Under a sky of relentless blue, the sand lay scorched and still anchored by rocky, jagged mountains. There was no life present as far as I could see. Just the sea of hot sand. At the centre of the valley lay a small stone structure, neatly stacked, made by people of a distant past, eroded over thousands of years.
At the height of noon, high above this desolate valley, I was soaring back toward my nest when I spotted something strange. Two humans, inching slowly on the sand. Curiously, I flew down a little closer. There was a man leading, with a woman tightly carrying a bundle close to her chest. It was a strange sight to see human beings walking in this unforgiving land. They must be lost, for no one has been here for years. There is nothing around, no plants, no animals, no streams. It definitely seemed like a deadly end for them.
Yet, they suddenly stopped at the centre of the valley. They must be tired, pausing for a moment or perhaps given up, or perhaps they have a purpose. This cannot be their destination, at least not for long. They would surely die here. I wanted to shout out, “keep moving!” If they don’t get to the nearest village before nightfall, they would surely die, if not from the heat of the day, they would die in the freezing temperatures of the night.
To my surprise, the woman placed her bundle down on the sand, revealing a beautiful infant. Her eyes were heavy, her body weak, and she sat to regain her strength. Then the man, dotted with his eyes on them for a second, then turned and started to walk away slowly, his eyes filled with sorrow.
"O Ibrahim! Where are you going, leaving us in this valley, where there is no food, water or people to help us survive here?” The woman shouted out.
Ibrahim did not respond or turn back, reluctantly inching away further, with heavy strides.
The woman repeated her question a few times, and each time it was left unanswered.
I wondered from afar, was he about to abandon his family here on this empty land? Surely they will die here.
She asked a different question, “Did Allah command you to do so?” Her voice was calm.
Ibrahim just nodded his head and muttered, “Yes,” his voice cracking.
“Then Allah will not neglect us.” She seemed to have full conviction in Allah.
I watched as Ibrahim disappeared into the distance, and the women and the baby sat and rested for a while. Every now and then, the baby cried, and the mother would sip a little water from the water bag and feed the baby to calmness.
Very soon after, I watched as she drank the last drops of water she had with her. I could see the worry in her face as the baby tried to feed. Her face grew pale, her body lethargic. She ran out of food and water, and losing the last ounces of energy she had after their long travel, she sat alone in a barren land under the blazing sun.
The baby was also growing impatient. His cries rose into dry, piercing screeches. He was very thirsty and hungry. The woman became desperate for help to keep her child alive. Her hands trembled, and her legs jittered as she looked around desperately. She started to run frantically up the mountain top, in the south, and looked for some help. Finding nothing, she ran back down past the crying baby and then ran north towards the top of another mountain, desperately looking out for help. I followed her from above, hoping I could see further to guide her towards help, but there was nothing. Yet again, she ran back down to the baby in the valley. The baby cried nonstop. The woman did not give up. She ran back to the top of the mountain in the south yet again, hoping this time someone would be there. But nothing. She ran back down and across to the top of the mountain to the north. She was adamant about finding help. She was not going to give up or lose hope. She ran back and forth several times while the baby's cry turned into wails and his limbs moved uncontrollably.
As she ran down from the mountain a seventh time, her last ounce of energy expiring, her legs wobbled in weakness as she made her way back towards the baby, who was still crying and kicking his legs helplessly on the desert sand.
Suddenly, to my surprise, I saw gushes of water shooting out of the sand at the infant’s feet. I started falling, as my wings froze in shock at the scene. SubhanaAllah!! How could this be? Where is this water coming from? How did this baby do it? Was this the plan all along? This is for sure a miracle from Allah; these people must be blessed, and Allah heard and answered their prayers.
The woman, also in pure shock, ran towards her baby and the gushing water. There was so much water flowing out nonstop. She tried to contain all the water by making a little well with the sand, saying: “Zam, zam.” She drank from it, quenching her thirst and quickly feeding the baby. I saw colour return to their faces like a famine land absorbing the rainwater.
Over the days and months that followed, I watched as other birds and people populated this rare oasis within an ocean of desert. Once barren, the land was now full of life because of the blessed family of Ibrahim, his son Ismaeel, and the unwavering trust and determination of Hajar. Teaching us that true tawakkul is not passive, it is trusting Allah completely while still striving with all our strength. Only then does Allah bring about change in ways we could never imagine, like the emergence of an endless well in the middle of a barren desert.