Waters & Valleys · The spring that answered a mother
بئر زمزم
The Well of Zamzam
Struck open by an angel for a crying infant; still flowing, still drunk for whatever it is drunk for.
The account
When Hajar's waterskin emptied in the valley with no vegetation, and her seventh crossing ended, the angel struck the ground by the infant Isma'il, and water rose where the earth was driest. The Prophet ﷺ replayed the scene with affection and a counterfactual: "may Allah have mercy on the mother of Isma'il; had she left it, Zamzam would have been a flowing spring" (Bukhari 3364). Her practical instinct, walling the water with her hands, contained the spring into a well, and the well built the city: caravans settled by the water, and Makkah exists because a mother trusted and a baby cried.
Its water washed the Prophet's chest before the ascent; his grandfather's rediscovery of the buried well restored his house's honor; and his ﷺ standing verdict grades it beyond geology: "it is blessed; it is food that satisfies" (Muslim 2473), with the sunan adding: "and a cure for illness." The ummah drinks it standing or seated, facing the House, asking, on the report that "the water of Zamzam is for whatever it is drunk for" (Ibn Majah 3062, hasan). Four millennia of pilgrims have not emptied a well opened for one child's thirst.
The facts
- Opened forIsma'il's thirst
- Contained byHajar's hands
- His verdict ﷺBlessed; food that satisfies
- Drunk forWhatever it is drunk for
The narrations
It is blessed; it is food that satisfies.
Muslim 2473
Read beside it
The words
- زَمْزَمZamzamHistory
- مَكَّةMakkahHistory
- الحَسَنHasanHadith
- السُّنَنSunanHadith
- الأُمَّةUmmahHistory
- سَعْيSa'iWorship
Lights that name it
On the Path
- 10The Sacrifice: Dream of Isma'ilالذبح
- 11Kaaba Raisedالكعبة
- 28Shiqq as-Sadr: Chest Splitشق الصدر
- 32Isra & Miraj: Buraqالإسراء والمعراج
People beside it
Places