Verse. 151

٢ - ٱلْبَقَرَة

2 - Al-Baqara

قَدْ نَرٰى تَـقَلُّبَ وَجْہِكَ فِي السَّمَاۗءِ۝۰ۚ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَۃً تَرْضٰىھَا۝۰۠ فَوَلِّ وَجْہَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ۝۰ۭ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنْتُمْ فَوَلُّوْا وُجُوْھَكُمْ شَطْرَہٗ۝۰ۭ وَاِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ اُوْتُوا الْكِتٰبَ لَيَعْلَمُوْنَ اَنَّہُ الْحَـقُّ مِنْ رَّبِّہِمْ۝۰ۭ وَمَا اللہُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُوْنَ۝۱۴۴
Qad nara taqalluba wajhika fee alssamai falanuwalliyannaka qiblatan tardaha fawalli wajhaka shatra almasjidi alharami wahaythu ma kuntum fawalloo wujoohakum shatrahu wainna allatheena ootoo alkitaba layaAAlamoona annahu alhaqqu min rabbihim wama Allahu bighafilin AAamma yaAAmaloona

English

Ahmed Ali

We have seen you turn your face to the heavens. We shall turn you to a Qiblah that will please you. So turn towards the Holy Mosque, and turn towards it wherever you be. And those who are recipients of the Book surely know that this is the truth from their Lord; and God is not negligent of all that you do.

144

Tafseer

'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī

تفسير : allah then mentions the supplication of his prophet regarding the changing of the qiblah towards mecca, saying: (we have seen the turning of thy face to heaven (for guidance, o muhammad)) turning your sight to heaven in anticipation of gabriel coming down to announce the change of the qiblah. (and now surely we shall make thee turn (in prayer) toward a qiblah that is dear to thee) that you like, namely, the qiblah of abraham. (so turn thy face) when in prayer (towards the inviolable place of worship, and ye (o muslims), wheresoever ye may be) whether on land or in the sea, (turn your faces (when ye pray)) in prayer (towards it. (lo! those who have received the scripture know that) the sacred precinct (is the truth from their lord) is the qiblah of abraham but they conceal this fact. (and allah is not unaware) heedless (of what they do) of what they conceal.

Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī

تفسير : we have indeed (qad, ‘indeed’, is for affirmation) seen you turning your face about in the, direction of the, heaven, looking around for the revelation and longing for the command to face the ka‘ba: he [the prophet] wished for this because it was the prayer-direction of abraham and would be more conducive to the submission of the arabs [to islam]; now we will surely turn you to a direction that shall satisfy you, that you will love. turn your face, in prayer, towards the sacred mosque, that is, the ka‘ba, and wherever you are (addressing the [muslim] community) turn your faces, in prayer, towards it. those who have been given the scripture know that it, the change towards the ka‘ba, is the, fixed, truth from their lord, on account of the description in their scripture of how the prophet (s) would re-orient himself to it; god is not heedless of what you do, o believers, when you obey his command (alternatively, ta‘malūna, ‘you do’, can be read ya‘malūna, ‘they do’, in other words [it would be referring to] the jews’ denial of the matter concerning the direction of prayer).

Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi

تفسير : (we have seen the turning of thy face to heaven…) [2:144]. the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, said once to gabriel, peace be upon him: “i wish that allah, exalted is he, directed me away from the qiblah of the jews to a different qiblah' - he meant to say the ka'bah because it was the qiblah of abraham. gabriel said to him: 'i am a slave like you; nothing is in my power. do therefore request your lord to direct you away from it toward the qiblah of abraham'. gabriel then rose in the sky while the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, kept looking at heaven in the hope that gabriel would bring him the news of what he had requested. and so allah revealed this verse”. abu mansur muhammad ibn muhammad al-mansuri informed us> al-hafiz 'ali ibn 'umar> 'abd al-wahhab ibn 'isa> abu hisham al-rifa'i> abu bakr ibn 'iyash> abu ishaq> al-bara' who said: “we prayed with allah's messenger, allah bless him and give him peace, after his arrival to medina for sixteen months toward jerusalem. then allah knew the wish of his prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, and so he revealed (we have seen the turning of thy face to heaven…)”. this is narrated by muslim from the report of abu bakr ibn abi shaybah from abu'l-ahwas. it was also narrated by bukhari from the report of abu nu'aym from zuhayr, and both zuhayr and abu'l-ahwas reported this narration from abu ishaq.