Koran – Face

This table (from ChatGPT) is about the verses with Face imagery:

Sūrah	Verse	Arabic word/phrase	Literal meaning	Symbolic meaning	Thematic category
Al-Baqarah	2:112	أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لِلَّهِ (aslama wajhahu lillāh)	He submits his face to God	Whole-person surrender and orientation toward God	Submission
Al-Baqarah	2:115	وَجْهُ اللَّهِ (wajhu llāh)	The Face of God	Divine presence, direction, or reality	Divine Face
Al-Baqarah	2:144	تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِي السَّمَاءِ (taqalluba wajhika fī al-samāʾ)	Turning your face toward the sky	Expectant orientation toward divine guidance	Direction
Al-Baqarah	2:144	فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ	Turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque	Obedient alignment with the divinely appointed qiblah	Direction / Worship
Al-Baqarah	2:149	فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ	Turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque	Reaffirmation of religious orientation	Direction
Al-Baqarah	2:150	فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُ (wallū wujūhakum shatrahu)	Turn your faces toward it	Collective unity and obedience	Direction / Community
Al-Baqarah	2:177	تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ (tuwallū wujūhakum)	You turn your faces	Physical orientation alone is not the essence of righteousness	Outward vs. inward religion
Al-Baqarah	2:272	ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ اللَّهِ (ibtighāʾ wajhi llāh)	Seeking the Face of God	Giving for divine approval rather than human recognition	Sincerity
Āl ʿImrān	3:20	أَسْلَمْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلَّهِ	I have submitted my face to God	Complete personal surrender	Submission
Āl ʿImrān	3:72	وَجْهَ النَّهَارِ (wajha al-nahār)	Face/front of the day	Beginning or early part of the day	Idiomatic time expression
Āl ʿImrān	3:106	تَبْيَضُّ وُجُوهٌ / تَسْوَدُّ وُجُوهٌ	Faces become white / faces become black	Final revelation of spiritual condition	Judgment
Āl ʿImrān	3:107	وُجُوهٌ بَيْضَاءُ	Faces made white/bright	Divine mercy and blessed destiny	Mercy / Salvation
Al-Nisāʾ	4:43	وُجُوهَكُمْ (wujūhakum)	Your faces	Physical purification and ritual preparation	Purification
Al-Nisāʾ	4:47	نَطْمِسَ وُجُوهًا وَنَرُدَّهَا عَلَى أَدْبَارِهَا	Efface faces and turn them backward	Humiliation, reversal, and punishment	Judgment / Reversal
Al-Nisāʾ	4:125	أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لِلَّهِ	He submits his face to God	Sincere religion and complete devotion	Submission
Al-Māʾidah	5:6	وُجُوهَكُمْ	Your faces	Washing as part of ritual ablution	Purification
Al-Māʾidah	5:6	فَامْسَحُوا بِوُجُوهِكُمْ	Wipe your faces	Purification when water is unavailable	Purification
Al-Māʾidah	5:108	عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهَا	In its proper form / proper manner	Correctness and proper presentation	Integrity
Al-Anʿām	6:52	يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ	They desire His Face	Seeking God’s approval and nearness	Sincerity
Al-Anʿām	6:79	وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلَّذِي فَطَرَ السَّمَاوَاتِ	I have turned my face toward the One who created	Exclusive orientation toward the Creator	Monotheism
Al-Aʿrāf	7:29	أَقِيمُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ	Establish your faces	Stand upright and orient yourselves toward true worship	Worship / Orientation
Al-Anfāl	8:50	يَضْرِبُونَ وُجُوهَهُمْ وَأَدْبَارَهُمْ	They strike their faces and backs	Punishment and helplessness	Judgment
Yūnus	10:26	وَلَا يَرْهَقُ وُجُوهَهُمْ قَتَرٌ وَلَا ذِلَّةٌ	No gloom or humiliation covers their faces	Honour and blessed final condition	Reward
Yūnus	10:27	تَرْهَقُ وُجُوهَهُمْ قَتَرٌ	Gloom covers their faces	Visible manifestation of evil’s consequence	Judgment
Yūnus	10:105	فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ	Establish your face toward the religion	Direct one’s whole life toward true faith	Orientation
Yūsuf	12:9	يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ	Your father’s face/attention will be free for you	Exclusive parental attention	Family / Idiom
Yūsuf	12:93	فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِ أَبِي	Place it on my father’s face	Physical healing and restoration	Physical face
Yūsuf	12:96	أَلْقَاهُ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِ	He placed it on his face	Restoration of sight and recognition	Physical face
Al-Raʿd	13:22	ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِمْ	Seeking the Face of their Lord	Persevering and doing good for divine approval	Sincerity
Ibrāhīm	14:50	تَغْشَىٰ وُجُوهَهُمُ النَّارُ	Fire covers their faces	Extreme punishment and exposure	Judgment
Al-Naḥl	16:58	يَظَلُّ وَجْهُهُ مُسْوَدًّا	His face remains darkened	Shame, distress, and social prejudice	Emotion / Shame
Al-Isrāʾ	17:7	لِيَسُوءُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ	To bring harm/affliction to your faces	Public humiliation and defeat	Judgment
Al-Isrāʾ	17:97	يُحْشَرُونَ عَلَىٰ وُجُوهِهِمْ	They are gathered on their faces	Degradation and total disorientation	Judgment
Al-Kahf	18:28	يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ	They seek His Face	Sincere devotion	Sincerity
Al-Kahf	18:29	يَشْوِي الْوُجُوهَ	It scalds the faces	Punishment that is immediate and visible	Judgment
