standing. But when We remove his adversity, he goes on as though he had never called upon Us concerning any adversity that touched him.” The Most High also says:

“Say, ‘Who rescues you from the darkness of land and sea, when you call upon Him humbly and in secret: “If He saves us from this, we will surely be among the grateful”?’”

“Say, ‘Allah rescues you from it and from every distress; yet you associate others with Him.’”

The Most High also says:

“When adversity touches man, he calls upon his Lord, turning to Him. Then, when He bestows a blessing upon him, he forgets what he had previously prayed for and sets up rivals to Allah to lead others astray from His path. Say, ‘Enjoy your disbelief for a little while; you are indeed among the inhabitants of the Fire.’”

His words, glorified is He,

“He forgets what he had previously prayed for,”

mean that he forgets what he had called upon Allah for: the need he had sought to have met. His supplication was directed towards it—that is, his attention and intention were directed towards it—so it was the end he sought. If mā (“what”) is understood as a nominalizing particle, the sense would be: “He forgot that he had been calling upon Allah regarding his need.”

As the Most High says in the other verse:

“But when We remove his adversity, he goes on as though he had never called upon Us concerning any adversity that touched him.”

On this interpretation, however, the pronoun in ilayhi (“for it”) would still refer to something not explicitly mentioned. This is not the case if mā is understood to mean “that which,” for the sense would then be: “He forgot his need, concerning which he had previously called upon Me.” Thus he forgot his supplication to Allah, which had been the cause of the need. The preposition ilā (“to”) indicates the end sought.

As the Most High says in the other verse:

“Say, ‘Tell me: if Allah’s punishment came upon you, or the Hour came upon you, would you call upon anyone other than Allah, if you are truthful?’”

“Rather, it is Him alone you would call upon; then, if He wills, He would remove what you called upon Him about, and you would forget those you associate with Him.”

For indeed,