Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

(Say (O Muhammad) unto those who disbelieve: Ye shall be overcome and gathered unto Hell�) [3:12]. Al-Kalbi reported from Abu Salih that Ibn 'Abbas said: �When Allah defeated the idolaters on the day of Badr, the Jews of Medina said: 'By Allah, this is the unlettered Prophet who was announced to us by Moses and whose attribute and description we find in our Scriptures and about whom it is also mentioned that his banner will not be defeated'. They wanted to believe in and follow him. But then some of them said: 'Do not be hasty; let us wait until another of his encounters'. When the Battle of Uhud took place and the Companions of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, were defeated, they became sceptical. They said: 'No, by Allah, this is not him'. Their wretchedness overwhelmed them and they did not embrace Islam. Meanwhile, they had a treaty with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, which was supposed to last up to a certain period. They dissolved that treaty and Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf set off, along with sixty riders, to meet the people of Mecca, Abu Sufyan and his companions. They struck a deal and resolved to achieve the same goal. They said: 'Our word shall be one!' When they went back to Medina, Allah, exalted is He, revealed the above verse about them�. Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar, said: �When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, defeated the Quraysh at Badr and then went back to Medina, he gathered the Jews and said: 'O congregation of Jews! Beware lest Allah inflicts on you the like of that which he has inflicted on Quraysh on the day of Badr; embrace Islam before that which has befallen them befalls you. You know well that I was sent as a prophet. This you find it mentioned in your Scripture as well as in Allah's covenant with you'. They said: 'O Muhammad! Be not deluded because you have defeated inexperienced people who have no knowledge of warfare. By Allah, if we were to fight, you will realize that we are the real thing'. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (Say (O Muhammad) unto those who disbelieve) i.e. the Jews (Ye shall be overcome) you shall be defeated (and gathered unto Hell) in the Afterlife�; this is the narration of 'Ikrimah and Sa'id ibn Jubayr from Ibn 'Abbas.

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

Adorned for people is love of appetites, like women, children, heaped-up heaps of gold and silver, horses of mark, cattle, and tillage. That is the enjoyment of the life of this world. The paragon of the world and master of the children of Adam, MuṣṬafā, reported that when the Eternal Enactor created paradise, He said to Gabriel, “'O Gabriel! Go look at it.' Go gaze on this paradise and see once what I have made and created for My servants and friends.” Gabriel went and saw those adorned paradises with their infinite joy and bliss, that place of revelry made and prepared in the neighborhood of God's Presence for the exalted ones of the road and God's friends. When Gabriel came back he said, “Lord God, 'By Thy exaltedness, no one will hear of it and not enter into it!' By the exaltedness of Your Lordhood, no one will hear the attributes of this para- dise without aiming for it and becoming obedient so that he may enter it.” Then the Lord of the Worlds surrounded paradise with all the hardship and suffering of unwor- thy things and unreached desires, and He made its road a bridge of trial so that everyone who aims for the Patron must first pass over that bridge of trial. Shaykh al-Islām Anṣārī said, “How should I have known that suffering is the mother of hap- piness and that beneath one disappointment lie a thousand treasures? How should I have known which gate this is or what is the answer to the story of friendship? How should I have known that companionship with You is the greatest Resurrection and that the exaltation of union with You lies in the abasement of bewilderment?” O spirit of the world! The Kaabah is a sweet place, the nest of God's friends and the lodging place of the sincerely truthful, but there is a man-eating desert before it, mile after mile and way station after way station. Who in the end will have the seeking to pass over all those miles and way stations until he reaches the magnificent Kaabah? A world is wandering in the desert of Your love- who will be given access to the Kaabah of Your acceptance? [DS 210] After He made the road of paradise that of unreached desires and disappointment, the command came, “O Gabriel: Look again.

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

Shall I tell you of something better than that? For those who are godwary there shall be with their Lord gardens beneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever, and spouses made pure, and approval from God. After talking about the enemies, describing their life, and explaining their furthest goal, God in this verse comes back to the story of the friends. Tomorrow, the final outcome of those whose watch- word today is godwariness will be paradise and approval. He says, “For those who are godwary there shall be with their Lord gardens.” Just as godwariness has levels, so also paradise has degrees. The first degree is the Garden of the Shelter, and the first level of godwariness is to avoid the forbidden and the soul's caprice. The Splendorous Qur'an ties the two together in its words, “As for him who fears the standing place be- fore his Lord and prohibits the soul its caprice, surely the Garden shall be the shelter” [79:40-41]. The highest degree is the Garden of Eden, and better than the Garden of Eden is the Greatest Approval. So, the furthest goal of the paradise-dwellers is the Greatest Approval, just as the Lord of the Worlds says: “And goodly dwellings in the gardens of Eden; and approval from God is greatest” [9:72] The Greatest Approval belongs to those who reach the utmost godwariness. The utmost god- wariness is that someone takes whatever has the scar of new arrival and the mark of creation as his own enemy, as Abraham said: “Surely they are an enemy to me, save the Lord of the Worlds” [26:77]. You must turn away from all things and, with detached heart, busy yourself with the suf- fering of passion for the Haqiqah. You must know for certain that the intrusion of others finds no room in passion's suffering. You must cut off your heart and spirit from everything. The heart is Your garden-take it all, for this heart has room either for my intrusion or Your image. In gratitude I will also send my spirit to You- a whiff of union with You does what a hundred spirits cannot. Tomorrow, all will be taken to the furthest limit of their goals and aspirations. Here someone hopes for the Garden of the Refuge and is told, “Flee from the unlawful and be just, and that will not be held back from you. ” Someone hopes for the Abode of Everlastingness and is told, “Avoid the doubtful and be a renunciant, and that will not be held back from you.” Someone else desires Firdaws and is told, “Keep back from the lawful and be a recognizer, and that will not be held back from you.” A group remain who have no hopes and no desires. They desire what the Beloved desires and choose what the Beloved chooses. The paradises are presented to them, and the maidens and serv- ing boys are made to sit on the turrets scattering precious gifts for them, but they are detached from it all and turn their faces away. They say, “If we must give our heart to someone, well, let us give it to someone who will enslave it.” Suddenly I gave my heart to the one with the tulip face. She was worthy of my heart-that's why I gave it. Let me now speak of the Greatest Approval and finish with that. It is narrated from Anas ibn Mālik that he said one day God's Messenger kept them waiting. When he came out, they asked him what had held him back. He said, “That was because Gabriel came to me holding in his hand something like a mirror with a black spot. He said, 'This is Friday, within which there is an hour of good for you and your community. The Jews and the Christians desired it, but they missed its mark.' “I said, 'O Gabriel! What is this black spot?' “He said, 'It is an hour of Friday with which no Muslim will keep company asking for good from God without God's giving it to him, or storing away the like of it for him for the Day of Res- urrection, or averting from him its like in ugliness. It is the best of days with God, and the folk of the Garden call it “the Day of Increase.”' “I said, 'O Gabriel, and what is this Day of Increase?' “He said, 'Surely there is in the Garden a valley in which flows white musk. Every Friday God descends into it and sets up His Footstool. Then pulpits of light are brought and placed be- hind it and surrounded by the angels. Then footstools of gold are brought and put there. Then the prophets, the sincerely truthful, the witnesses, and the faithful, who are the folk of the chambers, are brought and they sit. Then God smiles and says, “O My servants, ask of Me!” They will say, “We ask You for Your approval. He will say, “I have approved of you.”'”