Ibrahim (peace be upon him) wondered, rejoicing at this glad tiding, affirming it and delighting in it: "do you give me glad tidings while old age has touched me? With what do you give me glad tidings?

They said: "we give you glad tidings of truth: so be not among the despairing": they affirmed the report with this glad tiding, and established it with him: so they gave her glad tidings of a knowing boy: and he is Ishaq: and his brother Isma'il is a forbearing boy, befitting his rank and his patience: thus his Lord described him by truthfulness of promise and patience: "and We gave her glad tidings of Ishaq, and behind Ishaq, Jacob": and this is among what Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi and others used as proof that the sacrificed one is Isma'il: and that Ishaq cannot be commanded to be slaughtered after the glad tiding occurred of his existence and of the existence of his son Jacob, descended from the posterity after him.

According to the People of the Book, he brought with the roasted calf, which is the grilled one, a loaf of semolina containing three measures, clarified butter and milk: and according to them they ate: and this is pure error: they made signs that they were eating: and the food would dissolve in the air. "As for Sara your wife, her name shall no longer be called Sarai: her name is Sara: I shall bless her: and I shall give you of her a son: and I shall bless him: and he shall be for the peoples: and the kings of the peoples shall come from him. After one hundred years would a boy be born to me? Would Sara bear when ninety years have passed over her?

Would that Isma'il live before you! Then Allah said to Ibrahim: by My truth: your wife Sara shall bear you a boy: and you shall call his name Ishaq: by this time next year: and I shall make My covenant with him for eternity: and with his descendants after him: "and I have answered your prayer concerning Isma'il: I have blessed him, magnified him and increased him with great growth: twelve grand ones will be born to him: and I shall make him a chief of a great people": we have spoken of this before: and Allah knows best.

"and We gave her glad tidings of Ishaq, and behind Ishaq, Jacob": proof that she would delight in the existence of her son Ishaq, and that after him his son Jacob would be born, that is: born in their lifetime, that their eyes might be refreshed by him, as the eyes of his father had been refreshed by him. Had this not been intended, the mention of Jacob and the specification of naming him, to the exclusion of the rest of the offspring of Ishaq, would have no benefit: and when he was specified by mention, it indicated that both delighted in him and rejoiced at his birth, as they had rejoiced at the birth of his father before him. "And We gave him Ishaq and Jacob: each We guided. "Then, when he withdrew from them and what they worshipped besides Allah, We gave him Ishaq and Jacob.

And this, Allah willing, is apparent and strong: supporting it is what is established in the two Sahihs, from the hadith of Sulayman ibn Mihran al-A'mash: from Ibrahim ibn Yazid at-Taymi: from his father: I said: O Messenger of Allah, which mosque was established first? The Sacred Mosque. Then which? The Farthest Mosque.

How much is between them? Forty years.

Then which? Then wherever you catch the prayer, pray: all of them are mosques. According to the People of the Book, it is Jacob (peace be upon him) who founded the Farthest Mosque: and it is the mosque of Elijah: and it is the mosque of Bayt al-Maqdis: Allah honored it. And this is well-oriented: and what we mentioned of the hadith bears witness to it.

Upon this, the building of Jacob, who is Isra'il (peace be upon him), would come after the building of the Khalil and his son Isma'il of the Sacred Mosque by exactly forty years: and the building of those two took place after the existence of Ishaq: when he supplicated, he said in his supplication, as the Most High said: "And when Ibrahim said: Lord, make this land a safe land: and turn me and my sons away from worshipping idols. Lord, they have led astray many of the people: whoever follows me is of me: and whoever disobeys me, You are the Much-Forgiving, the Merciful. Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in an uncultivated valley, near Your sacred House. Lord, that they may establish prayer: so make the hearts of a part of the people incline toward them: and provide them with fruits: perhaps they will be grateful.

Lord, You know what we conceal and what we declare: and nothing is hidden from Allah on earth nor in heaven. Praise to Allah who gave me, despite old age, Isma'il and Ishaq: my Lord indeed hears supplication. Lord, make me an establisher of prayer, and of my descendants. Lord, and accept my supplication.

Lord, forgive me, and my parents, and the believers, on the day the reckoning stands" (Ibrahim, 35-41).

As for what came in the hadith, that Sulayman son of Dawud (peace be upon them), when he built Bayt al-Maqdis, asked Allah for three favors: Lord, forgive me: and grant me a dominion befitting none after me: as we shall bring in his story: the meaning of that is that he renewed its building, as it was reported before that between the two is forty years: and no one said that between Sulayman and Ibrahim are forty years, except Ibn Hibban, in his divisions and kinds: and this saying was adopted by no one, nor had anyone preceded to it.

The building of the Ancient House by Ibrahim and Isma'il

"And when We assigned to Ibrahim the site of the House: do not associate anything with Me: and purify My House for those who circle around, for those who stand, for those who bow and prostrate. And proclaim among the people the pilgrimage: they will come to you on foot, and upon every lean camel, coming from every deep ravine."

Surat al-Hajj, 26-27

"Indeed, the first House established for mankind is the one at Bakka: blessed and guidance for the worlds. In it are clear signs: the maqam of Ibrahim: whoever enters it is safe: and upon the people is the pilgrimage of the House, whoever is able to make his way to it: whoever disbelieves, Allah is free of need of the worlds."

Surat Al 'Imran, 96-97

"And when his Lord tested Ibrahim with words which He fulfilled, He said: I make you an imam for the people. He said: and of my descendants? He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers."

Surat al-Baqara, 124

"And when We made the House a place of return and security for the people: take the maqam of Ibrahim as a place of prayer: and We enjoined upon Ibrahim and Isma'il: purify My House for those who circle around, for those who dwell there, for those who bow and prostrate. And when Ibrahim said: Lord, make this a safe land: and provide its people with fruits, those who believe in Allah and the last day. He said: whoever disbelieves, I will let him enjoy briefly: then I will compel him to the punishment of the Fire: and an evil destination."

Surat al-Baqara, 125-126

"And when Ibrahim and Isma'il raised the foundations of the House: Lord, accept this from us: You are the Hearing, the Knowing. Lord, make us submitters to You: and of our descendants a community submitting to You: and show us our rites: and turn to us in forgiveness: You are the Ever-Relenting, the Merciful. Lord, raise up among them a messenger from among them, who recites to them Your verses, teaches them the Book and the wisdom, and purifies them: You are the Mighty, the Wise."

Surat al-Baqara, 127-129

The Most High mentions, concerning His servant and messenger, His chosen one and intimate friend, the imam of the hanifs and father of the prophets (upon him the finest of prayers and salutations), that he built the Ancient House, the first mosque established for the generality of people in which to worship Allah: Allah assigned to him the site of the House, that is: guided him to it and pointed it out to him: it has been reported to us from the commander of the believers 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and others that he was guided to it by a revelation from Allah (may His glory be proclaimed).

We have already mentioned, in the description of the creation of the heavens, that the Kaaba is opposite the Populated House, such that were it to fall, it would fall upon it: likewise the houses of worship of the seven heavens: in every heaven there is a House in which the people of that heaven worship Allah: and it is therein like the Kaaba for the people of the earth: Allah the Most High therefore commanded Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to build for Him a House that would be for the people of the earth like those houses of worship for the angels of heaven: Allah guided him to the site of the House prepared for that, designated since He created the heavens and the earth: as is established in the two Sahihs: Allah made this town forbidden on the day He created the heavens and the earth: it is therefore forbidden by the inviolability of Allah until the Day of Resurrection.

Whoever, in this, clings to his saying "the site of the House" is neither sound nor apparent: for what is meant is its site decreed in the knowledge of Allah, ordained in His decree, glorified among the prophets, its place from Adam to the time of Ibrahim.

We have mentioned that Adam pitched over it a dome: we circled before you around this House: and that the Ark circled it for forty days, or thereabouts: but all these reports are from the Banu Isra'il: we have established that they can be neither believed nor denied: they are therefore not used as proof: as for what the truth has rejected, it is rejected. "Indeed, the first House established for mankind is the one at Bakka: blessed and guidance for the worlds.

Mecca: the site of the Kaaba: "in it are clear signs", that is: the building of the Khalil, father of the prophets after him, and imam of the hanifs among his descendants, those who take him as model and cling to his sunna: "the maqam of Ibrahim", that is: the stone upon which he stood upright when the building rose to his height: his son therefore placed for him this famous stone, that he might rise upon it when the building rose and the structure became high: as passed in the long hadith of Ibn 'Abbas: and this stone was affixed to the wall of the Kaaba, as it had been since ancient times until the days of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him): he moved it away from the House a little, so that those praying near it would not hinder those circling the House: and 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was followed in this: his Lord confirmed him in some things thereof: "let us take from the maqam of Ibrahim a place of prayer": Allah sent down: "and take the maqam of Ibrahim as a place of prayer": and the traces of the two feet of the Khalil remained in the rock until the beginning of Islam:

Thawr, and the one who planted Thabir in its place; and Raqim who climbed in Hira and alighted; and the House, owed the right of the House, in the belly of Mecca: and by Allah, Allah is not heedless; and the Black Stone, when they wipe it with their hands, as they surround it in the morning and the evening; and the footprint of Ibrahim in the rock, moist, upon his two bare feet, unshod:

that is: his noble foot sank into the rock: it thus took the size of his foot, bare, without sandals. "And when Ibrahim and Isma'il raised the foundations of the House: Lord, accept this from us: You are the Hearing, the Knowing." The two were thus at the height of sincerity and obedience to Allah (may His glory be proclaimed): and the two were asking Allah, the Hearing, the Knowing, to accept from them what they were doing of great obedience and praiseworthy striving: "Lord, make us submitters to You: and of our descendants a community submitting to You: and show us our rites: and turn to us in forgiveness: You are the Ever-Relenting, the Merciful."

The point is that the Khalil built the noblest of mosques in the noblest of lands, in an uncultivated valley, and prayed for its people blessing, and that they be provided with fruits despite the scarcity of waters and the absence of trees, crops and fruits: and that He make it an inviolable sanctuary and guaranteed safety: Allah (to Him the praise) answered his request, responded to his call and granted his wish: "do they not see that We made a safe sanctuary, while people are snatched away around them? (al-'Ankabout, 67). "Have We not assigned them a safe sanctuary to which are brought the fruits of everything, as provision from Us? (al-Qassas, 57).

He asked Allah to raise up among them a messenger from among them, that is: of their kind and speaking their eloquent, penetrating, sincere tongue, so that the two favors, worldly and religious, might be completed upon them, with the happiness of the first and the last: Allah answered him by raising up among them a messenger: and what a messenger: He sealed by him His prophets and messengers, perfected through him the religion beyond what He had given anyone before him, and made his call universal to the people of the earth, despite the diversity of their kinds, tongues and characters, in all lands, cities and regions, until the Day of Resurrection: this was among his distinctions from the rest of the prophets, for his nobility in himself, the perfection of what he was sent with, the nobility of his land, the eloquence of his tongue, the perfection of his compassion for his umma, his gentleness and mercy, the nobility of his birth, the greatness of his coming, the purity of his origin and his source: for this reason Ibrahim al-Khalil (peace be upon him), builder of the Kaaba of the people of the earth, deserved that his rank, place and position be in the mansions of the heavens, at the high degrees, near the Populated House, which is the Kaaba of the people of the seventh heaven, blessed and made blessed, into which enter every day seventy thousand angels to worship therein:

they do not return to it until the day of resurrection and emergence: we have mentioned, in the tafsir of Surat al-Baqara, the description of the building of the House and what came thereof of reports and athar: therein is sufficiency: whoever wants it, let him consult it there: to Allah the praise.