Ṭā Hā	20:111	وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ	Faces are humbled before the Living, Sustaining One	Universal submission before divine authority	Submission / Judgment
Al-Anbiyāʾ	21:39	يَكُفُّونَ عَن وُجُوهِهِمُ النَّارَ	They cannot keep the Fire from their faces	Inescapable punishment	Judgment
Al-Ḥajj	22:11	انقَلَبَ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِ	He turns back upon his face	Abandoning faith when tested	Apostasy / Instability
Al-Ḥajj	22:72	تَعْرِفُ فِي وُجُوهِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا الْمُنكَرَ	You recognize rejection in their faces	Visible anger and hostility toward revelation	Rejection
Al-Muʾminūn	23:104	تَلْفَحُ وُجُوهَهُمُ النَّارُ	Fire scorches their faces	Visible punishment and suffering	Judgment
Al-Furqān	25:34	يُحْشَرُونَ عَلَىٰ وُجُوهِهِمْ	They are gathered on their faces	Ultimate humiliation and misdirection	Judgment
Al-Naml	27:90	كُبَّتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ فِي النَّارِ	Their faces are cast into the Fire	Complete defeat and punishment	Judgment
Al-Qaṣaṣ	28:88	إِلَّا وَجْهَهُ	Except His Face	Divine permanence beyond created existence	Divine Face
Al-Rūm	30:30	فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ	Establish your face toward the religion	Align one’s whole being with the natural disposition	Orientation
Al-Rūm	30:38	يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَ اللَّهِ	They seek God’s Face	Charity for divine approval	Sincerity
Al-Rūm	30:39	ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ اللَّهِ	Seeking God’s Face	Pure intention in giving	Sincerity
Luqmān	31:22	أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ	He submits his face to God	Whole-person surrender and trust	Submission
Al-Aḥzāb	33:66	تُقَلَّبُ وُجُوهُهُمْ فِي النَّارِ	Their faces are turned about in the Fire	Regret, punishment, and helplessness	Judgment
Al-Zumar	39:24	يَتَّقِي بِوَجْهِهِ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ	He protects his face from terrible punishment	Helplessness before divine punishment	Judgment
Al-Zumar	39:60	تَرَى الَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ وُجُوهُهُم مُّسْوَدَّةٌ	Faces of those who lied against God are blackened	Disgrace and exposure of falsehood	Judgment
Al-Zukhruf	43:17	يَظَلُّ وَجْهُهُ مُسْوَدًّا	His face becomes darkened	Shame and distress	Emotion / Shame
Al-Fatḥ	48:29	سِيمَاهُمْ فِي وُجُوهِهِم	Their mark is on their faces	Visible sign of devotion and habitual prostration	Worship
Al-Dhāriyāt	51:29	فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا	She struck her face	Astonishment and disbelief at unexpected news	Emotion
Al-Raḥmān	55:27	وَيَبْقَىٰ وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ	The Face of your Lord remains	Divine permanence and majesty	Divine Face
Al-Mulk	67:22	يَمْشِي مُكِبًّا عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِ	Walking fallen upon his face	Misguidance and inability to proceed upright	Guidance / Misguidance
Al-Maʿārij	70:17	تَدْعُو مَنْ أَدْبَرَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ	It calls the one who turned back and turned away	Rejection of truth and retreat from guidance	Turning away
Al-Qiyāmah	75:22	وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاضِرَةٌ	Faces radiant on that Day	Blessing, vitality, and spiritual joy	Reward
Al-Qiyāmah	75:23	إِلَىٰ رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةٌ	Looking toward their Lord	Hopeful encounter with divine reward/presence	Divine encounter
Al-Qiyāmah	75:24	وَوُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ بَاسِرَةٌ	Faces gloomy on that Day	Fear, distress, and impending doom	Judgment
Al-Qiyāmah	75:25	تَظُنُّ أَن يُفْعَلَ بِهَا فَاقِرَةٌ	Expecting a crushing calamity	Awareness of approaching catastrophe	Judgment
Al-Insān	76:9	لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ	For the Face of God	Pure action without desire for reward or thanks	Sincerity
ʿAbasa	80:38	وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ مُّسْفِرَةٌ	Faces bright and shining	Joy and good news	Reward
ʿAbasa	80:39	ضَاحِكَةٌ مُّسْتَبْشِرَةٌ	Laughing and joyful	Happiness and hope	Reward
ʿAbasa	80:40	وَوُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَلَيْهَا غَبَرَةٌ	Faces covered with dust	Humiliation and distress	Judgment
ʿAbasa	80:41	تَرْهَقُهَا قَتَرَةٌ	Darkness covers them	Spiritual gloom and disgrace	Judgment
ʿAbasa	80:42	أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْكَفَرَةُ الْفَجَرَةُ	Those are the disbelieving wicked	Identifies the darkened faces with rejection and wickedness	Judgment
Al-Ghāshiyah	88:2	وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَاشِعَةٌ	Faces humbled	Defeat and humiliation	Judgment
Al-Ghāshiyah	88:3	عَامِلَةٌ نَّاصِبَةٌ	Laboring and exhausted	Fruitless effort leading to punishment	Judgment
Al-Ghāshiyah	88:8	وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاعِمَةٌ	Faces enjoying ease and delight	Blessedness and comfort	Reward
Al-Ghāshiyah	88:9	لِّسَعْيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌ	Pleased with their striving	Satisfaction with the result of righteous effort	Reward
Al-Ghāshiyah	88:10	فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ	In a lofty Garden	Final blessed destination	Reward

