[2:125] 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, making 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 natural eye 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 his seeking refuge is for magnification, showing respect, and repenting from sins'.
It is said the House was built of stone but it is a stone that attracts hearts just as magnetite attracts iron.
[What kind of house is it?]
A house...Its shade causes whoever comes to it to remain in the courtyard of security (amn).
A house...Whoever's glance falls upon it receives the good news of forgiveness attained.
A house...Subtleties circumambulate the heart of whomever circumambulates it. One circumambulation is by another circumambulation and one circuit is by another circuit. Is the reward of goodness anything but goodness? [55:60].
A house...Whatever one spends of one's wealth to reach 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 nobleheartedness (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 one, 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 how those who come to it can leave!
[2:125 cont'd] 'Take to yourselves Abraham's station for a place of prayer';
A servant was raised up on his feet for the sake of God (s), making his footprints a qibla until the Resurrection for all Muslims to honor him for all time.
[2:125 cont'd] and We made a covenant with Abraham and Ishmael: 'Purify My House for those that shall go round it (?āÌifūn) and those that cleave to it (ʿākifīn), to those who bow and prostrate themselves'.
In the outward sense the affair concerns the purification of the House, while the allusion in the verse is to the purification of the heart. The purification of the House is by protecting it from different kinds of dirt and filth (al-adnās wa'l-aw?ār), and the purification of the heart is by guarding it from paying attention to one's kind or anything other [than God] (al-ajnās wa'l-aghyār).
The circumambulation of the pilgrims around the House is known through the law. The circumambulation of meanings is known to the people of the Real. Meanings are going round (?āÌifa) in the hearts of those who know (qulūb al-ʿārifīn). Realities are cleaving (ʿākifa) in the hearts of those who declare oneness (qulūb al-muwaḥḥidīn). These are the companions of transformation (aṣḥāb al-talwīn) and those are the lords of stability (arbāb al-tamkīn).
The hearts of those who seek their objective (qulūb al-qāṣidīn) remain ever standing (wāqifa) at the door of generosity, continually practicing humility. The hearts of those who declare oneness (qulūb al-muwaḥḥidīn) remain ever bowing (rākiʿa) on the carpet of union. The hearts of the ecstatics (qulūb al-wājidīn) remain ever prostrating (sājida) on the carpet of nearness.
It is said the ascendant longings of the seekers are ever standing (wāqifa) at the door of magnanimity. The lofty resolutions of the aspirants remain ever circumambulating (?āÌifa) the place of witnessing [divine] generosity. The aspirations that come to those who know are ever cleaving (ʿākifa) to the presence of majesty.