Gifts of Knowledge

The Shaikh of the Shaikhs of Islaam, Ibn Taymiyyah, Allaah have mercy on him, said, “And likewise how Allaah singled out the Kaʿbah, the Sacred House, from the time Ibrāhīm built it to this day, in terms of how it is exalted, revered and how the hearts are drawn to it. And it is common knowledge that kings and other people build fortresses, cities and palaces with formidable tools, solid in structure—and then it doesn’t take long before they fall apart and are debased. [While] the Kaʿbah is a House built with black stones, in a barren valley, devoid of any gardens, water and other things that people desire, nor does it have any military to defend it from enemies, nor, on the way to it, are there any of the desires that the souls covet, on the contrary, many times the journey there is fraught with fear, fatigue, thirst and hunger that only Allaah knows the true extent of. Yet despite this Allaah alone knows the [extent of the] number of hearts of ˹believing˺ people that incline towards it, and He gave the House honour, dignity and greatness through which He humbled the [very] necks of the people of earth such that powerful leaders and tyrannical heads [of state] go to it and are humbled and submissive there like anyone else. That this is outside man’s ability and [outside] the strength of their souls or bodies is something known by necessity, [seeing that] the one who built it died thousands of years ago.”
Aṣ-Ṣafadiyyah, 1/220.