Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 144 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:144

قَدْ نَرَىٰ تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ ۖ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَىٰهَا ۚ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ ۚ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنتُمْ فَوَلُّوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُۥ ۗ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ لَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ ۗ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ

“We have certainly seen the turning of your face, [O Muḥammad], toward the heaven, and We will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face [i.e., yourself] toward al-Masjid al-Ḥarām.[53] And wherever you [believers] are, turn your faces [i.e., yourselves] toward it [in prayer]. Indeed, those who have been given the Scripture [i.e., the Jews and the Christians] well know that it is the truth from their Lord. And Allāh is not unaware of what they do.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah saw His Prophet's face turning again and again to the sky, and gave him the qibla he loved: the Sacred Mosque, faced from wherever believers are.

A reflection

Seen before he asked

In a care home there is an old man who never complains. The staff notice only one thing. Every afternoon around four, he turns his head towards the door. His daughter used to visit at four. One of the carers starts sitting with him at that hour.

'We have certainly seen the turning of your face towards the sky.' Sahih al-Bukhari records that the Prophet ﷺ loved to be turned towards the Kaʿba. A modern commentary describes his face lifting to the sky again and again, waiting for revelation about the qibla.

A later commentary asks a delicate question: did he ask for it outright? Its conclusion is that he most likely did not. He waited and looked up, and the commentator sees in this the perfection of his courtesy before his Lord. Others said the lifting of his face was itself a prayer. Either way, the longing was barely spoken. And it was seen.

The word for turning, taqallub, comes from a root used of bread turned over and over on the fire. It pictures a face lifting again and again. Qad narā: 'We have certainly seen.' Two commentators note that the form suggests seeing often. Nothing about His servant passed unnoticed.

This is what humbles the ego. We tend to believe that unless we push, demand and announce our needs, nothing will happen. Here the most honoured of creation simply looked up, and the King of the heavens answered. He did not need to be persuaded or informed. He needs nothing at all (35:15). He sees.

There is quiet comfort in that for anyone whose longing has no words. The face you lift towards the sky at night, without a sentence to go with it, is not lifted into emptiness.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.