When Allah commanded Ibrahim and Isma'il to build the House, and they did not know where its site was, Allah sent a wind called al-Khajuj, having two wings and a head in the form of a serpent: it swept away for them what surrounded the Kaaba, down to the foundation of the first House: they followed it with pickaxes, digging, until they laid the foundation: "and when We assigned to Ibrahim the site of the House. O my son, seek for me a fine stone that I may place here. He said: O my father, I am languid, weary. That is for you to do.

He set out: and Jibril came to him with the Black Stone from India: it had been a white gem like the chamomile flower: Adam brought it down from Paradise: it blackened from the sins of the people: Isma'il came with a stone: he found it at the corner: O my father, who brought you this? The one more active than you brought it. So they built: "Lord, accept this from us: You are the Hearing, the Knowing. Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned that he built it of five mounds: and that Dhul-Qarnayn, who was king of the earth at that time, passed by the two of them while they were building it: who commanded you this?

Allah commanded us it. And what do I know of what you say? Five rams bore witness that He commanded him that: so he believed and affirmed. And al-Azraqi mentioned that he circled the House with the Khalil.

The building of the Khalil remained for a long period: then Quraysh built it after that, and fell short of the foundations of Ibrahim on the north side, toward Syria, as it is today: in the two Sahihs, from the hadith of Malik: from Ibn Shihab: from Salim, that 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr informed Ibn 'Umar, who said: have you not seen that your people, when they built the Kaaba, limited themselves to the foundations of Ibrahim? O Messenger of Allah, will you not return it to the foundations of Ibrahim? Were it not for the recent conversion of your people, were it not that your people are newly out of the jahiliya, in disbelief, I would have spent the treasure of the Kaaba in the path of Allah, made its door at ground level, and included in it the Hijr.

Ibn az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) built it in his days according to what the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had indicated, according to what his aunt 'A'isha, Mother of the Believers, had informed him: when al-Hajjaj killed him in the year 73, he wrote to 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, the caliph of that time: they believed that Ibn az-Zubayr had done that only of his own initiative: he therefore ordered that it be returned to what it was: they demolished the Syrian wall, removed from it the Hijr, then blocked the wall and cast the stones into the interior of the Kaaba: its eastern door was raised: and they sealed the western one entirely, as is witnessed to this day: then when it reached them that Ibn az-Zubayr had done this only when 'A'isha, Mother of the Believers, informed him of it, they regretted what they had done and lamented that they had left it and not attended to that: then in the time of al-Mahdi ibn al-Mansur, he consulted the imam Malik ibn Anas about restoring it to the description for which Ibn az-Zubayr built it: I fear the kings would make it a plaything: that is: every time a king came, he would build it according to whatever description he wished: the matter thus settled upon what it is today.

The praise of Allah and His Messenger for Ibrahim

"And when his Lord tested Ibrahim with words which He fulfilled, He said: I make you an imam for the people. He said: and of my descendants? He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers."

Surat al-Baqara, 124

When he fulfilled what his Lord commanded him of the great obligations, He made him an imam for the people: they take him as model and follow his guidance: he asked Allah that this imamate be continuous through his cause, lasting in his lineage and enduring in his posterity: he was therefore answered to what he asked and sought: the imamate was handed over to him with its reins: the wrongdoers were excepted from attaining it: and among his descendants, the learned who act were singled out by it: "And We gave him Ishaq and Jacob: and We placed in his descendants prophethood and the Book: We gave him his reward in this world: and he is, in the hereafter, among the righteous" (al-'Ankabout, 27).

"And We gave him Ishaq and Jacob: each We guided: and Nuh We guided before: and of his descendants, Dawud, Sulayman, Ayyub, Yusuf, Musa and Harun: thus do We reward the doers of good: and Zakariya, Yahya, Issa and Ilyas: each of the righteous: and Isma'il, al-Yasa', Yunus and Lut: each We preferred over the worlds: and among their fathers, their descendants and their brothers: We chose them and guided them to a straight path."

Surat al-An'am, 84-87

The pronoun in his saying "and of his descendants" thus refers to Ibrahim, according to the well-known account, and to Lut: although he was his brother's son: yet he entered into the descendants by way of predominance: and this is what carries the second narrator to say the pronoun is upon Nuh, as we presented in his story: and Allah knows best.

"And certainly We sent Nuh and Ibrahim: and We placed in their descendants prophethood and the Book."

Surat al-Hadid, 26

Every Book sent down from heaven upon a prophet of the prophets after Ibrahim al-Khalil is thus from his descendants and his followers: and this is a garment of glory that cannot be matched, and a high station of which one does not boast: for there were born to his loins two great male sons: Isma'il from Hagar, then Ishaq from Sara: and to the latter was born Jacob, who is Isra'il, to whom all their tribes ascribe themselves: prophethood was thus among them: they multiplied greatly, so that none knows their number except He who created them: He singled them out with the message and prophethood, until they were sealed with Issa son of Maryam, of the Banu Isra'il.

As for Isma'il (peace be upon him): the Arabs descend from him, in the diversity of their tribes, as we shall explain further on, Allah the Most High willing: and there arose from his line no prophet except their seal in the absolute sense and their master, the pride of the sons of Adam in this world and the hereafter: Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, the Qurayshite, the Hashimite, the Meccan then the Medinan: prayers of Allah and His peace be upon him: there arose not from this noble branch and this flourishing bough except this resplendent jewel, the radiant pearl, the centerpiece of the noble necklace: he is the master in whom the people of the assembly glory: and whom the first and the last envy on the Day of Resurrection.

It is established from him, in the Sahih of Muslim: I shall stand at a station to which the whole of creation will wish to draw near, even Ibrahim: he thus praised Ibrahim, his father, with great praise in this context: and his words indicate that he is the best of creatures after him with the Creator, in this worldly life and on the day the shank is bared.

'Uthman ibn Abi Shayba narrated to us: Jarir narrated to us: from Mansur: from al-Minhal: from Sa'id ibn Jubayr: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would seek protection for al-Hasan and al-Husayn: your father sought protection by it for Isma'il and Ishaq: I seek protection in the perfect words of Allah from every devil and venomous creature, and from every envious eye. The people of the Sunan reported it from the hadith of Mansur, in these words.

"And when Ibrahim said: my Lord, show me how You give life to the dead. He said: do you not believe? He said: yes: but that my heart may be reassured. He said: then take four of the birds: tame them toward you: then place upon every mountain a portion of them: then call them: they will come to you hastening: and know that Allah is Mighty, Wise."

Surat al-Baqara, 260

The exegetes mentioned for this question causes which we set forth in the tafsir and established in the most complete manner: the upshot is that Allah (may His glory be proclaimed) answered him to what he asked: He commanded him to take four birds: they differed over identifying them, in various sayings: the aim is attained under any reconstruction: He commanded him to tear apart their flesh and feathers, to mix the parts among one another, then to divide it into portions, and to place upon every mountain a portion of them: he did what he was commanded: then he was commanded to call them with the permission of their Lord: when he called them, every member flew to its owner, and every feather came to its sister: until the body of each bird gathered upon what it had been: while he was gazing at the power of the One who says "be, and it is": they came to him hastening, so that it would be clearer to him and more evident to behold than had they come flying.

He was commanded to take their heads in his hand: each bird then came and found its head: and it mounted upon its body as it had been: there is no god but Allah. And Ibrahim (peace be upon him) knew the power of Allah the Most High to give life to the dead, with certain knowledge admitting no opposite: but he loved to behold that before his eyes: and to rise from the knowledge of certainty to the eye of certainty: Allah therefore answered him to his question: and granted him the utmost of his hope.

"O People of the Book, why do you dispute about Ibrahim, while the Torah and the Gospel were not sent down except after him? Do you not then understand? Here you are: you disputed about what you have knowledge of: why then do you dispute about what you have no knowledge of? Allah knows: and you do not know.

Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian: but he was a hanif, a submitter: and he was not of those who associate. The people most worthy of Ibrahim are those who followed him: and this prophet: and those who believed: and Allah is the protector of the believers."

Surat Al 'Imran, 65-68

The Most High repudiates the People of the Book, Jews and Christians, for the claim of each of the two parties that the Khalil was upon their religion and their way, while the Torah and the Gospel were not sent down except after him: that is: how could he be upon your religion, when it was only after him, after long stretches of time, that what was legislated for you was legislated? "Do you not then understand?" until his saying: "Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian: but he was a hanif, a submitter: and he was not of those who associate." He made clear that he was upon the pure religion of Allah: which is turning to sincerity, deliberately deviating from falsehood to truth: a religion opposed to Judaism, Christianity and idolatry: and who would turn away from the religion of Ibrahim except one who made himself foolish?

"And who would turn away from the religion of Ibrahim except one who made himself foolish? We chose him in this world: and he is, in the hereafter, among the righteous. When his Lord said to him: submit. He said: I submit to the Lord of the worlds.

And Ibrahim enjoined it upon his sons, as did Jacob: O my sons, Allah has chosen the religion for you: so die not except while you are submitters. Or were you witnesses when death came to Jacob, when he said to his sons: what will you worship after me? They said: we will worship your god and the god of your fathers, Ibrahim, Isma'il and Ishaq: one god: and to Him we are submitters. That was a community that has passed: it has what it earned: and you will have what you have earned: and you will not be questioned about what they used to do.

And they said: be Jews or Christians, you will be guided. Say: rather, the religion of Ibrahim, a hanif: and he was not of those who associate. Say: we believe in Allah, and in what was sent down to us, and in what was sent down to Ibrahim, Isma'il, Ishaq, Jacob and the tribes, and in what was given to Musa and Issa, and in what was given to the prophets from their Lord: we make no distinction between any of them: and to Him we are submitters. So if they believe in what you believed in, they are indeed guided: but if they turn away, they are only in dissension: Allah will suffice you against them: He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

The dye of Allah: and who is better than Allah at dyeing? And we are His worshippers. Say: do you dispute with us about Allah, while He is our Lord and your Lord? For us are our deeds, and for you your deeds: and we are sincere toward Him.

Or do you say that Ibrahim, Isma'il, Ishaq, Jacob and the tribes were Jews or Christians? Say: do you know better, or Allah? And who is more unjust than he who conceals a testimony he has from Allah? And Allah is not heedless of what you do."

Surat al-Baqara, 130-140

Allah (may His glory be proclaimed) thus sanctified His intimate friend (peace be upon him) by declaring him neither Jew nor Christian, and made clear that he was a hanif, a submitter, and was not of the associators: "the people most worthy of Ibrahim are those who followed him": that is: those who were upon his religion among his followers in his time, and whoever clung to his religion after them: "and this prophet": that is: Muhammad (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): for Allah legislated for him the pure religion which He legislated for the Khalil: and Allah the Most High perfected it for him: and granted him what He had granted no prophet nor messenger before him: "Say: my Lord has guided me to a straight path, an upright religion, the religion of Ibrahim, a hanif: and he was not of those who associate. Say: my prayer, my rites, my life and my death are for Allah, Lord of the worlds: no partner has He: and with that I was commanded: and I am the first of the submitters" (al-An'am, 161-163).