1. Turning the face toward God or truth

2:112; 3:20; 4:125; 6:79; 7:29; 10:105; 30:30; 31:22

2. Turning the face toward the qiblah

2:144, 2:149, 2:150

3. Seeking the Face of God

2:272; 6:52; 13:22; 18:28; 30:38–39; 76:9

4. The enduring Face of God

2:115; 28:88; 55:27

5. Bright, radiant, or joyful faces

3:106–107; 10:26; 75:22–23; 80:38–39; 88:8–10

6. Dark, blackened, gloomy, or distressed faces

3:106; 10:27; 16:58; 39:60; 43:17; 67:27; 75:24–25; 80:40–42

7. Humbled or humiliated faces

4:47; 17:97; 20:111; 25:34; 33:66; 39:24; 88:2–4

8. Faces as visible signs of devotion

48:29

9. Physical face and bodily experience

4:43; 5:6; 8:50; 12:93, 96; 14:50; 18:29; 21:39; 23:104; 27:90; 51:29

10. The face as a metaphor for direction or condition

2:177; 12:9; 17:7; 22:11; 67:22; 70:17

Face Imagery

Important interpretive observation

The Qur’anic imagery is especially powerful because the same word—wajh—can move between physical and spiritual meanings:

• face as bodily feature → washing, striking, burning, covering;
• face as direction → turning toward the qiblah or toward religion;
• face as inner orientation → submitting one’s face to God;
• face as outward manifestation → radiance, darkness, gloom, joy;
• Face of God → a profound expression of divine permanence, presence, approval, or reality, depending on the passage and interpretive tradition.

The most concentrated sequence of contrasting face imagery is probably:

3:106–107 → 75:22–25 → 80:38–42 → 88:2–10

Together, these passages create a powerful Qur’anic contrast between radiant faces associated with mercy, joy, and reward and darkened, gloomy, dusty, or humbled faces associated with rejection, distress, and punishment.

Conclusion

Remember, Muhammad couldn’t see the Unseen. Thus, spiritual meanings are actually physical and real meanings, related to Muhammad’s context.

Muhammad was a false prophet, for a false god, Allah, for a false religion, Islam, without even a false book, the Koran.