Excerpts from "The Sealed Nectar"
The man who laid the stones was a Roman mason called Baqum. The work went on in harmony until the time came to restore the sacred Black Stone to its proper place. Strife broke out among the chiefs, and lasted for four or five days, each contesting for the honour of placing the stone in its position. Daggers were on the point of being drawn and great bloodshed seemed imminent. Luckily, the oldest among the chiefs, Abu Umaiyah bin Mughirah Al-Makhzumi made a proposal that was accepted by all. He said: "Let him, who enters the Sanctuary first of all, decide on the point." It was then Allah's will that the Messenger of Allah should be the first to enter the Masjid. On seeing him, all the people present, cried with one voice: "Al-Ameen (the trustworthy) has come. We are content to abide by his decision. They informed him of their objective. He asked for a mantle, and spread it on the ground placing the stone in its center. He then asked the representatives of the different clans among them to lift the stone altogether. When it reached the proper place, Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam laid it in the original position with his own hands. This is how a very tense situation was eased and a grave danger averted by the wisdom of the Prophet.
The Quraish ran out of the lawful money they had collected, so they eliminated an area covering six arm's length on the northern side of Al-Ka'bah which is called Al-Hijr or Al-Hateem. They raised its foor from the level ground to let in only the people whom they wished. When the structure was fifteen arm-length high, they erected the roof which rested on six columns.
When the construction of Al-Ka'bah was complete, it assumed a square from about fifteen meters high. The side with the Black Stone and the one opposite were ten meters long each. The Black Stone was 1.50 meters from the circumambulation level ground. The two other sides were twelve meters long each. The door was two meters high from the level ground. A building structure 0.25 meter high and 0.30 meter wide on the average surrounded Al-Ka'bah. It was called Ash-Sgadherwan, originally an integral part of the Sacred Sanctuary, but the Quraish left it out.