“I have turned my face”: that is, I have directed my worship solely to Him. While uttering these words the worshipper ought to be wholly present before his Master, his heart turned away from everything else, in a state of perfect attentiveness and sincerity; otherwise he is speaking falsehood—and the most odious lie is told before the One from whom nothing is concealed.

“Who originated the heavens and the earth”: meaning, He brought them into existence and fashioned them without any prior model. He who created such peerless, perfectly ordered wonders is surely the One to whom faces should turn and upon whom hearts should rely; no one else is to be looked to or hoped in besides Him.

“In pure monotheism” (ḥanīfan): inclining toward the truth and remaining steadfast upon it.

“Submitting” (musliman): yielding and surrendering entirely to Allah Most High, turning to Him alone.

“And I am not of the polytheists”: a circumstantial clause reinforcing the meaning of the preceding statement.

“Indeed, my prayer”: the well-known act of worship with its obligatory and supererogatory parts.

“And my sacrifice” (nusukī): the slaughter I perform seeking nearness to Allah. These two noble acts of worship are singled out because of their superior merit and their indication of love for Allah: prayer shows exclusive devotion to Him with heart, tongue, and limbs, while sacrifice involves offering what the soul loves of wealth in obedience to Allah by shedding blood for His sake.

“My living and my dying”: the deeds I carry out during life and whatever Allah Most High decrees for me at death.

“Belong to Allah, Lord of the worlds; He has no partner”—neither in worship, nor in dominion, nor in attributes.

“And I am of the Muslims”: this is the wording reported by Muslim (771), Abū Dāwūd (760), al-Tirmidhī (3435), al-Nasāʾī (897), and Ibn Mājah (760).