O you who have been given the scripture believe in what We have revealed confirming what is with you before We obliterate faces and turn them inside out or curse them as We cursed those of the Sabbath and God's command is done. In We obliterate faces and turn them inside out the allusion is to the turn- ing away of hearts from spiritual desire irāda to the states of the people of habit ahl al-ʿāda so that despite the abundance of His calls to reject the present world they no longer pay any attention to them.
