Ismail's story starts as a baby left with his mother Hajar in a valley of nothing, by Allah's command. When their water ran out, Hajar ran between Safa and Marwa searching, and the well of Zamzam broke through the sand at her son's feet. Around that water, Makkah was born.
As a boy, he heard his father say: I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice you. His answer, “O my Father, do as you are commanded; you will find me, God willing, one of the steadfast.” (Quran 37:102), made him a partner in the greatest act of submission in history, and Allah ransomed him with a ram. As a man, he worked beside Ibrahim raising the walls of the Kaaba. The Quran gives him a title of quiet greatness: “He was true to his promise” (19:54). From his descendants, generations later, came Muhammad ﷺ.