Ibn `Abbaas reported Allah’s Messenger, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, as saying: “For this reason, people walk (Sa’ie) between them (As-Safaa and Al-Marwah). When she reached Mount Marwa, she heard a sound and said, ‘Hearken!” (talking to herself). She then listened attentively and heard the same sound again. She then directed her speech to the sound saying, ‘I have heard you, so appear if you can help.’ She then found an angel in the location of the Well of Zamzam, digging the earth with his heel (or with his wing) until water sprung forth. She started to make something like a basin around it, using her hands in this way, and started filling her water-skin with water with her hands, and the water was flowing out after she had scooped some of it. 

Ibn `Abbaas said the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “May Allah have mercy on the mother of Ismaa’eel. Had she let the Zamzam flow (without trying to control it) (or had not scooped from t hat water to fill her water-skin) Zamzam would have been a stream flowing on the surface of the earth.”

The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) further added: "Then she drank and nursed her baby. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid of perishing, for this is the place of the House of Allah which will be built by this boy and his father later on, and Allah never neglects His people. The House (the Ka'aba) at that time was on a high place resembling a hillock, and when torrents came, they flowed to its right and left.  She lived in that way till some people from the tribe of Jurhum, or a family from Jurhum passed by her and her child as they (the Jurhum people) were coming through the way of Kada’.  They landed in the lower part of Makkah where they observed a bird flying round and round. They said, "This bird must be flying around water, though we know there is no water in this valley".  They sent one or two messengers who discovered the source of the water.  So they all came (towards the water)." 

The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) added, "Ismaa’eel's mother was sitting near the water. They asked her, 'Do you allow us to stay with you?' She replied, 'Yes, but you will have no right to possess the water.' They agreed to that.

Ibn `Abbaas reported the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, further said, "Ismaa’eel's mother was pleased with the whole situation as she used to enjoy the company of people.  So, they settled there, and later on they sent for their families who came and settled with them so that some families became permanent residents there.