The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 93
III - Makkah, the Ka ‘ bah & the Quraish 93 are found? 4. It is acknowledged by the Bible that Ishmael as and his mother settled in a completely abandoned desert region, where no food was to be found and which was empty of habitation. 1 This illustration is in complete accordance with the desolate valley of Becca. 5. Moreover, the Bible evidently substantiates that Hagar as and Ishmael as settled in Fārān. 2 Irrespective of the fact that the word Fārān in actuality means an uninhabited barren region 3 , Arabian geographers unanimously concur that Fārān is the name given to the mountains of Makkah or Ḥijāz. 4 Those who have visited Arabia, are well aware that in the Valley of Fāṭimah, which is situated between Makkah and Madīnah, if one inquires of the youth who sell the Jadhīmah flower there, where this flower has been brought from, they will answer مِن ْ بَرِیَّة ِ فَارَان in other words, “From the desert of Fārān. ” 5 In the existence of this narration, even if Fārān is the name of another region, undoubtedly, let it be so. However, since the existence of Fārān in Ḥijāz is also categorically confirmed, assuredly the Fārān of Ishmael as must be considered the one situated in Ḥijāz and no other. 6. The Bible also mentions that after Ishmael as departed from his homeland, “His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur. ” 6 Moreover, Christian research scholars have themselves acknowledged that Havilah and Shur imply the opposite sides of Arabia. 7 7. In the Bible, Ishmael as is referred to by use of the word ‘wild’, or one who resides in the desert. As a matter of fact, this particularity is mentioned by God Almighty as a prophecy to imply the fact that Ishmael as would be one to reside in the desert. 8 This verity 1 Genesis (21:14-21) 2 Genesis (21:21) 3 Faṣlul-Khiṭāb, By Ḥaḍrat Maulānā Nūr-ud-Dīn ra , Volume 2, p. 208, Niẓārat-e-Ishā‘at Rabwah (New Edition) 4 Mu‘jamul-Buldān, By Abū ‘Abdullāh Yāqūt bin ‘Abdullāh Al-Ḥamv ī, Under the word “Fārān” , Volume 6, p. 406, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon 5 Faṣlul-Khiṭāb, By Ḥaḍrat Maulānā Nūr-ud-Dīn ra , Volume 2, p. 208, Niẓārat-e-Ishā‘at Rabwah (New Edition) 6 Genesis (25:18) 7 The Review of Religions, May 1934, Volume 33, Issue 5, pp. 16-17 8 Genesis (16:12)