“I would like to forgive you.

“I would like to forgive you.” “If the forgiveness is from God, then I seek it, but if it is from you, then I do not desire it,” responded Sa’eed. Hajjaaj ordered the executioner to sever Sa’eed’s head before him. Despite his hands being tied behind his back, Sa’eed recited the following verse of the holy Qur'an: Surely I have turned myself, wholly to Him, Who originated the heavens and the earth, being upright, and I am not of the associators.

[^12] Hearing this, Hajjaaj ordered his face to be turned away from the Qiblah, whereupon he recited the following verse: Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of Allah [^13] When Hajjaaj heard this, he ordered his men to place Sa’eed’s face…