"Ibrahim was a community obedient to Allah, a hanif: and he was not of those who associate" (an-Nahl, 120). "grateful for His favors: He chose him and guided him to a straight path: and We gave him good in this world: and he is, in the hereafter, among the righteous. Then We revealed to you: follow the religion of Ibrahim, a hanif: and he was not of those who associate" (an-Nahl, 121-123).

Ibrahim ibn Musa narrated to us: Hisham narrated to us: from Ma'mar: from Ayyub: from 'Ikrima: from Ibn 'Abbas that the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), when he saw the images in the House, did not enter until he ordered that they be effaced: and he saw Ibrahim and Isma'il, in their two hands, the divination arrows: may Allah curse them: by Allah, they never drew lots with the arrows. Muslim did not report it: and in some wordings of al-Bukhari: may Allah curse them: they knew well that our old man never drew lots with them.

His saying "a community" means: a model, a guided imam, calling to goodness, one followed as example: "obedient to Allah", that is: humble before Him in all his states, movements and rests: "hanif", that is: sincere, with clear vision: "and he was not of those who associate": "grateful for His favors", that is: thankful to his Lord with all his limbs, of his heart, his tongue and his deeds: "He chose him": that is: Allah chose him for Himself, preferred him for His message and took him as intimate friend: and gathered for him the two goods, of this world and the hereafter: "and who is better in religion than he who submits his face to Allah, doing good, and follows the religion of Ibrahim, a hanif: and Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend" (an-Nisa, 125). The Most High invites to following Ibrahim (peace be upon him): for he was upon the upright religion and the straight path: and he fulfilled all that his Lord commanded him: "and Ibrahim, who fulfilled" (an-Najm, 37). For this reason Allah took him as intimate friend: and khulla is the utmost of love:

you threaded the path of the soul through me: by this the khalil was named khalil:

and likewise attained this station the seal of the prophets and master of the messengers: Muhammad, prayers of Allah and peace be upon him: as is established in the two Sahihs and other than them, from the hadith of Jundub al-Bajali, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr and Ibn Mas'ud, that he said: O people, Allah has taken me as intimate friend, as He took Ibrahim as intimate friend. And he also said at the end of a sermon he delivered: O people, were I to take an intimate friend from the inhabitants of the earth, I would take Abu Bakr as intimate friend: but your companion is the intimate friend of Allah. The two shaykhs reported it from the hadith of Abu Sa'id: and it is established likewise from the hadith of 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr, Ibn 'Abbas and Ibn Mas'ud.

Al-Bukhari reported in his Sahih: Sulayman ibn Harb narrated to us: Shu'ba narrated to us: from Habib ibn Abi Thabit: from Sa'id ibn Jubayr: Mu'adh, when he arrived in the Yemen, prayed the morning prayer with them and recited: "and Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend" (an-Nisa, 125): the eyes of the mother of Ibrahim were refreshed. 'Abd ar-Rahim ibn Muhammad ibn Muslim narrated to us: Isma'il ibn Ahmad ibn Usayd narrated to us: Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub al-Juzjani narrated to us in Mecca: 'Abd Allah al-Hanafi narrated to us: Zam'a ibn Salih narrated to us: from Salama ibn Wahram: from 'Ikrima: some people of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sat waiting for him: he came out, and as he drew near them he heard them conversing: he heard their talk: how strange that Allah should take from His creation an intimate friend: and Ibrahim is His intimate friend. What is more astonishing: that Allah spoke to Musa directly: and Issa is the spirit of Allah and His word. Adam: Allah preferred him.

He came out to them and greeted them: I heard your words: and your wonder that Ibrahim is the intimate friend of Allah: he is: and that Musa is the one to whom Allah spoke: he is: and that Issa is His spirit and His word: he is: and that Adam is the one Allah preferred: he is. Know that I am the beloved of Allah: and no pride: know that I am the first intercessor and the first whose intercession is accepted: and no pride: and I am the first to rattle the ring of the gate of Paradise: Allah opens it and admits me into it: with me are the poor among the believers: and I am the noblest of the first and the last on the Day of Resurrection: and no pride. This hadith is strange by this route: and it has witnesses by other routes: and Allah knows best.

Al-Hakim reported in his Mustadrak from the hadith of Qatada: from 'Ikrima: do you deny that the khulla should be for Ibrahim, and the direct speech for Musa, and the vision for Muhammad: prayers of Allah and peace be upon them all? My father narrated to us: Mahmud ibn Khalid as-Sulami narrated to us: al-Walid narrated to us: when Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend, He cast into his heart awe, such that the beating of his heart could be heard from afar, as the fluttering of a bird in the air is heard. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) would host people: he went out one day seeking a man to host and found no one to host him: he returned to his house: he found in it a man standing: O servant of Allah, what brought you into my house without my permission? I entered it with the permission of its Lord.

And who are you? I am the angel of death: my Lord sent me to one of His servants: to give him glad tidings that Allah has taken him as an intimate friend. Who is he? By Allah, if you inform me of him, though he be in the farthest lands, I will go to him: and I shall not cease being his neighbor until death parts us.

That servant is you. I! He said: yes. By what did my Lord take me as intimate friend?

In that you give to people and ask nothing of them. Ibn Abi Hatim reported it: and Allah the Most High mentioned him in the Quran in many places, with praise and merit concerning him: he is mentioned in 35 places: 15 of them in al-Baqara alone: and he is one of the five possessors of resolve, the five whose names are cited explicitly, from among the rest of the prophets, in the two verses of al-Ahzab and ach-Choura:

"And when We took from the prophets their covenant: from you, and from Nuh, and Ibrahim, and Musa, and Issa son of Maryam: and We took from them a solemn covenant."

Surat al-Ahzab, 7

"He has legislated for you in religion what He enjoined upon Nuh, and what We revealed to you, and what We enjoined upon Ibrahim, Musa and Issa: that you establish the religion and do not divide in it."

Surat ach-Choura, 13

Then he is the noblest of the possessors of resolve after Muhammad (prayers of Allah and peace be upon him): and he is the one Muhammad (prayers of Allah and peace be upon him) found in the seventh heaven, leaning his back against the Populated House, into which enter every day seventy thousand angels: who do not return to it until the end of their term: as for what came in the hadith of Sharik ibn Abi Namir: from Anas, in the hadith of the Night Journey: that Ibrahim is in the sixth heaven and Musa in the seventh: it is among what was criticized against Sharik in this hadith: the authentic is the first account.

"and I deferred the third for a day to which the whole of creation will wish to draw near, even Ibrahim." Muslim reported it from the hadith of Ubayy ibn Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him): I am the master of the children of Adam on the Day of Resurrection: and no pride. Then he mentions that the people will seek intercession with Adam: then with Nuh: then with Ibrahim: then Musa: then Issa: each of them declines: then he says: I am the one for it: I am the one for it. The hadith.

'Ali ibn 'Abd Allah narrated to us: Yahya ibn Sa'id narrated to us: 'Abd Allah narrated to us: Sa'id narrated to me: from his father: it was said: O Messenger of Allah, who is the most honored of people? The most fearing of Allah among them. We are not asking you about that. Then: Yusuf, prophet of Allah, son of a prophet of Allah, son of a prophet of Allah, son of the intimate friend of Allah. We are not asking you about that. Is it about the origins of the Arabs you ask me? Their best in the jahiliya are their best in Islam when they understand.

Thus al-Bukhari reported it in other places: and Muslim: and an-Nasa'i by several routes: from Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Qattan: from 'Ubayd Allah, who is Ibn 'Umar al-'Umari, in these words: Abu Usama said: and Mu'tamir: from 'Ubayd Allah: from Sa'id: from Abu Hurayra: from the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): and he ascribed it, in another place of their two hadiths, and in the hadith of 'Abda ibn Sulayman: and an-Nasa'i from the hadith of Muhammad ibn Bishr: all four from 'Ubayd Allah: from Sa'id: from Abu Hurayra: from the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): without mentioning his father.

Muhammad ibn Bishr narrated to us: Muhammad ibn 'Amr narrated to us: Abu Salama narrated to us: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: the noble, son of the noble, son of the noble, son of the noble: Yusuf son of Jacob son of Ishaq son of Ibrahim, the intimate friend of Allah. Ahmad reported it alone. Muhammad ibn Bishr narrated to us: Muhammad ibn 'Amr narrated to us: Abu Salama narrated to us: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: the noble, son of the noble, son of the noble, son of the noble: Yusuf son of Jacob son of Ishaq son of Ibrahim, the intimate friend of the Most Merciful. Ahmad reported it alone.

'Abda narrated to us: 'Abd as-Samad ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman narrated to us: from his father: from Ibn 'Umar, who said: the noble, son of the noble, son of the noble, son of the noble: Yusuf son of Jacob son of Ishaq son of Ibrahim. He reported it alone, via 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Dinar: from his father: from Ibn 'Umar, in these words.

As for the hadith reported by the imam Ahmad: Yahya narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us: Mughira ibn an-Nu'man narrated to me: from Sa'id ibn Jubayr: from Ibn 'Abbas: the people will be resurrected barefoot, naked, uncircumcised: the first to be clothed will be Ibrahim (peace be upon him): then he recited: "as We began the first creation, We shall repeat it" (al-Anbiya, 104). The two shaykhs reported it from the hadith of Sufyan ath-Thawri and Shu'ba ibn al-Hajjaj, both from Mughira ibn an-Nu'man an-Nakha'i al-Kufi: from Sa'id ibn Jubayr: from Ibn 'Abbas, in these words. And this specified virtue does not require superiority in comparison with what countered it of what is established for the possessor of the praised maqam, which the first and the last envy: Waki' and Abu Nu'aym narrated to us: Sufyan, who is ath-Thawri, narrated to us: from Mukhtar ibn Fulful: a man said to the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): O best of creation: he answered: it is Yusuf son of Jacob son of Ishaq son of the intimate friend of Allah.

Muslim reported it from the hadith of ath-Thawri, 'Abd Allah ibn Idris, 'Ali ibn Mus-hir and Muhammad ibn Fudayl: all four from al-Mukhtar ibn Fulful: hasan sahih hadith. And this is of the chapter of humility toward his father the Khalil (peace be upon him): do not prefer me over the prophets. And he said: do not prefer me over Musa: for the people will be struck unconscious on the Day of Resurrection: and I shall be the first to wake: and I shall find Musa gripping the leg of the Throne: I do not know whether he woke before me, or was spared the swoon of at-Tur. All this does not contradict what is established by tawatur from him, prayers of Allah and peace be upon him: that he is the master of the children of Adam on the Day of Resurrection.

Likewise the hadith of Ubayy ibn Ka'b in the Sahih of Muslim: and I deferred the third for a day to which the whole of creation will wish to draw near, even Ibrahim. And since Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is the best of messengers and possessors of resolve after Muhammad, prayers of Allah and peace be upon them all, the one praying is commanded to say in his tashahhud what is established in the two Sahihs from the hadith of Ka'b ibn 'Ujra: we said: O Messenger of Allah, this salam upon you we know: how then is the prayer upon you? Say: O Allah, pray upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You prayed upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim: You are Praiseworthy, Glorious: and bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim: You are Praiseworthy, Glorious.

"and Ibrahim, who fulfilled": he fulfilled all that he was commanded: and performed all the traits of faith and its branches: concern for the momentous matter did not distract him from attending to the small matter: Ma'mar informed us: from Ibn Tawus: from his father: from Ibn 'Abbas: "and when his Lord tested Ibrahim with words which He fulfilled": Allah tested him with purification: five in the head and five in the body: as for those in the head: trimming the mustache, rinsing the mouth, the siwak, sniffing water into the nose and parting the hair of the head: as for those in the body: clipping the nails, shaving the pubic area, circumcision, plucking the armpits and washing with water the traces of stool and urine.

