Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

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

Thou didst not throw when thou threwest, but God threw; and that He may try the faithful with a beautiful trial. When thou threwest is dispersion, but God threw is togetherness. Dispersion is the attribute of servanthood, and togetherness is the description of Lordhood. Dispersion without togetherness is of no use, and togetherness without dispersion is not correct. Sheer dispersion without togetherness is the belief of the free-willers, sheer togetherness with- out dispersion is the religion of the predestinarians, and dispersion along with togetherness is the road of the Sunnis and is correct. The free-willers are those who give themselves ability and choice and do not step outside of themselves. The predestinarians are those who lose their own hands and feet to the harshness of all-compellingness; they do not see the secondary causes and give them- selves no free choice. The Sunnis are those who say to them, “In your practice be at the threshold of Thee alone we worship; in your heart ask, weep, and supplicate at the threshold of Thee alone we ask for help [1:5].” Thou didst not throw when thou threwest, but God threw. This is an allusion to the reality of solitariness and the path of unification. He is saying: “Leave aside all other objects of desire. What does he who is seized by My love have to do with other than Me? O MuḤammad, lay no favor on Me because of your activity, but look at My success-giving! Be not delighted at your own remembrance-look at My instruction! Flee from your own marks and see only My love!” The path of unification is oneness and estrangement from self. Giving marks of “me” and “us” is duality, and duality is proof of estrangement. With duality there are today and tomorrow, but the tawḤīd-voicer is apart from today and tomorrow. As long as the tawḤīd-voicer has not found the shadow of the Sun of existence, he has not been released from self. As long as he has not been released from self, he has not found the Real. When thou threwest is the attribute of the desirer who is sitting on the road of variegation and gazing on himself from the Real. But God threw is the description of the desired; having left him- self behind and found stability, he gazes on the Real from the Real.

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

((O Quraysh!) If ye sought a judgment, now hath the judgment come unto you�) [8:19]. Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Fadl al-Tajir> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim ibn Sa'd> his father> Salih> Ibn Shihab> 'Abd Allah ibn Tha'labah ibn Su'ayr who said: �The person who sought judgment was Abu Jahl. He said when the two armies met: 'O Allah, destroy this day whoever amongst us has severed ties of kinship and brought that which we had never known!' This was the judgement that he sought. Allah, exalted is He, revealed regarding this ((O Quraysh!) If ye sought a judgment, now hath the judgment come unto you�) up to His words (Allah is with the believers)�. This was narrated by al-Hakim Abu 'Abd Allah in his Sahih from al-Qati'i from the son of Ibn Hanbal from Ahmad ibn Hanbal from Ya'qub. Said al-Suddi and al-Kalbi: �Before they set off to fight the Prophet, Allah bless him and give peace, in Uhud, the idolaters grabbed the covers of the Ka'bah and prayed: 'O Allah, give victory to the greatest of the two armies, the most guided of the two camps, the noblest of the two parties and the best of the two religions', and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. 'Ikrimah said: �The idolaters said: 'O Allah, we do not recognize that which Muhammad has brought, so judge between us with the truth', and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (If ye sought a judgment�)�.