The Quran

125

Preface

وَإِذ جَعَلنَا البَيتَ مَثابَةً لِلنّاسِ وَأَمنًا وَاتَّخِذوا مِن مَقامِ إِبراهيمَ مُصَلًّى ۖ وَعَهِدنا إِلىٰ إِبراهيمَ وَإِسماعيلَ أَن طَهِّرا بَيتِيَ لِلطّائِفينَ وَالعاكِفينَ وَالرُّكَّعِ السُّجودِ

Ali Quli Qarai

And [remember] when We made the House a place of reward¹ for mankind and a sanctuary, [declaring], ‘Take the venue of prayer from Abraham’s Station.’² We charged Abraham and Ishmael [with its upkeep, saying], ‘Purify My House for those who go around it, [for] those who make it a retreat and [for] those who bow and prostrate.’

Or ‘confluence,’ or ‘resort,’ depending on whether the term mathābah is taken to mean a place of spiritual reward, a place of gathering, or a place to which one frequently returns.
Abraham’s Station (maqām Ibrāhīm) is a spot at a few meters’ distance from the Kaʿbah where a stone relic is kept that bears the footprint of Abraham, behind which the pilgrims offer the prayer of the ṭawāf.