Ibn Abi Hatim reported it: and it was reported from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, Mujahid, ash-Sha'bi, an-Nakha'i, Abu Salih and Abu al-Jald in similar terms: and in the two Sahihs, from Abu Hurayra, who said: the fitra is five: circumcision, shaving, trimming the mustache, clipping the nails and plucking the armpits: and in the Sahih of Muslim and among the people of the Sunan, from the hadith of Waki': from Zakariyya ibn Abi Za'ida: from Mus'ab ibn Shayba al-'Abdari al-Makki al-Hajabi: from Taliq ibn Habib al-'Anazi: from 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: ten are of the fitra: trimming the mustache, letting the beard grow, the siwak, sniffing water into the nose, clipping the nails, washing the finger joints, plucking the armpits, shaving the pubic area and wiping away the water, that is, istinja'.

And the discussion of circumcision will come at the mention of his lifespan: the point is that he did not let devotion to sincerity toward Allah (may His glory be proclaimed) and humility in the great worship distract him from attending to the welfare of his body: and giving each limb its due of rectification and beautification: and removing what is unseemly of excess hair or nail: or the presence of dirt or filth: this is part of the saying of the Most High in his praise: "and Ibrahim, who fulfilled."

The palace of Ibrahim in Paradise

Ahmad ibn Sinan al-Qattan al-Wasiti and Muhammad ibn Musa al-Qattan narrated to us: Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us: Hammad ibn Salama narrated to us: from Simak: from 'Ikrima: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: in Paradise there is a palace: I think he said: of a pearl: in it is no fissure nor weakness: Allah prepared it for His intimate friend Ibrahim (peace be upon him) as lodging. And Ahmad ibn Jamil al-Marwazi narrated to us: an-Nadr ibn Shumayl narrated to us: Hammad ibn Salama narrated to us: from Simak: from 'Ikrima: from Abu Hurayra: from the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), in similar terms: and this hadith: we know of no one who reported it from Hammad ibn Salama and ascribed it to him except Yazid ibn Harun and an-Nadr ibn Shumayl: were it not for this defect, it would be upon the conditions of the sahih: and they did not bring it out.

The description of Ibrahim (peace be upon him)

Yunus narrated to us: al-Layth narrated to us: from Abu az-Zubayr: from Jabir, who said: the prophets were shown to me: and Musa: a man of the men, as if from the men of Shanu'a: and I saw Issa son of Maryam: the closest of those I saw in resemblance is 'Urwa ibn Mas'ud: and I saw Ibrahim: the closest of those I saw in resemblance is your companion: that is, himself (prayers of Allah and peace be upon him): and I saw Jibril (peace be upon him): the closest of those I saw in resemblance is Dihya. The imam Ahmad reported it alone by this route, with this wording. Aswad ibn 'Amir narrated to us: Isra'il narrated to us: from 'Uthman, that is, Ibn al-Mughira: from Mujahid: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: I saw Issa son of Maryam, and Musa, and Ibrahim: as for Issa: ruddy, curly-haired, broad-chested: as for Musa: dark, stout: and Ibrahim? Look at your companion: that is, himself.

Bayan ibn 'Amr narrated to us: an-Nadr narrated to us: Ibn 'Awn informed us: the manuscript has a gap here, and he said: I did not hear it: as for Ibrahim: look at your companion: and as for Musa: curly-haired, dark, upon a red camel bridled with a halter: it is as if I see him descending into the valley. Thus al-Bukhari reported it likewise in the Book of Pilgrimage and in the Book of Clothing: and Muslim altogether: from Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna: from Ibn Abi 'Adi: from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Awn, in these words.

The death of Ibrahim al-Khalil and his lifespan

He ruled for 1000 years: and he was at the utmost degree of tyranny: some mentioned he was of the Banu Rasib, to whom Nuh (peace be upon him) was sent: and that he was then king of the world: they mentioned that a star rose that dimmed the light of the sun and the moon: the people of that era were terrified by it: a child will be born among your subjects at whose hands your dominion will end: he thereupon ordered that men be kept from women: and that those born from that time be killed: the birth of Ibrahim al-Khalil took place in that very time: Allah (may His glory be proclaimed) protected him and preserved him from the plot of the villains: he grew into a dazzling youth: Allah made him grow with a good growth: until his affair became as mentioned before: and his birth took place in as-Sus: in Babylon: in the Sawad, near Kutha: and it was stated before, from Ibn 'Abbas, that he was born at Barza, east of Damascus.

When Allah destroyed Nimrod at his hands, he emigrated to Harran: then to the land of Syria: and he settled in the land of Elijah, as we mentioned: and Isma'il and Ishaq were born to him: and Sara died before him, in the village of Hebron, in the land of Canaan: and her age was 127 years, according to what the People of the Book mention: Ibrahim (peace be upon him) grieved over her: and wept for her: may Allah have mercy on her: 'Efron son of Sakhr sold him a cave for 400 mithqals of silver: and he buried Sara there. Then Ibrahim asked in marriage for his son Ishaq: he married him Rifqa, daughter of Thawil son of Nahur son of Tarikh: and sent his freedman: who carried her from her land: with her nurse and her maidservants, upon the camels. Then Ibrahim (peace be upon him) married Qantura: she bore him Zamran, Yaqchan, Madan, Madyan, Shayaq and Shuh: and they mentioned what each of these children of Qantura begot.

Ibn 'Asakir reported from more than one of the early generations, from the reports of the People of the Book, concerning the coming of the angel of death to Ibrahim (peace be upon him), many reports: Allah knows best their authenticity. He died suddenly: and likewise Dawud and Sulayman: and what the People of the Book mention and others is contrary to that. Then Ibrahim (peace be upon him) fell ill and died at 175: and he was buried in the mentioned cave, near his wife Sara, in the field of 'Efron the Hittite: and Isma'il and Ishaq undertook his burial: prayers of Allah and peace be upon them all.

There has come what indicates that he lived 200 years, as Ibn al-Kalbi said. Al-Mufaddal ibn Muhammad al-Jandi informed us in Mecca: 'Ali ibn Ziyad al-Lahji narrated to us: Abu Qurra narrated to us: from Ibn Jurayj: from Yahya ibn Sa'id: from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, who said: Ibrahim underwent circumcision with an adze, at the age of 120: and he lived after that 80 years. The hafiz Ibn 'Asakir reported it via 'Ikrima ibn Ibrahim and Ja'far ibn 'Awn al-'Amri: from Yahya ibn Sa'id: from Sa'id: from Abu Hurayra, in mauquf form.

Mention of the report that refutes the saying of whoever alleged that the elevation of this report is an error. Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Junayd informed us in Bust: Qutayba ibn Sa'id narrated to us: al-Layth narrated to us: from Ibn 'Ajlan: from his father: from Abu Hurayra, who said: Ibrahim underwent circumcision when he reached 120 years: and lived after that 80 years: and he was circumcised with an adze. The hafiz Ibn 'Asakir reported it via Yahya ibn Sa'id: from Ibn 'Ajlan: from his father: from Abu Hurayra: eighty years had passed over him. Then Ibn Hibban reported: the qadum is the name of the village. What is authentic is that he underwent circumcision when eighty years had passed over him: and in a version, when he was eighty years old: and neither of the two alludes to what he lived after that: and Allah knows best.

Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Hasani al-Wasiti, transmitter of the tafsir of Waki', said concerning it, in what he mentioned of additions: Abu Mu'awiya narrated to us: from Yahya ibn Sa'id: from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab: Ibrahim was the first to wear trousers, the first to part his hair, the first to shave, the first to undergo circumcision with an adze, at the age of 120, and he lived after that 80 years: the first to honor a guest: and the first whose hair turned grey. This is how it was reported, in mauquf form: and it is closer to being elevated, contrary to Ibn Hibban: and Allah knows best.

from Yahya ibn Sa'id: Ibrahim was the first to host a guest: the first of people to undergo circumcision: the first of people to trim his mustache: the first of people to see grey hair: "Lord, what is this? "Dignity. "Lord, increase me in dignity. And the first to trim his mustache: the first to shave: the first to wear trousers: and his grave, and the grave of his son Ishaq, and the grave of his son's son Jacob, are in the enclosure which Sulayman son of Dawud (peace be upon them) built in the land of Hebron: which is the land known today as al-Khalil.

And this is received by tawatur, umma after umma, generation after generation, from the time of the Banu Isra'il to our own time: that his grave is truly in the enclosure: as for specifying its spot within it, there is no authentic report from an Infallible: so that place should be respected: and honored in like manner: and venerated: and protected: treading its precincts for fear that the grave of the Khalil or of one of his prophet sons (peace be upon them) lies beneath. There was found near the grave of Ibrahim al-Khalil, upon a stone, an inscription carved:

his hope has suffocated the heedless fool: dies he whose term has come; and whoever drew near his death: his devices availed him not; and how should the last remain: of him whose first has died; and man finds in the grave: no companion but his deed.

The children of Ibrahim al-Khalil

The first born to him is Isma'il, from Hagar the Coptic Egyptian: then Ishaq was born to him from Sara, the first cousin of the Khalil: then he married after her Qantura, daughter of Yaqtan, the Canaanite: she bore him six: Madyan, Zamran, Saraj, Yaqchan, Nashaq: the sixth was not named. Then he married after her Hajun, daughter of Amin: she bore him five: Kaysan, Suraj, Amim, Lutan and Nafas. Thus Abu al-Qasim as-Suhayli mentioned it in his book.

And among the momentous matters that took place in the lifetime of Ibrahim al-Khalil: the story of the people of Lut and the universal punishment that befell them.

This is that Lut is son of Haran son of Tarah, who is Azar, as mentioned before: and Lut is the son of the brother of Ibrahim al-Khalil: Ibrahim, Haran and Nahur are thus brothers, as we presented: this Haran is the one who built Harran: this report is weak, for contradicting what the People of the Book hold: and Allah knows best.

Lut had moved away from the locality of his uncle the Khalil (peace be upon him), by the command he gave him and his permission: he settled in the city of Sodom, in the land of the Ghawr of Zughar: it was the mother of that locality: it had lands, estates and villages annexed to it: and a people among the most depraved, most disbelieving and worst of people, in secret and open, in character and conduct: they cut off the roads: came in their forbidden assembly: and refrained from no evil they committed, for the evil of what they did: they innovated an obscenity none of the sons of Adam had preceded them to: namely going to the males of the two worlds: and abandoning what Allah created of women for His righteous servants: Lut therefore called them to worship Allah the Most High alone without partner: and forbade them these forbidden things, the abominable acts and the repugnant deeds: they persisted in their misguidance and tyranny: and continued in their transgression and disbelief: Allah therefore inflicted upon them the calamity that cannot be repelled, which they had neither reckoned nor expected: and made them an example among the worlds: and a lesson from which the discerning among the learned take heed:

"And Lut, when he said to his people: do you commit the obscenity none in the worlds has preceded you with? You indeed come to men out of lust, instead of women: rather, you are a people transgressing. And the only answer of his people was to say: expel them from your town: they are people who keep themselves pure. So We saved him and his family, except his wife: she was among those who lagged behind.

And We rained upon them a rain: see then how was the end of the criminals."

