And when it was from his Imamate that the people followed him in the pilgrimage to the House which Allah has honored by its construction, he said thereafter, lamenting the people of the Book for their opposition to him and their abandonment of his religion, and preparing for the matter of the qiblah: "And when We made the House" meaning: the one that Ibrahim built in the mother of cities, "a place of return for the people" meaning: a reference to which they return in all matters. Whenever they are separated from it, they long for it, whether they or others, as a sign of their return from this world to their Lord. Al-Harali said: It is a place of returning, which is the return to it in totality. And in the form of the place of returning, there is the continuity of returning repeatedly. "And a place of safety" due to it being the House of the King. (p-153) From the wars of this world and from the punishment of the Hereafter, except for the one whom Allah has exempted from the disbelievers, acting with polytheism and being strong with atheism. And safety is the absence of any defect from the approach of harm to it - this was said by Al-Harali. And they used to see in the days of ignorance a man who killed his father in the sanctuary and would not confront him. Al-Asbahani said: And this is something they inherited from the time of Ismail, peace be upon him, and it was read to him until the days of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. So today, whoever commits a crime in the sanctuary, the punishment is established upon him by consensus.

And when the estimation was: the people repented to him, following his building, and they believed in his call, he added to his saying: "And take" and according to the reading of the command, the estimation would be: So repent to Him, O people, following him, and take "from the standing place of Ibrahim" our friend, "a place of prayer" which is a place where prayer is continuously performed. And the standing place of Ibrahim is the stone upon which he stood when he came to visit his son Ismail, peace be upon them both, and he did not find him. So the wife of Ismail washed his head while he was leaning with his foot upon it and he was riding. She washed one side of his head [the right] while he was leaning on the stone with his right foot, then she turned the stone to the left side and washed its left side, and his feet sank into it; and for this, the imprint of his feet is different, the toes of this one at the heel of that one, and this was before he built the House - and Allah knows best what He intends.

"And We commanded" is connected to his saying "We made" "to Ibrahim" the trustworthy "and Ismail" his truthful son, and in mentioning him there is an expression of answering his call in his saying: "And of my descendants" [Al-Baqarah: 124] and a reference that in his descendants there will be one who will conclude the nations with his nation and that his facing towards His House will be in the most exalted acts of worship from his legislation. And He completed the reference with His saying: "To purify My House" meaning: from every physical and moral impurity, so nothing is done in His presence that is not appropriate in the Shari'ah; and the House is the place of lodging designated from the specific house of the specific dwelling in the city - this was said by Al-Harali.

Those who go around it are those whose actions are like the actions of one who knows that there is no refuge from Allah except to Him. And those who are devoted in it, and devotion is the turning towards something and remaining with it, and limiting oneself to it. And the circling is the encompassing of something in absence or in a sense of absence - this is what al-Harali said.

And the bowing and prostrating - al-Harali said: In mentioning bowing, there is a specification for the Arabs, for bowing was only legislated in their religion. And in that, there is a reprimand for those who expelled the believers and prevented them from the House. And in the repetition of detailing these verses, there is a warning to them for abandoning their religion, which is the friend, and following one who does not know, who is the enemy.