softened the hamzah; the others recited it with a shortened vowel, following the pattern faʿul. Jarīr said:

“You see that the Muslims have a right over you …
like the action of the One, the Most Kind, the Most Merciful.”

Tender compassion is a more intense form of mercy.

“Indeed, We see you turning your face toward the heaven, so We shall surely turn you toward a direction of prayer that will please you. So turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque. Wherever you may be, turn your faces toward it. Those who were given the Book surely know that it is the truth from their Lord, and Allah is not unaware of what they do.” (144)

Concerning the words of Allah Most High, “Indeed, We see you turning your face toward the heaven”: although this verse occurs later in the recited order, it precedes in meaning, for it is the beginning of the account. The matter of the qiblah was the first of the ordinances of the Sacred Law to be abrogated. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions had prayed in Mecca facing the Kaʿbah. When he emigrated to Medina, Allah commanded him to pray toward the Rock of Jerusalem, so that the Jews would be more inclined to affirm him when he prayed toward their qiblah, together with what they found [20/b] of his description in the Torah.

After the Emigration, he prayed toward Jerusalem for sixteen or seventeen months. He loved to be directed toward the Kaʿbah because it had been the qiblah of his forefather Abraham, peace be upon him. Mujāhid said: He desired this because of the Jews, for they would say, “Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, differs from us in our religion, yet he follows our qiblah.” So he said to Gabriel, peace be upon him, “I wish that Allah would turn me toward the Kaʿbah, for it is the qiblah of my forefather Abraham, peace be upon him.” Gabriel replied, “I am only a servant like you, while you are honored by your Lord. So ask your Lord yourself, for you hold a station with Allah.” [Then Gabriel departed] (1), and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, continued to gaze toward the heaven, hoping that Gabriel would descend with what he desired concerning the qiblah. Then Allah Most High revealed: “Indeed, We see you turning your face toward the heaven, so We shall surely turn you toward a direction of prayer”—that is, We shall certainly direct you toward a qiblah—“that will please you,” meaning, one which you love and desire. “So turn”—that is, direct—“your face toward the Sacred Mosque,” meaning, toward it; what is intended is the Kaʿbah. The term al-haram means “forbidden.” “Wherever you may be,” on land or sea, in the east or the west, “turn your faces toward it” when praying.

ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Aḥmad al-Mulayḥī informed us; Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Nuʿaymī informed us; Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf informed us; Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl informed us; Isḥāq ibn Naṣr informed us; ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; Ibn Jurayj informed us from ʿAṭāʾ, who said: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, say: “When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, entered the House, he supplicated in all of its corners and did not pray until”