Surat al-A'raf, 80-84

"And Our messengers came to Ibrahim with glad tidings. They said: peace. He said: peace. Then he did not delay in bringing a roasted calf.

Then, when he saw that their hands did not reach it, he found them strange and felt fear of them. They said: fear not: we have been sent to the people of Lut. And his wife was standing: so she laughed. Then We gave her glad tidings of Ishaq, and behind Ishaq, Jacob.

She said: woe to me: shall I bear a child while I am an old woman, and this my husband an old man? This is indeed a wondrous thing. They said: do you wonder at the command of Allah? The mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, people of the house: He is Praiseworthy, Glorious.

Then, when the awe departed from Ibrahim and the glad tidings reached him, he disputed with Us concerning the people of Lut: Ibrahim was indeed forbearing, tender, turning to Allah. O Ibrahim, turn away from this: the command of your Lord has come: and there will come upon them a punishment that cannot be repelled. And when Our messengers came to Lut, he was distressed for them: he felt for them a constriction hard to bear: he said: this is a distressful day. And his people came to him, hastening toward him: and before that they had been committing evil deeds.

He said: O my people, these are my daughters: they are purer for you: so fear Allah: and disgrace me not concerning my guests: is there not among you a man of sense? They said: you know well that we have no right over your daughters: and you know well what we want. He said: if only I had strength against you, or could take refuge in a strong support. They said: O Lut, we are the messengers of your Lord: they will not reach you: so travel with your family during a portion of the night: and let none of you turn around: except your wife: what strikes them will strike her: their appointed time is the morning: is not the morning near?

Then, when Our command came, We made its uppermost its lowest: and We rained upon it stones of baked clay, heaped, marked with your Lord: and they are not far from the wrongdoers."

Surat Hud, 69-83

"And inform them of the guests of Ibrahim. When they entered upon him, they said: peace. He said: we are fearful of you. They said: fear not: we give you glad tidings of a knowing boy.

He said: do you give me glad tidings while old age has touched me? With what do you give me glad tidings? They said: we give you glad tidings of truth: so be not among the despairing. He said: who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except the astray?

He said: what then is your business, O messengers? They said: we have been sent to a people criminal: except the family of Lut: we shall save them all: except his wife: We decreed she would be among those who lag behind. Then, when the messengers came to the family of Lut, he said: you are a people unknown. They said: rather, we have come to you with that over which they disputed: and we have come to you with truth: and we are truthful.

So travel with your family during a portion of the night: and follow their rears: and let none of you turn around: and go where you are commanded. And We decreed to him that command: that these, by morning, be cut off. And the people of the city came, rejoicing. He said: these are my guests: so disgrace me not: and fear Allah: and disgrace me not.

They said: did we not forbid you the worlds? He said: these are my daughters, if you are to act. By your life: they were in their drunkenness, wandering. Then the cry seized them at sunrise: and We made its uppermost its lowest: and We rained upon them stones of baked clay.

In that are signs for those who read the signs: and it is upon a road that remains. In that is a sign for the believers."

Surat al-Hijr, 51-77

"The people of Lut denied the messengers, when their brother Lut said to them: will you not fear? I am to you a trustworthy messenger: so fear Allah and obey me: and I ask of you no wage for it: my wage is only upon the Lord of the worlds. Do you go to the males of the worlds: and leave what your Lord created for you of your wives? Rather, you are a people transgressing.

They said: if you do not desist, O Lut, you will certainly be among those driven out. He said: I am indeed of those who detest your deed. Lord, save me and my family from what they do. So We saved him and his family, all: except an old woman: among those who lagged behind.

Then We destroyed the others: and We rained upon them a rain: and evil was the rain of those who were warned: in that is a sign: but most of them are not believers: and your Lord is indeed the Mighty, the Merciful."

Surat ach-Chou'ara, 160-175

"And Lut, when he said to his people: do you commit the obscenity while you see clearly? Do you indeed come to men out of lust instead of women? Rather, you are a people ignorant. And the only answer of his people was to say: expel the family of Lut from your town: they are people who keep themselves pure.

So We saved him and his family, except his wife: We decreed her among those who lagged behind: and We rained upon them a rain: and evil was the rain of those who were warned."

Surat an-Naml, 54-58

"And Lut, when he said to his people: you indeed commit the obscenity none in the worlds has preceded you with. Do you indeed come to men, cut off the road, and commit in your assembly the repugnant? And the only answer of his people was to say: bring upon us the punishment of Allah, if you are of the truthful. He said: Lord, aid me against the people who spread corruption."

Surat al-A'raf, 80-84

"And when Our messengers came to Ibrahim with glad tidings, they said: we are going to destroy the people of this town: its people were wrongdoers. He said: Lut is in it. They said: we know better who is in it: we shall save him and his family, except his wife: she was among those who lagged behind. And when Our messengers came to Lut, he was distressed for them: he felt for them a constriction hard to bear: they said: fear not and grieve not: we shall save you and your family, except your wife: she was among those who lagged behind.

We are sending down upon the people of this town a punishment from heaven, for their transgression. And We left therein a clear sign for a people who reason."

Surat al-'Ankabout, 31-35

"And Lut was indeed of the messengers, when We saved him and his family, all: except an old woman among those who lagged behind: then We destroyed the others: and you pass by them in the morning: and by night: do you not then understand?"

Surat as-Saffat, 133-138

"He said: what then is your business, O messengers? They said: we have been sent to a people criminal: to send upon them stones of clay, marked with your Lord, for the excessive. So We brought out whoever was in it of the believers: We found in it only one house of submitters: and We left therein a sign for those who fear the painful punishment."

Surat adh-Dhariyat, 31-37

"The people of Lut denied the warning: We sent upon them a shower of stones: except the family of Lut: We saved them at dawn: favor from Us: thus do We reward him who is grateful. He had indeed warned them of Our grip: but they disputed the warning. They even tried to snatch his guests from him: so We blinded their eyes: taste then My punishment and My warning. And an abiding punishment seized them in the morning: taste then My punishment and My warning.

And We have made the Quran easy for remembrance: is there then any who will take heed?"

Surat al-Qamar, 33-37

We have spoken of these stories at their places, in the tafsir of these suras: Allah mentioned Lut and his people in other places of the Quran: whose mention has already been made with the people of Nuh, the 'Ad and the Thamud. The aim now is to bring together what took place of their affair, and what Allah inflicted upon them, as a collection of verses and athar: and Allah is the One whose help is sought.

This is that Lut (peace be upon him), when he called them to worship Allah alone without partner, and forbade them the approach of what Allah mentioned of them of abominations, they did not answer him and did not believe in him: until not one single man of them remained: and they did not leave what they had been forbidden: rather they continued upon their state: and did not guard against their change and their misguidance: and intended to expel their messenger from their midst: and their only answer to his address was to say: "expel the family of Lut from your town: they are people who keep themselves pure": they turned the utmost of praise into blame which required expulsion: and what drove them to this saying of theirs was only obstinacy and stubbornness: Allah therefore purified him and his family, except his wife: and brought them out of it in the finest of exits: and left them, the people, in their locality, dwelling: but after making it over them a putrid sea with surging waves: which is, in reality, upon them a fire that blazes and a heat that flares: and whose water is bitter salt: their answer was such only when he forbade them the greatest of obscenities and the major abomination that none of the inhabitants of the world had preceded them to: for this reason they became thereby a parable: and a lesson for whoever is upon it:

and they were, with that, cutting the roads: betraying the companion: and committing in their assembly, which was their place of gathering, of talk and merriment, the repugnant among sayings: they would perpetrate that obscenity in their gatherings: and feel no shame before their gatherings: and at times the great deed would occur from them in the assemblies: and they would not refuse: and pay no heed to the exhortation of an exhorter: nor the counsel of an adviser: and they were, in that and other, like cattle: rather more astray from the way: they did not disengage from what they had in the present: nor regret what had passed of the past: nor seek in the future a change: Allah therefore seized them with the seizure of a Mighty, Omnipotent: "bring upon us the punishment of Allah, if you are of the truthful.

They thus demanded of him the fall of what he had warned them of, of the painful punishment, and the befalling of the great calamity: at that, his noble prophet supplicated against them: and asked the Lord of the worlds, the Lord of the messengers, to aid him against the people who spread corruption: Allah was indignant at his zeal: and wrathful at his wrath: answered his supplication: and granted him his request: and sent His noble messengers: and His mighty angels: they passed by the Khalil Ibrahim: and gave him glad tidings of the knowing boy: and informed him of what they had come for: of the momentous matter and the universal design: "he said: what then is your business, O messengers? They said: we have been sent to a people criminal: to send upon them stones of clay, marked with your Lord, for the excessive. "And when Our messengers came to Ibrahim with glad tidings, they said: we are going to destroy the people of this town: its people were wrongdoers. He said: Lut is in it.

They said: we know better who is in it: we shall save him and his family, except his wife: she was among those who lagged behind. "Then, when the awe departed from Ibrahim and the glad tidings reached him, he disputed with Us concerning the people of Lut. And that is because he hoped they would repent: submit: desist: and return: "Ibrahim was indeed forbearing, tender, turning to Allah. O Ibrahim, turn away from this: the command of your Lord has come: and there will come upon them a punishment that cannot be repelled.

That is: turn away from this: and speak of something else: for their matter has been decreed: their punishment, their destruction and their annihilation made binding: "the command of your Lord has come", that is: He whose command cannot be repelled has commanded it: whose violence cannot be repelled: and whose judgment has none to reverse it: "and there will come upon them a punishment that cannot be repelled."

Sa'id ibn Jubayr, as-Suddi and Qatada mentioned that he kept saying: will you destroy a town in which are 300 believers? No. 200 believers? No. Forty believers? They said: no. Fourteen believers? No. Do you not see, were there in it a single believer? No. He said: "Lut is in it." They said: "we know better who is in it": the verse. "Lord, will You destroy them while among them are fifty righteous men?" "I shall not destroy them while among them are fifty righteous." Then He descended to ten: "I shall not destroy them while among them are ten righteous."

"And when Our messengers came to Lut, he was distressed for them: he felt for them a constriction hard to bear: he said: this is a distressful day." When the angels parted from Ibrahim, and they were Jibril, Mikail and Israfil, they advanced until they came to the land of Sodom, in the form of handsome youths: a trial from Allah the Most High for the people of Lut: and establishment of the proof against them: they sought hospitality from Lut (peace be upon him): that at sunset: he feared that, were he not to host them, someone else of the transgressing people would host them: and he counted them as being humans among men: "he was distressed for them: he felt for them a constriction hard to bear: he said: this is a distressful day."

Ibn 'Abbas, Mujahid and Qatada said: severe was his trial: and that because of what he knew of defending them that night, as he used to do with others: they had stipulated upon him that he host no one: but he saw one who could not be repelled. Qatada mentioned that they came upon him while he was in a land belonging to him, in which he worked: they sought his hospitality: he felt shame before them: and went ahead of them: and kept making insinuations to them in speech, hoping they would turn away from this town: and alight elsewhere: "by Allah, I know not, on the face of the earth, people of a town more depraved than these. Then he walked a little: and they had been commanded not to destroy them until their prophet witnessed against them. The angels left Ibrahim toward the people of Lut: they arrived at midday: when they reached the river of Sodom, they met the daughter of Lut drawing water for her people: he had two daughters: the elder's name was Aritha: "O maiden, is there a lodging?

