During the era of jahiliyyah, the Kaabah was built of loose stones without any clay mortar. Its height was only such that a young goat could leap over it. It had no roof, instead its coverings were simply laid over the top and then draped down its sides. The Aswad corner was set on its outer wall, exposed to view. It had only two corners, shaped like this ring.A ship came from the land of the Romans, and when it drew near Jeddah, it was wrecked. Quraysh went out to take its timber, and they found a Roman man with it. They took the wood, and he gave it to them. The ship had been heading for Abyssinia, and the Roman aboard her was a carpenter. They brought back the timber along with the Roman.Quraysh said, "Let us build the House of our Lord with this wood." But when they intended to demolish it, they suddenly saw a snake on the wall of the House, like a beam, black on its back and white on its belly. Whenever anyone approached the House to tear it down or to take any of its stones, the snake would dart at him with its mouth open.So Quraysh gathered at the sanctuary and cried out to Allah, saying, "Our Lord, do not be displeased. We only wished to honor and improve Your House. If You are pleased with this, well and good, but if not, do as You will."Then they heard a roar in the sky, and there appeared a bird greater than an eagle, black on its back and white on its belly and legs. It sank its talons into the back of the snake's neck and carried it off, dragging it along, with its tail trailing behind, immense in size, until it bore it away toward Ajyad.Quraysh then demolished the Kaabah and began rebuilding it with stones from the valley, which they carried on their shoulders. They raised it twenty cubits into the sky.While the Prophet ﷺ was carrying stones from Ajyad, wearing a striped cloth wrap, the wrap became too tight on him. He went to place it on his shoulder, but because the wrap was so small, his private area became exposed. A voice called out, "Muhammad, cover yourself!" After that, he was never seen uncovered again.Between the rebuilding of the Kaabah and the revelation that came down upon him was five years, and between the rebuilding and his emigration was fifteen years.
كانت الكعبة في الجاهلية مبنية بالرضم ليس فيه مدر، وكانت قدر ما يقتحمها العناق، وكان غير مسقوفة، إنما توضع ثيابها عليها، ثم يسدل سدلا عليها، وكان الركن الأسود موضوعا على سورها، باديا وكانت ذات ركنين كهيئة هذه الحلقة، فأقبلت سفينة من أرض الروم، حتى إذا كانوا قريبا من جدة انكسرت السفينة، فخرجت قريش ليأخذوا خشبها، فوجدوا روميا عندها، فأخذوا الخشب، أعطاهم إياه، وكان السفينة تريد الحبشة، وكان الرومي الذي في السفينة نجارا، فقدموا بالخشب، وقدموا بالرومي، فقالت قريش: نبني بهذا الخشب بيت ربنا، فلما أن أرادوا هدمه، إذا هم بحية على سور البيت، مثل قطعة الجائز سوداء الظهر، بيضاء البطن، فجعلت كلما دنا أحد من البيت ليهدمه، أو يأخذ من حجارته سعت إليه فاتحة فاها، فاجتمعت قريش عند الحرم، فعجوا إلى الله، وقالوا: ربنا! لم ترع، أردنا تشريف بيتك وترتيبه، فإن كنت ترضى بذلك، وإلا فما بدا لك فافعل، فسمعوا خوارا في السماء، فإذا هم بطائر أعظم من النسر، أسود الظهر وأبيض البطن والرجلين، فغرز مخالبه في قفا الحية، ثم انطلق بها يجرها، وذنبها أعظم من كذا وكذا، ساقط حتى انطلق بها نحو أجياد، فهدمتها قريش، وجعلوا يبنونها بحجارة الوادي، تحملها قريش على رقابها، فرفعوها في السماء عشرين ذراعا، فبينا النبي ﷺ يحمل حجارة من أجياد وعليه نمرة، إذ ضاقت عليه النمرة، فذهب يضع النمرة على عاتقه، فبدت عورته من صغر النمرة، فنودي يا محمد! خمر عورتك، فلم ير عريانا بعد ذلك، وكان بين الكعبة وبين ما أنزل الله عليه خمس سنين، وبين مخرجه وبنائها خمس عشرة سنة.
Abdul-Razzaq (9106) narrated it from Maamar, from Abdullah (meaning Ibn Uthman bin Khuthaym), from Abu Tufayl, who said, then he mentioned it. Imam Ahmad (23794, 23800) and Hakim (4/179) also related it, transmitting part of it from Abdul-Razzaq. Its isnad is hasan because of Abdullah bin Uthman, for he is hasan al-hadith.Abu Tufayl, Amir bin Wathila, was among the youngest of the companions. He did not witness the construction of the Kaaba, because he was born in the year of Uhud. He used to say, "I experienced eight years of the life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and I was born in the year of Uhud." Ahmad (23799) narrated this. It is therefore one of the mursal reports of the companions, and such reports are sahih. Hakim also declared it sahih, as did Dhahabi in his Sirah (1/76-77).His statement, "Between the building of the Kaaba and what Allah revealed to him ﷺ there were five years," is what is well known among the scholars of biography and history.Bukhari related in the Virtues of the Ansar (3833), from Ali bin Abdullah, who said, Sufyan narrated to us, saying, Amr used to say, Saeed bin Musayab narrated to us, from his father, from his grandfather, who said, "A flood came in the pre-Islamic era, and it covered the space between the two mountains." Sufyan said, "And he used to say, this is indeed a hadith with a story behind it."Amr here is Ibn Dinar. As for the flood mentioned in this hadith, it is not known when it occurred. It is known that after Ibrahim the Kaaba collapsed several times. Once it collapsed and the Amalekites rebuilt it, another time it collapsed and Jurhum rebuilt it, and another time it collapsed and Quraysh rebuilt it. It appears that this collapse was caused by the flood that comes down from above the dam at the upper part of Makkah, which destroys the Kaaba. This is why Kaab said to Abdullah bin Zubayr, while he was working on the construction of the Kaaba, "Make it firm and secure it well, for we find in the scriptures that floods will grow greater in the last days." Shafii related this in al-Umm (1/291).