The Invasion of Tubba‘ and People of Elephant Against the House; ‘Abd al-Muttalib Digs the Well of Zamzam, Quraysh Destroys al-Ka‘bah and Rebuilds It and Hajjaj Destroys al-Ka‘bah and Rebuilds It

“I once heard abu Ibrahim (a.s.), say, ‘When ‘Abd al-Muttalib dug the well of Zamzam and reached its bottom, a foul odor emerged from one side of the well that frightened him severely. He could not bend himself down and his son, al-Harith, moved out of the well. He then dug until he found in the bottom of the well a fountain with the fragrance of musk. He then dug about a yard and sleep overcame him, so in his dream he saw a man with long hands, good looking hairs, beautiful face, fine dress and fragrance who was saying, “Dig, you will gain; work hard; you will be safe; and do not store it for distribution. The swords are for people other than you but the well is for you, the greatest of Arabs in honor, and from you will be the Prophet and people with Divine Authority, for the Arabs, as well as the noble ones; men of wisdom, great learning and great intelligent grandsons. The swords are for them and they are not today from you and not for you. However, in the next century from your time, Allah will brighten the land, expel Satans from its diameters, bring them low by its majesty, destroy it after its being strong, bring the idols low, eliminate the idol worshippers wherever they are found. Thereafter will remain a generation from your descendants who will be his brother and vizier, younger than him but powerful over the idols, who will not disobey him, not even one letter, or hide anything from him and will consult him in every matter that faces him.” ‘Abd al-Muttalib felt tired and he found thirteen swords leaned against one side of the well. He took them and decided to spread the matter. He (‘Abd al-Muttalib) then said to himself, “Why should I do this when I have not yet reached the water?” He then dug and after digging only about one foot, the horn of a deer appeared, as well as its head. He took it out and on it this was printed: “No one except Allah deserves worship and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, Ali is empowered with Authority of Allah and so and so is the deputy of Allah on earth.’” I (the narrator) then asked him, ‘The ‘so and so,’ when was he? Was he before or after him?’ He (the Imam) replied, ‘He has not come yet, nor anything preliminary to his coming has yet come into existence.’ ‘Abd al-Muttalib then came out of the well with water coming after him and he encountered a black serpent with a long tail move before him quickly upward. He hit and cut most of its tail and then searched to find it but it disappeared. However, so and so is the one to eliminate it, if Allah so wills. It was of the decision of ‘Abd al-Muttalib to place the swords inside al- Ka‘bah against the walls to invalidate his dream in the well. Then Allah made sleep to overcome ‘ Abd al-Muttalib near al-Ka‘bah and he saw the same man in his dream who said, “O Shaybatu al-Hamd, praise your Lord; He will make you the tongue of the earth. Quraysh will follow you for fear, apprehension and for their greedy interest. Keep the swords in their place.” ‘Abd al-Muttalib woke up and answered him, saying, “He will come in dream; if he is from my Lord, it will be very beloved to me, but if it is from Satan, then I think it will be a tailless one.” He did not see anything and did not hear anything. When it was night he came in his dream with a number of men and children who said, “We are the followers of your children; we are the inhabitants of the sixth heaven. The sword is not for you. Marry in Makhzum people, you will be strong, work among Arabs. If you did not have money you have good relationships, so give these thirteen swords to the child from Makhzumiy people and no more than this will appear to you. One out of these swords is for you. It will fall off from your hand. You will not find any trace of it except that so and so mountain hides it. It then will be one of the preliminary issues prior to the rise of al-Qa’im, from the family of Muhammad (SAW), with divine authority.” ‘Abd al-Muttalib then woke up and left with the swords on his shoulder. He then went to a corner of the corners of Makkah and he lost one sword. It was the finest to him. It will appear from that place. He then entered Mu‘tamar (prepared to perform ‘Umrah), performed Tawaf around it, with it (swords) on his shoulder and the two deer, he made twenty-one Tawaf while Quraysh was looking at him; when he said, “O Allah, make your promise to come true, thus, establish my word, spread the word about me, strengthen my arms.” These were his repeated words. After his dream in the well, he did not do any Tawaf, while saying lines of poetry until he died. However, he spontaneously read a poem to his sons on the day he wanted to offer ‘Abd Allah, one of his sons, as a sacrificial offering. He gave all the swords to banu al-Makhzumiyah to al-Zubayr, to abu Talib, to ‘Abd Allah. Four of them went to abu Talib. One sword for abu Talib, one sword for Ali, one sword for Ja‘far, one sword for Talib, and for Zubayr there were two swords. For ‘Abd Allah there were two swords, then it returned and Ali had four swords. Of the rest, two were of Fatimah, ‘Alayha al-Salam, and two of her children. The sword of Ja’far fell off on the day he got hurt and no one knows in whose hand is it now. We say no one of our swords fell in the hands of one who is not one of us, except the man who helps us with it, but that it turns into charcoal.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘One of them is in the (special) location. It will come out like a serpent and an arm will appear from it or something similar to it. It will shine the earth many times, and then disappear, and then when it is night, it will do the same thing again. This is its manner until its owner comes. If I want I can give his name but I am afraid for you if I name him and then you will give his name, which then will be ascribed to one who is other than him.’”