"Your place: do not enter until I come to you. She feared for them from her people: "O my father, youths want you at the gate of the town: I have never seen faces of people more beautiful than they: let not your people seize them to disgrace them. His people had forbidden him to host a man: he brought them therefore: and no one knew except the people of the house: "in the house of Lut are men the like of whose faces I have never seen. His people came to him, hastening toward him.

"and before that they had been committing evil deeds": that is: this, in addition to what had already come to them of sins great, major and many: "he said: O my people, these are my daughters: they are purer for you." He guides them to the approach of his women: and they are his daughters in the legal sense: for the prophet is to the umma as the parent: as came in the hadith: "the prophet has more right over the believers than they themselves: and his wives are their mothers" (al-Ahzab, 6). "Do you go to the males of the worlds: and leave what your Lord created for you of your wives? Rather, you are a people transgressing." And this is what Mujahid, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, ar-Rabi' ibn Anas, Qatada, as-Suddi and Muhammad ibn Ishaq stated explicitly: and it is the correct view: the other saying is an error, taken from the People of the Book: and they corrupted it upon themselves: the angels were two: and they supped with him: and the People of the Book greatly confused this story.

"so fear Allah: and disgrace me not concerning my guests: is there not among you a man of sense? A prohibition to them of approaching what is unseemly of obscenity: and a testimony against them that there is among them no man of resolve: nor in them any good: rather all are fools, transgressors: mighty, disbelieving tyrants: and this was among what the angels wished to hear from him before: "you know well that we have no right over your daughters: and you know well what we want. Upon them be the curse of Allah: you know well, O Lut: we have no hesitancy regarding our women: and you know well our aim and our purpose: they confronted their noble messenger with this ugly speech: and feared not the violence of the Mighty, of the painful punishment: "if only I had strength against you, or could take refuge in a strong support. He would wish that he had strength against them: or a means of prevention: and a tribe who would aid him against them: to inflict upon them, because of this address, the punishment they deserve.

From Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab and Abu Salama, from Abu Hurayra, in elevated form: "we have more right to doubt than Ibrahim: may Allah have mercy on Lut: he used to take refuge in a strong support: and had I remained in prison as long as Yusuf remained, I would have answered the caller. Abu az-Zinad reported it: from al-A'raj: from Abu Hurayra. Muhammad ibn 'Amr ibn 'Alqama said, from Abu Salama: "the mercy of Allah upon Lut: he used to take refuge in a strong support": meaning Allah (may His glory be proclaimed): Allah sent after him no prophet except in plenty relative to his people. "And the people of the city came, rejoicing.

He said: these are my guests: so disgrace me not: and fear Allah: and disgrace me not. They said: did we not forbid you the worlds? He said: these are my daughters, if you are to act. He commanded them the approach of their women: and warned them against persisting upon their way and their evil deeds: this while they did not desist: nor guard against: rather whenever he forbade them, they exaggerated in pursuit of these two guests: and strove eagerly: not knowing what fate had in store of that toward which they were heading: and that at the morning of their night they would be transported: "by your life: they were in their drunkenness, wandering.

"And he had indeed warned them of Our grip: but they disputed the warning. They even tried to snatch his guests from him: so We blinded their eyes: taste then My punishment and My warning. And an abiding punishment seized them in the morning. The exegetes and others mentioned that the prophet of Allah Lut (peace be upon him) kept preventing his people from entering: and defending against them: the door locked: and they plotting to open it and enter: while he admonished them and forbade them from behind the door: when the matter became tight: "if only I had strength against you, or could take refuge in a strong support.

"O Lut, we are the messengers of your Lord: they will not reach you. He came out to them: and struck their faces with a strike, with the tip of his wing: their eyes were therefore blinded: until it was said: it blinded them totally: there remained for it no place: nor eye: nor trace: they returned groping along the walls: "tomorrow, it will be ours and his": Allah the Most High said: "They even tried to snatch his guests from him: so We blinded their eyes: taste then My punishment and My warning. And an abiding punishment seized them in the morning."

This is that the angels advanced to Lut (peace be upon him), commanding him to hasten, he and his family, at the end of the night: "and let none of you turn around": that is: upon hearing the sound of the punishment when it befalls his people: and they commanded that his march be at their rear, like the water-carrier for them. "except your wife": upon the accusative reading, it may be that she is excepted from his saying: "so travel with your family": as if he says: except your wife: so do not travel with her: "and let none of you turn around: except your wife": that is: she, she will turn around: what strikes them will strike her: and the genitive reading strengthens this interpretation: but the first is more apparent in meaning: and Allah knows best.

The name of the wife of Lut is Waliha: and the name of the wife of Nuh is Waligha. "their appointed time is the morning: is not the morning near?" When Lut (peace be upon him) went out with his family: and they were his two daughters: and not one man of them followed him: his wife went out with him: and Allah knows best. When they were clear of their land: and the sun rose: at its rising there came upon them, from the command of Allah, what cannot be repelled: and of the severe calamity what cannot be prevented: according to the People of the Book, the angels commanded him to climb to the top of the mountain that was there: he deemed it remote: and asked them to go to a town near them: "go: we await you until you reach it: and settle in it: then We inflict the punishment upon them": they mentioned that he went to the town of Zughar which people call the Ghawr of Zughar. "Then, when Our command came, We made its uppermost its lowest: and We rained upon it stones of baked clay, heaped, marked with your Lord: and they are not far from the wrongdoers."

Jibril uprooted them with the tip of his wing from their resting place: they were 400,000 souls: four thousand thousand souls: and the animals that were with them: and what those towns followed of lands, places and estates: he raised the whole: until he carried them to the heights of the sky: until the angels heard the voices of their roosters and the barking of their dogs: then he turned it over upon them: and made its uppermost its lowest: and the first to fall of it were its battlements: "and We rained upon them stones of baked clay. And the sijjil is Persian arabized: it is the hard, the solid, the strong: "heaped", that is: one part following another in their descent upon them from the sky: "marked", that is: signposted: written upon every stone the name of its owner upon whom it descends: to crush him: "marked with your Lord, for the excessive. "and We rained upon them a rain: and evil was the rain of those who were warned.

"and the overturned city, He brought down: and covered upon it what covered it" (an-Najm, 53-54): that is: He turned it: and lowered it overturned, its uppermost its lowest: and covered it with a rain of stones of baked sijjil clay, successive, marked: inscribed upon every stone the name of its owner upon whom it fell: of those present of them in their town: and those absent from it: travelers: emigrants: and those dispersed from it.

The wife of Lut stayed with her people: she did go out with her husband and her two daughters: but when she heard the cry: and the fall of the town: she turned toward her people: and violated the command of her Lord, ancient and recent: "and her people. A stone fell upon her: and crushed her: and joined her to her people, as she was upon their religion: and she was for them an eye upon whoever was at Lut's of guests: "Allah presents an example for those who disbelieve: the wife of Nuh and the wife of Lut: they were under two of Our righteous servants: but they betrayed them both: and nothing availed them against Allah: and it was said: enter the Fire with those who enter" (at-Tahrim, 10): that is: they betrayed them in religion: and did not follow them in it: it is not meant that they were upon an obscenity: far be it: never: Allah does not decree upon a prophet that his wife commit adultery: never did the wife of a prophet commit adultery: whoever says otherwise has erred with a great error.

Allah the Most High said, in the story of the slander, when He sent down the innocence of the Mother of the Believers 'A'isha, daughter of the Truthful, wife of the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), when the people of the slander said what they said: Allah rebuked the believers: and admonished them: deterred them: preached to them: and warned them: "when you received it with your tongues: and said with your mouths that of which you had no knowledge: and counted it as trivial: while it is, with Allah, tremendous.

And when you heard it: why did you not say: it is not for us to speak of this: glory to You: this is a tremendous slander" (an-Nour, 15-16): that is: glory to You: that the wife of Your prophet be at such a degree of lowness: "and they are not far from the wrongdoers": that is: and this punishment is not far from those resembling them in their deed: for this reason whoever of the scholars held that the sodomite is stoned, whether married or not: ash-Shafi'i stated it explicitly: and Ahmad ibn Hanbal: and a large group of the imams: they also argued with what the imam Ahmad and the people of the Sunan reported from the hadith of 'Amr ibn Abi 'Amr: from 'Ikrima, who said: whoever you find doing the deed of the people of Lut: kill the doer and the one done to. Abu Hanifa held that the sodomite is thrown from a high place: and followed with stoning: "and they are not far from the wrongdoers."

Allah made the site of that land a putrid sea: whose water profits nothing: nor what surrounds it of the adjoining lands, because of its stench and its lowness: it became a lesson: and a parable: and an admonition: and a sign upon the power of Allah the Most High: His greatness: His honor: in His vengeance upon whoever opposed His command: denied His messengers: followed his desire: and disobeyed his Lord: and a proof of His mercy toward His believing servants, in delivering them from the destroyers: and bringing them out of darkness into light: "in that is a sign: but most of them are not believers: and your Lord is indeed the Mighty, the Merciful" (ach-Chou'ara, 174-175). "Then the cry seized them at sunrise: and We made its uppermost its lowest: and We rained upon them stones of baked clay. In that are signs for those who read the signs: and it is upon a road that remains. In that is a sign for the believers.

That is: whoever looked, with the eye of perspicacity and reading of signs, at how Allah changed that land: and its people: and how He made it, after being inhabited and flourishing, ruined and submerged: as at-Tirmidhi and others reported, in elevated form: "beware of the perspicacity of the believer: for he looks by the light of Allah. "In that are signs for those who read the signs."

"and it is upon a road that remains": that is: upon a road worn, frequented until now: "and you pass by them in the morning: and by night: do you not then understand?" "and We left therein a clear sign for a people who reason." "So We brought out whoever was in it of the believers: We found in it only one house of submitters: and We left therein a sign for those who fear the painful punishment": that is: We left it a lesson: and an admonition: for whoever fears the punishment of the hereafter: and fears the Merciful in the unseen: and fears standing before his Lord: and restrains the soul from desire: and so refrains from the forbidden things of Allah: abandons his sins: and fears resembling the people of Lut: whoever resembles a people is of them: even if not in every respect, he is in some respects: as some said:

if you are not the people of Lut in their very likeness: yet the people of Lut are not far from you:

The intelligent, the discerning, the one who fears his Lord, the understanding, complies with what Allah commanded him: and accepts what the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) guided him to: of approaching the lawful wives created for him: and the slave girls among the beautiful of them: and of avoiding following every rebellious devil: so that the warning becomes binding upon him: "and they are not far from the wrongdoers."

The story of Madyan, the people of Shou'ayb

"And to Madyan, their brother Shu'ayb. He said: O my people, worship Allah: you have no god other than Him. Clear proof has come to you from your Lord: so give full measure and weight: and defraud not people of their things: and do not spread corruption on the earth after its reform: that is better for you, if you are believers. And do not sit on every road, threatening, turning from the path of Allah him who believes in it: and seeking to make it crooked: and remember when you were few: and He multiplied you: and see how was the end of the spreaders of corruption.

And if a party of you believes in that with which I have been sent: and a party does not believe: then be patient until Allah judges between us: He is the best of judges. The proud notables of his people said: we shall surely expel you, O Shu'ayb, and those who believed with you, from our town: or you shall return to our religion. He said: even though we be unwilling? We would surely forge against Allah a lie were we to return to your religion after Allah has delivered us from it: it is not for us to return to it, unless Allah, our Lord, wills: our Lord encompasses all things in knowledge: in Allah we put our trust.

