“His wife was standing by and laughed; and we announced Isaac to her; and after Isaac, Jacob.
“She said, ‘Ah, woe is me! shall I bear a son when I am old, and when this my husband is an old man? This truly would be a marvellous thing.’
“They said, ‘Marvellest thou at the command of God? God’s mercy and blessing be upon you, O people of this house; praise and glory are His due!’
“And when Abraham’s fear had passed away, and these glad tidings had reached him, he pleaded with us for the people of Lot. Verily, Abraham was right kind, pitiful, relenting.”
Abraham’s willingness to offer up his son is told in the Qurʾān, and from the text there would seem little doubt but Isaac was intended, although al-Baiẓāwī and many commentators declare it was Ishmael. The account runs thus ([Sūrah xxxvii. 97–113]):—
“And he said, ‘Verily, I repair to my Lord who will guide me.
“ ‘O Lord give me a son, of the righteous.’
“We announced to him a youth of meekness.
“And when he became a full-grown youth,
“His father said to him, ‘My son, I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee; therefore, consider what thou seest right.’