135وَقالوا كونوا هودًا أَو نَصارىٰ تَهتَدوا ۗ قُل بَل مِلَّةَ إِبراهيمَ حَنيفًا ۖ وَما كانَ مِنَ المُشرِكينَMuhammad AsadAND THEY say, "Be Jews" - or, "Christians" - "and you shall be on the right path." Say: "Nay, but [ours is] the creed of Abraham, who turned away from all that is false,1 and was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God."The expression hanif is derived from the verb hanafa, which literally means "he inclined [towards a right state or tendency]" (cf. Lane II, 658). Already in pre-Islamic times, this term had a definitely monotheistic connotation, and was used to describe a man who turned away from sin and worldliness and from all dubious beliefs, especially idol-worship; and tahannuf denoted the ardent devotions, mainly consisting of long vigils and prayers, of the unitarian God-seekers of pre-Islamic times. Many instances of this use of the terms hanif and tahannuf occur in the verses of pre-Islamic poets, e.g., Umayyah ibn Abi's - Salt and Juan al-'Awd (cf. Lisan al-'Arab, art. hanafa).