Lord, judge between us and our people with truth: You are the best of judges. And the notables who disbelieved among his people said: if you follow Shu'ayb, you will indeed be the losers. Then the earthquake seized them: and they lay prostrate in their homes: those who denied Shu'ayb: as though they had never prospered therein: those who denied Shu'ayb: they were the losers. And he turned away from them and said: O my people, I have conveyed to you the messages of my Lord: and advised you: how then should I grieve over a people disbelieving?"

Surat al-A'raf, 85-93

"And to Madyan, their brother Shu'ayb. He said: O my people, worship Allah: you have no god other than Him: and do not give short measure and weight: I see you in good state: and I fear for you the punishment of an all-encompassing day. And O my people, give full measure and weight with justice: and defraud not people of their things: and do not spread evil on the earth as spreaders of corruption. What remains with Allah is better for you, if you are believers: and I am not a guardian over you.

They said: O Shu'ayb, does your prayer command you that we leave what our fathers worshipped: or that we do with our wealth as we please? You are indeed the forbearing, the rightly-guided. He said: O my people, have you considered: if I am upon clear proof from my Lord: and He has provided me from Himself good provision? And I do not wish to act contrary to you in what I forbid you: I desire only reform, as much as I am able: and my success is only through Allah: in Him I trust: and to Him I turn repentant.

And O my people, let not your dissension cause you to incur what befalls you, like what befell the people of Nuh: or the people of Houd: or the people of Salih: and the people of Lut are not far from you. And ask forgiveness of your Lord: then turn to Him repentant: my Lord is Merciful, Loving. They said: O Shu'ayb, we do not understand much of what you say: and we see you indeed weak among us: were it not for your tribe, we would stone you: and you have no power over us. He said: O my people, is my tribe mightier for you than Allah: that you have turned Him behind your backs?

My Lord encompasses what you do. And O my people, act according to your position: I am acting: you will know soon upon whom comes a punishment that disgraces him: and who is the liar: and watch: I am with you a watcher. And when Our command came, We saved Shu'ayb and those who believed with him, by mercy from Us: and the cry seized those who wronged: and they lay prostrate in their homes: as though they had never prospered therein: away with Madyan as away perished Thamud."

Surat Hud, 84-95

"And the people of the Ayka were indeed wrongdoers: so We took vengeance upon them: and both are upon a clear highway" (Sad, 13 et al-Hijr, 79).

"The people of the Ayka denied the messengers, when Shu'ayb said to them: will you not fear? I am to you a trustworthy messenger: so fear Allah and obey me: and I ask of you no wage for it: my wage is only upon the Lord of the worlds. Give full measure: and be not of those who cause loss: and weigh with the straight balance: and defraud not people of their things: and do not spread evil on the earth as spreaders of corruption. And fear Him who created you and the former generations.

They said: you are only of the bewitched: and you are only a man like us: and we think you are of the liars: so make fall upon us fragments of the sky, if you are of the truthful. He said: my Lord knows best what you do. So they denied him: then the punishment of the day of gloom seized them: it was the punishment of a tremendous day. In that are signs: but most of them are not believers.

And your Lord is indeed the Mighty, the Merciful."

Surat ach-Chou'ara, 176-191

The people of Madyan were an Arab people dwelling in their city Madyan, which is a village of the land of Mu'an, from the outskirts of Syria, on the side adjoining the Hijaz, close to the lake of the people of Lut: and they came after them after a short while: Madyan is a tribe after which the city was named: they are of the Banu Madyan, son of Madyan, son of Ibrahim al-Khalil (peace be upon him): it is called in Syriac: Bathrun. Shu'ayb son of Yashjan son of Lawi son of Jacob: Shu'ayb son of Thawib son of 'Abaqa son of Madyan son of Ibrahim: Shu'ayb son of Sayfur son of 'Abaqa son of Thabit son of Madyan son of Ibrahim: other lineages than that exist concerning him: and it is said his grandfather: and it is said his mother was the daughter of Lut: and he was among those who believed in Ibrahim and emigrated with him: and entered Damascus with him. Shu'ayb and Balaam were among those who believed in Ibrahim on the day he was burned with fire: and they emigrated with him to Syria: and he married them the two daughters of Lut.

Ibn Qutayba mentioned it: and in all this there is matter for reflection also: and Allah knows best.

Abu 'Umar Ibn 'Abd al-Barr mentioned, in the biography of Salama ibn Sa'id al-'Anazi: he came to the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): and he embraced Islam: "what an excellent tribe is 'Anaza, envied over them: victorious: the people of Shu'ayb and the two sisters-in-law of Musa." Were this authentic, it would indicate that Shu'ayb was the father-in-law of Musa: 'Anaza, in that they are of 'Anaza son of Asad son of Rabi'a son of Nizar son of Ma'add son of 'Adnan: but these are after him by a long age: and Allah knows best.

Four among the Arabs: Hud, Salih, Shu'ayb and your prophet, O Abu Dharr. And some of the early generations called Shu'ayb the orator of the prophets: meaning for his eloquence, the loftiness of his expression and his persuasive power in calling his people to believe in his message: Ishaq ibn Bishr reported: from Juwaybir: and from Muqatil: from ad-Dahhak: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), when he mentioned Shu'ayb, would say: that is the orator of the prophets.

The people of Madyan were disbelievers: cutting the roads: frightening the passers-by: and worshipping the Ayka: which is a tree of the thicket, around which was a dense shade encircling it: and they were among the worst of people in conduct: they defrauded in measure and weight: were deficient in both: taking the surplus: giving the deficient: Allah therefore sent among them a man from among them: and he is the messenger of Allah Shu'ayb (peace be upon him): he called them to worship Allah alone without partner: and forbade them these ugly deeds: of defrauding people of their things: and frightening them in their paths and roads: a party of them believed in him: the majority disbelieved: until Allah inflicted upon them the severe calamity: "and to Madyan, their brother Shu'ayb. He said: O my people, worship Allah: you have no god other than Him. Clear proof has come to you from your Lord.

That is: a clear indication and proof: and a decisive demonstration of the truth of what I came to you with: and that He sent me: and it is what Allah wrought at his hands of miracles, which were not transmitted to us in detail: though this wording indicated them in summary.

"so give full measure and weight: and defraud not people of their things: and do not spread corruption on the earth after its reform. He commanded them justice: and forbade them tyranny: "that is better for you, if you are believers. And do not sit on every road. That is: every route: "threatening", that is: threatening the people of taking their wealth, through tolls and the like: "and do not sit on every road, threatening.

They used indeed to take the tithes of the wealth of passers-by: and Ishaq ibn Bishr said: from Juwaybir: from ad-Dahhak: they were a people of tyrants and aggressors: who would sit upon the road: defrauding the people: meaning: plundering them: and they were the first to institute that: "and seeking to make it crooked. He forbade them therefore the cutting of the tangible, worldly road: and the spiritual, religious road: "and remember when you were few: and He multiplied you: and see how was the end of the spreaders of corruption. He reminded them of the favor of Allah the Most High upon them in multiplying them after fewness: and warned them of the punishment of Allah against them should they contradict what he had guided them to: and directed them to: "and do not give short measure and weight: I see you in good state: and I fear for you the punishment of an all-encompassing day.

That is: do not mount what you are upon: and persist in it: lest Allah destroy the blessing of what is in your hands: and impoverish you: and remove that by which He enriches you: and this is added to the punishment of the hereafter: and whoever has these two gathered for him has won the losing bargain: he forbade them first the approach of what is unseemly of short measure: and warned them of the removal of the favor of Allah upon them in their worldly life: and of His painful punishment in their hereafter: and rebuked them with the sternest of rebukes:

"and O my people, give full measure and weight with justice: and defraud not people of their things: and do not spread evil on the earth as spreaders of corruption. What remains with Allah is better for you, if you are believers: and I am not a guardian over you.

Ibn 'Abbas said: "what remains with Allah is better for you": that is: the provision of Allah is better for you than taking the wealth of the people by deficiency: whatever remains to you of profit after giving full measure: and weight: is better for you than taking the wealth of the people by deficiency: and this was reported from Ibn 'Abbas: and what he said and narrated is excellent: "say: the bad and the good are not equal, even though the abundance of the bad amazes you" (al-Ma'ida, 100): meaning that the little of the lawful is better for you than the abundance of the unlawful: for the lawful is blessed, however little: and the unlawful is annihilated, however abundant: "Allah annihilates usury: and makes alms flourish" (ar-Roum, 39): "usury, however abundant, leads to scarcity": Ahmad reported it: that is: to scarcity: "the two contracting parties have the option so long as they have not separated: if they speak truth: and make clear: there is blessing for both in their sale: and if they conceal: and lie: the blessing of their sale is wiped out."

The aim is that the lawful profit is blessed, however little: and the unlawful avails nothing, however abundant: "what remains with Allah is better for you, if you are believers. And I am not a guardian over you." That is: do what I command you, seeking the face of Allah: and hoping for His reward: not that you should look upon me, or any other: they said: "O Shu'ayb, does your prayer command you that we leave what our fathers worshipped: or that we do with our wealth as we please? You are indeed the forbearing, the rightly-guided." "Your prayer, the one you pray, is it the one commanding you to impose upon us that we worship only your god: and leave what our most ancient fathers worshipped: and our first forebears: or that we transact only in the manner you approve: and leave the transactions you reject, even though we approve them? You are indeed the forbearing, the rightly-guided." Ibn 'Abbas, Maymun ibn Mihran, Ibn Jurayj and Zayd ibn Aslam said: they spoke thus, enemies of Allah, in mockery.

"He said: O my people, have you considered: if I am upon clear proof from my Lord: and He has provided me from Himself good provision? And I do not wish to act contrary to you in what I forbid you: I desire only reform, as much as I can: and my success is only through Allah: in Him I trust: and to Him I turn repentant." This is delicacy with them in the wording: "have you considered, O the deniers: if I am upon clear proof from my Lord", that is: upon a clear command from Allah the Most High that He sent me to you: "and He has provided me from Himself good provision": meaning prophethood and messengership: meaning: His wealth that dispenses you from knowing it: what device then have I with you? And this is as was stated before of Nuh (peace be upon him) that he said to his people: it is equal.

"and I do not wish to act contrary to you in what I forbid you. That is: I do not command you a command except that I am the first to do it: and when I forbid you a thing: I am the first to leave it: and this is the praised, great trait: and its opposite is the rejected, blameworthy trait: as the scholars of the Banu Isra'il cloaked themselves with it at the end of their era: "do you order the people piety, and forget yourselves, while you recite the Book? Do you not then understand? (al-Baqara, 44).

He said: "a man is brought: cast into the Fire: and the entrails of his belly spill out": that is: his intestines come out of his belly: and he goes around with them: "O so-and-so, what is the matter with you? Did you not command the good: and forbid the repugnant? "Indeed, I commanded the good: and did not do it: and forbade the repugnant: and did it. And this is the trait of the opponents of the prophets, among the wicked and the wretched: "and I do not wish to act contrary to you in what I forbid you: I desire only reform, as much as I can.

