It is also reported that ‘Ubādah ibn al-Sāmit said:
“This world will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said, ‘Separate out whatever in it was for Allah.’ Then,” he said, “whatever in it was for Allah will be separated out, and the remainder will be ordered to be cast into the Fire.”
A statement of broader scope is also reported from ‘Alī. In al-Tha‘labī’s Quran commentary, Sālih ibn Muhammad narrates from Sulaymān ibn ‘Amr, from Sālim al-Aftas, from al-Hasan and Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr, from ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib:
“A man asked him for something, but he gave him nothing. The man then said, ‘I ask you by the Face of Allah.’ ‘Alī replied, ‘You are lying. You have not asked me by the Face of Allah. The Face of Allah is none other than the truth. Do you not see His saying, “Everything will perish except His Face”—meaning the truth? Rather, you have asked me by your own worn-out face.’”
Mujāhid is reported to have said, “Except Him”; al-Dahhāk, “Everything will perish except Allah, Paradise, the Fire, and the Throne”; and Ibn Kaysān, “Except His dominion.”
The word wajh (face) appears originally to have been related to jihah (direction), like wa‘d and ‘idah (promise), wazn (weighing) and zinah (weight), wasl (joining) and silah (connection), and wasm (marking) and simah (mark). In the latter form, however, the initial root consonant is dropped, and its meaning is more specific than the general action, as with akl (eating) and iklah (manner of eating).
Thus, it would be a verbal noun meaning turning towards something or intending it, as the poet said:
I seek Allah’s forgiveness for sins I cannot count—
The Lord of His servants; to Him are directed purpose and deeds.
The word is then used to name the object: that which is intended and towards which one turns. This resembles the use of khalq (creation) for what is created, or the expression “a dirham of the ruler’s minting,” and similar usages. It is also used to name the subject that turns towards something, as with an animal’s face. One says, “I intended this wajh,” meaning this direction or side.
An example is His saying:
“To Allah belongs the east