The Journey to Banū Saʿd

So when they were unable to solve the dispute, and they were about to go to war over it, someone suggested: "Let's solve the dispute by going to the woman of Banū Saʿd" — they had a woman there who claimed to have a connection with the spirits, so let's go to her and seek her consultation. So they travelled to her, and were told that she had relocated to al-Shām. So they said: "Well, we'll follow her, wherever she is." And they started their journey towards al-Shām, and along the way they ran out of water, and they were in the middle of nowhere in the desert. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib told them: "If we're going to die here, let's at least dig our graves, and whenever one of us dies, the rest can put him in the grave and cover him, so that in the end we'll be left with only one person uncovered, rather than have all of us die exposed. At least let's honour our dead, and have only one who is without burial."

So they all dug their graves, and lay inside them waiting for death. And then ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib said: "This isn't right, for men like us to sit here waiting for death. Let's do something — let's go and search for water." So they agreed, and went in different directions searching for water. After a short while, ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib found water. So they came to him and said: "If Allah has saved you in this desert and provided you with water, and Allah has shown you a dream in which you uncovered the well of Zamzam, this is surely an indication that it is a blessing for you and belongs to you. We give up our claim — it's all yours. Let's go back." So they gave it up and agreed to submit to ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, and it became his. This is one important story that happened to ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.