That is: I desire in all my affair only reform in deeds and words, with my effort and capacity: "and my success", that is: in all my states: "is only through Allah: in Him I trust: and to Him I turn repentant. That is: in Him I trust in the rest of matters: and to Him is my return and my destiny in all my affair: and this is a station of attractive invitation: "and O my people, let not your dissension cause you to incur what befalls you, like what befell the people of Nuh: or the people of Houd: or the people of Salih: and the people of Lut are not far from you. That is: let not my opposition to you: and your hatred of what I came to you with: carry you to persisting in your misguidance: your ignorance: and your opposition: lest Allah inflict upon you punishment and scourge, like what He inflicted upon your counterparts: and your like: among the people of Nuh: the people of Houd: and the people of Salih: of the denying opponents.

"and the people of Lut are not far from you." Its meaning in time: that is: not of the ancient era: since there has already reached you what Allah inflicted upon them for their disbelief: and their tyranny: its meaning: and they are not far from you in locality: and place: in the traits and the repugnant deeds: of cutting the roads: and taking the wealth of the people openly: and secretly: with all kinds of devices and pretexts. And combining these sayings is possible: for they were not far from them: neither in time: nor in place: nor in traits.

"And ask forgiveness of your Lord: then turn to Him repentant: my Lord is Merciful, Loving." That is: disengage from what you are in: and turn repentant to your Lord, the Merciful, the Loving: for whoever turns to Him repentant, He accepts his repentance: for He is Merciful to His servants: more merciful to them than a mother to her child: and Loving: that is: the Beloved: and He loves: even after the sin of His servant: even if it be great mortal sins.

"They said: O Shu'ayb, we do not understand much of what you say: and we see you indeed weak among us." It was reported from Ibn 'Abbas: and from Sa'id ibn Jubayr: that he was blind of sight: and it was reported in an elevated hadith that he wept from love of Allah until he became blind: and Allah restored to him his sight: "O Shu'ayb, do you weep out of fear of the Fire: or out of your longing for Paradise?" "Rather, out of love of You: when I look upon You, I care not what is done with me." "Happy am I to have met you, O Shu'ayb: for that, I had your shank pierced through Musa son of 'Imran, My interlocutor." Al-Wahidi reported it: from Abu al-Fath Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Kufi: from 'Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Bundar: from Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ishaq ar-Ramli: from Hisham ibn 'Ammar: from Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash: from Bahr ibn Sa'd: from Shaddad ibn Aws: from the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), in similar terms: and this is very strange: al-Khatib al-Baghdadi weakened it: "were it not for your tribe, we would stone you: and you have no power over us."

"we do not understand much of what you say": that is: we do not comprehend it: nor understand it, because we do not love it: nor desire it: and we have no aspiration toward it: nor inclination to it: and it is as the disbelievers of Quraysh said to the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): "and they said: our hearts are in coverings from that to which you call us: and in our ears is deafness: and between us and you is a screen: so act: we too are acting" (Fussilat, 5). "and we see you indeed weak among us. "Your tribe: and your clan are among us: without them, we would stone you: and you have no power over us. He said: "O my people, is my tribe mightier for you than Allah?

That is: you fear my tribe: and my clan: and spare me because of them: and you do not fear the reproach of Allah: nor spare me because I am the messenger of Allah: so my clan became for you mightier than Allah: "that you have turned Him behind your backs. That is: you have made the side of Allah behind your backs: "my Lord encompasses what you do. That is: He knows what you do: and what you commit: He encompasses all of that: and He will recompense you for it on the day you are returned to Him: "and O my people, act according to your position: I am acting: you will know soon upon whom comes a punishment that disgraces him: and who is the liar: and watch: I am with you a watcher.

And this is a severe threat: and a decisive warning: that they persist upon their way: their method: and their manner: "you will know soon" to whom belongs the outcome of the abode: and upon whom fall destruction: and ruin: "upon whom comes a punishment that disgraces him": that is: in this worldly life: "and there befalls him an abiding punishment": that is: in the hereafter: "and who is the liar": that is: of me or of you, in what he reported: gave glad tidings of: and warned against: "and watch: I am with you a watcher."

"and if a party of you believes in that with which I have been sent: and a party does not believe: then be patient until Allah judges between us: He is the best of judges. The proud notables of his people said: we shall surely expel you, O Shu'ayb, and those who believed with you, from our town: or you shall return to our religion. He said: even though we be unwilling? We would surely forge against Allah a lie were we to return to your religion after Allah has delivered us from it: it is not for us to return to it, unless Allah, our Lord, wills: our Lord encompasses all things in knowledge: in Allah we put our trust.

Lord, judge between us and our people with truth: You are the best of judges. They sought, by their claim, to return whoever believed among them to their religion: Shu'ayb therefore stood for the disputation on behalf of his people: "even though we be unwilling? That is: these do not return to you by choice: and return to it, if they return, only out of necessity: compelled: and that is because when the cheer of faith has permeated the hearts, no one dislikes it: and no one wishes to depart from it: and none can be repelled from it.

"We would surely forge against Allah a lie were we to return to your religion after Allah has delivered us from it: it is not for us to return to it, unless Allah, our Lord, wills: our Lord encompasses all things in knowledge: in Allah we put our trust." That is: He suffices us: and He is our protector: and to Him is our refuge in all our affair: "Lord, judge between us and our people with truth: You are the best of judges." That is: the best of judges: he therefore supplicated against them: and Allah does not repel the supplication of His messengers when they seek aid against those who denied them: and disbelieved in them: and contradicted their messenger: and with this they resolved upon what they were enveloped in: and clung to it: "and the notables who disbelieved among his people said: if you follow Shu'ayb, you will indeed be the losers."

"Then the earthquake seized them: and they lay prostrate in their homes. He mentioned, in Surat al-A'raf, that they were seized by an earthquake: that is: their land quaked with them: and was shaken with a violent shaking: which drew out their souls from their bodies: and reduced the animals of their land like its minerals: and their corpses became prone heaps: with no souls in them: nor movements: nor senses: Allah gathered against them kinds of punishments: varieties of examples: and forms of annihilation: and that for what they were characterized with of the ugliness of traits: Allah loosed upon them a violent earthquake: which stilled the movements: and a great cry: which extinguished the voices: and a darkness: from which He sent upon them sparks of fire, from all its sides and directions: but the Most High mentioned concerning them, in every sura, what suits its context: and accords with its parallelism: in the context of the story of al-A'raf: they mocked the prophet of Allah and his companions: "the earthquake seized them therefore: and they lay prostrate in their homes.

He opposed the mocking with the earthquake: and the frightening with the fear: and this suits this context: and relates to what preceded it of context: as for Surat Hud: He mentioned that "the cry seized them: and they lay prostrate in their homes": and that because they said to the prophet of Allah, in mockery: "does your prayer command you that we leave what our fathers worshipped: or that we do with our wealth as we please? You are indeed the forbearing, the rightly-guided. It therefore suited that He mention the cry: which is like a shout of repulsion against the approach of this ugly speech, in which they behaved ignorantly toward this noble messenger, trustworthy and eloquent: there came to them a cry: which silenced them: together with an earthquake: which stilled them: as for Surat ach-Chou'ara: He mentioned that "the punishment of the day of gloom seized them": and that was an answer to what they demanded:

"you are only of the bewitched: and you are only a man like us: and we think you are of the liars: so make fall upon us fragments of the sky, if you are of the truthful. He said: my Lord knows best what you do. So they denied him: then the punishment of the day of gloom seized them: it was the punishment of a tremendous day."

Whoever of the exegetes alleged, like Qatada and others, that the people of the Ayka are another community, other than the people of Madyan: his saying is weak: their evidence is twofold: "the people of the Ayka denied the messengers, when Shu'ayb said to them": "their brother": as He said: "and to Madyan, their brother Shu'ayb. And that He mentioned their punishment with the day of gloom: and mentioned for those the earthquake: or the cry.

"The people of the Ayka denied the messengers": because He described them with the worship of the Ayka: so the mention of brotherhood does not suit here: and when He ascribed them to the tribe: the mention of Shu'ayb as their brother deviates: and this distinction is among the fine, precious, noble gems: as for their argumentation with the day of gloom: if it were, by itself, a proof that these are another community: then let the count of vengeance by the earthquake: and the cry: be a proof that they are two other communities: and no one who understands anything of this matter says this: as for the hadith which the hafiz Ibn 'Asakir brought in the biography of the prophet Shu'ayb (peace be upon him): via Muhammad ibn 'Uthman ibn Abi Shayba: from his father: from Mu'awiya ibn Hisham: from Hisham ibn Sa'd: from Shaqiq ibn Abi Hilal: from Rabi'a ibn Sayf: from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, in elevated form: "Madyan: and the people of the Ayka are two communities: Allah sent to them Shu'ayb the prophet (peace be upon him).

It is a strange hadith: and among its men is one concerning whom criticism was made: and the most likely is that it is among the words of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, of what befell him on the day of Yarmuk of those two unexpected catches, from the reports of the Banu Isra'il: and Allah knows best.

Then Allah mentioned, concerning the people of the Ayka, of blame what He mentioned concerning the people of Madyan: of deficiency in measure and weight: which indicates that they are one community: destroyed with kinds of punishments: and He mentioned, in each place, what suits that address.

"the punishment of the day of gloom seized them: it was the punishment of a tremendous day.

They mentioned that intense heat struck them: and Allah stilled the blowing of the wind from them for seven days: and nothing availed them with that: no water: no shade: nor their entering into the clouds: they fled therefore from their locality to the wilderness: a cloud shaded them: they gathered beneath it to enjoy its shade: when they were complete beneath it: Allah sent it upon them: hurling at them sparks: and meteors of fire: and the earth quaked with them: and a cry came to them from the sky: which drew out the souls: and wrecked the bodies: and they became in their homes lying prostrate: those who denied Shu'ayb: as though they had never flourished therein: those who denied Shu'ayb: they were the losers: and Allah delivered Shu'ayb: and whoever was with him of the believers: "and when Our command came, We saved Shu'ayb and those who believed with him, by mercy from Us: and the cry seized those who wronged: and they lay prostrate in their homes: as though they had never prospered therein: away with Madyan as away perished Thamud.

"and the notables who disbelieved among his people said: if you follow Shu'ayb, you will indeed be the losers. Then the earthquake seized them: and they lay prostrate in their homes: those who denied Shu'ayb: as though they had never prospered therein: those who denied Shu'ayb: they were the losers. "if you follow Shu'ayb, you will indeed be the losers. Then the Most High mentioned concerning their prophet that he admonished them concerning themselves: rebuking them: warning them: and castigating them: the Most High said: "O my people, I have conveyed to you the messages of my Lord: and advised you: how then should I grieve over a people disbelieving?

"O my people, I have conveyed to you the messages of my Lord: and advised you. That is: I have fulfilled what was incumbent upon me of complete conveyance: and perfect counsel: and I strove for your guidance with all I could: and reached: and that did not profit you: for Allah does not guide whom He leads astray: and they have no helpers: I shall therefore not lament after this over you, because you would not accept the counsel: nor fear the day of disgrace: "how then should I grieve", that is: grieve: over a people disbelieving?

That is: you do not accept the truth: nor return to it: nor turn toward it: there befell them therefore the violence of Allah, which is not repelled: and cannot be defended against: and from which none whom it is intended for can turn aside: nor escape it: and the hafiz Ibn 'Asakir mentioned, in his history, from Ibn 'Abbas, that Shu'ayb (peace be upon him) came after Yusuf (peace be upon him): and from Wahb ibn Munabbih that Shu'ayb (peace be upon him) died in Mecca: and those who were with him of the believers: and their graves are west of the Kaaba: between Dar an-Nadwa: and the house of the Banu Sahm.