And when We appointed the House to be a place of visitation for the people and a sanctuary: “Mention O Muḥammad when We appointed the House meaning the Kaʿba to be a place of visitation for people to come to and a sanctuary for them to return to to make their way to it from every direction. It is a House which I created from stone yet attached to eternity. Whoever looks to the House with the eye of creation is cut off while those who look with the eye of far-reaching vision arrive and connect. Everyone who seeks refuge at that House is secure from the punishment of the hereafter if he seeks refuge to show veneration and respect ʿalā jihati al-iʿẓām wa-l-iḥtirām and repent from sins wa-l-tawbati ʿan al-āthām.” It is said that the House was built of stone but it is a stone that attracts hearts just as a magnet attracts iron. [What kind of house is itḍ] A house... Its shade causes whomever comes to it to remain in the courtyard of security amn. A house... Whoever glances upon it receives the good news of forgive- ness attained. A house... Subtleties circumambulate the heart of whoever circum- ambulates it. One circumambulation is by another circumambulation and one circuit is by another circuit. Is the reward of goodness anything but goodnessḍ [55:60]. A house... Whatever one spends of one's wealth to reach it is not lost. A house... Whatever one withholds from it is without profit. Whoever visits it forgets any other place of visitation and abandons his [own] regions. A house... No distance is reckoned too far to it. Visiting it is not to be neglected for fear of unpleasant occurrences or harmful attacks. This is a house which possesses no harm for the lifeblood of the poor fuqarāÌ. A house... Whoever holds back from visiting it lacks noble-heartedness futuwwa or is deficient in love maḥabba. A house... The heart of the one who holds back from it is harder than stones. A house... When the rays of its lights fall upon someone he is made to forget suns and moons. A house... One is not so much amazed by those who stay away from it but rather by how those who come to it can leave! Take to yourselves Abraham's station for a place of prayer; A servant was raised up on his feet for the sake of God سبحانه and his footprints made a qibla for all Muslims to honor him for all time until the resurrection.
