concerning His saying, Most High, ‘To Allah belong the east and the west; wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah’?”

He replied, “Yes.”

I said, “What is meant here is Allah’s direction of prayer.”

He said, “Mujāhid and al-Shāfi‘ī interpreted it figuratively, and they were both among the early generations.”

This objection did not apply to me, for the attribute of the Face was not among the matters over which they had debated me, nor had I affirmed it there. They nevertheless raised it in general terms, whereas my words had been qualified, as in the responses. I did not see fit to press the point against them in that setting. Instead, I said, “This verse is not a verse concerning the divine attributes at all, nor does it fall within the general statement that verses concerning the divine attributes are not to be interpreted figuratively.”

He said, “Does it not mention the face?” When I said, “What is meant here is Allah’s direction of prayer,” he said, “Is this not one of the verses concerning the divine attributes?”

I said, “No. It is not one of the disputed passages. All I concede is that ‘face’ here means the direction of prayer. In Arabic, wajh (‘face’) means ‘direction.’ One says, ‘I headed in this wajh,’ or ‘I travelled in this wajh,’ meaning ‘in this direction.’ This is a common, well-known usage. Thus ‘face’ means ‘direction’: it is what one faces, as in His saying, Most High:

‘Everyone has a direction toward which he turns.’

“That is, a direction that he faces. His words, Most High, ‘a direction toward which he turns,’ are like His words:

‘Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah.’

“The two verses are closely related in both wording and meaning, and both concern the direction of prayer. The ‘face’ or ‘direction’ mentioned in both verses is that toward which we turn—that is, which we face.”

I said, “The context also indicates this, for He says, ‘Wherever you turn.’ The word ‘where’ is an adverb of place, and ‘you turn’ means ‘you face.’ Thus the meaning is: whatever place you face, there is the Face of Allah. He thus places the Face of Allah in the location that a person faces. This follows His saying:

‘To Allah belong the east and the west.’

“These encompass all directions, as in the other verse:

‘Say, “To Allah belong the east and the west. He guides whom He wills to a straight path.”’”