The Quran

102

Preface

فَلَمّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعيَ قالَ يا بُنَيَّ إِنّي أَرىٰ فِي المَنامِ أَنّي أَذبَحُكَ فَانظُر ماذا تَرىٰ ۚ قالَ يا أَبَتِ افعَل ما تُؤمَرُ ۖ سَتَجِدُني إِن شاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصّابِرينَ

Yusuf Ali

Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: “O my son! I see in vision¹ that I offer thee in sacrifice:² Now see what is thy view!” (The son) said: “O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if God so wills one practising Patience and Constancy!”

Where did this vision occur? The Muslim view is that it was in or near Mecca. Some would identify it with the valley of Mina, six miles north of Mecca, where a commemoration sacrifice is annually celebrated as a rite of the Ḥajj on the tenth of Dhu alHijjah, the 'Id of Sacrifice, in memory of this Sacrifice of Abraham and Ismail (see n. 217 to 2:197). Others say that the original place of sacrifice was near the hill of Marwah (the companion hill to Safa, 2:158), which is associated with the infancy of Ismail.
At what stage in Abraham’s history did this occur? See n. 2725 to 21:69. It was obviously after his arrival in the land of Cannan and after Ismail had grown up to years of discretion. Was it before or after the building of the Kab'ah (2:127)? There are no data on which this question can be answered. But we may suppose it was before that event, and that event may itself have been commemorative.