5413 - My father narrated to us, Ibn Nufayl narrated to us, 'Amr ibn Waqid narrated to us, from Yunus ibn Halbas, from Abu Idris 'A'idh Allah al-Khawlani, who said: Abu Muslim was the teacher of Ka'b, and he used to blame him for his slowness in coming to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said: He sent him to him to see: Is he truly him? He said: Until I arrived in Medina, and there was a reciter reciting the Qur'an, saying: "O you who were given the Scripture, believe in what We have sent down, confirming what is with you, before We efface faces." So I rushed to the water to perform ghusl, and I was rubbing my face for fear that it would be effaced, then I embraced Islam.

The second interpretation:

5414 - Hajjaj ibn Hamzah narrated to us, Shababah narrated to us, Warqa' narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Najih, from Mujahid, regarding His saying: "Before We efface faces": He says: From the path of truth.

His saying, the Exalted: "And turn them on their backs"

[The first interpretation]

5415 - Muhammad ibn Sa'd al-'Awfi informed us in what he wrote to me, my father narrated to me, my uncle narrated to me, my father narrated to me, from his father, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding His saying: "And turn them": He says: We make their faces appear where their backs are, so they walk backwards, and we place for one of them two eyes on the back of his head.

It was narrated from Qatadah that he said: We place their faces where their backs are—and it was narrated from 'Atiyyah similarly.

The second interpretation:

5416 - Hajjaj ibn Hamzah narrated to us, Shababah narrated to us, Warqa' narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Najih, from Mujahid, regarding "And turn them on their backs": He said: In misguidance.

5417 - Ahmad ibn 'Uthman ibn Hakim narrated to us, Ahmad ibn Mufaddal narrated to us, Asbat narrated to us, from al-Suddi, regarding His saying: "And turn them on their backs": He says: He blinds them from the truth. He said: He returns them as disbelievers and makes them apes—and it was narrated from Ibn 'Abbas and al-Hasan similarly to the saying of Mujahid.

The third interpretation:

5418 - It was read to Yunus ibn 'Abd al-A'la, Ibn Wahb narrated to us, who said: I heard 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam regarding the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "Before We efface faces and turn them on their backs": He said: From where their backs came. Meaning: They returned to al-Sham from where they came, they were turned back to it.