Fazlollah Nikayin, The Quran; The First Poetic Translation (2000)
For God is unto humankind, Mercifully Most Kind.
144. Many a time We see you 1 turn your face,
Towards the sky, therefore We now assign,
To you a qihlah that you will best like:
you shall, towards the Sacred Shrine,2
"Your face be turning; thus you ought to turn
Your face to it, no matter where you are,
And surely those who have received the Scripture,
Know that it's rightly from their Lord;
And certainly God is Aware, Of your every affair.
145. And even if you were to show the People
Of the Book, all the Signs 3 together,
Never would they accept your qiblah, nor
Will you adopt their qihlah; neither
Will they follow each other's qiblah;
And had you to their wishes acquiesced,
After the knowledge that has to you come,
You would have certainly transgressed.
146. The People of the Scripture recognize
This 4 as they know their children,
But certain sects of them the truth disguise,
Even though they surely have the ken!
1. Mohammad (pbuh)
2. Or "the Holy Mosque" wherein the Ka'ba is located in Mecca.
3. Or "Miracles".
4. "This ancient place"; "this truth"; or "him" (according to some commentators who construe the demonstrative pronoun to refer to the holy Prophet).
