سُورَةُ الإِسۡرَاءِ
Reading Asbab al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi
Ayahs 101–110 of 111
وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ تِسْعَ ءَايَٰتٍۭ بَيِّنَٰتٍۢ ۖ فَسْـَٔلْ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ إِذْ جَآءَهُمْ فَقَالَ لَهُۥ فِرْعَوْنُ إِنِّى لَأَظُنُّكَ يَٰمُوسَىٰ مَسْحُورًۭا
And We had certainly given Moses nine evident signs, so ask the Children of Israel [about] when he came to them and Pharaoh said to him, "Indeed I think, O Moses, that you are affected by magic."
Explained together with ayah 90
قَالَ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَآ أَنزَلَ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ إِلَّا رَبُّ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ بَصَآئِرَ وَإِنِّى لَأَظُنُّكَ يَٰفِرْعَوْنُ مَثْبُورًۭا
[Moses] said, "You have already known that none has sent down these [signs] except the Lord of the heavens and the earth as evidence, and indeed I think, O Pharaoh, that you are destroyed."
Explained together with ayah 90
فَأَرَادَ أَن يَسْتَفِزَّهُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ فَأَغْرَقْنَٰهُ وَمَن مَّعَهُۥ جَمِيعًۭا
So he intended to drive them from the land, but We drowned him and those with him all together.
Explained together with ayah 90
وَقُلْنَا مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ لِبَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ ٱسْكُنُوا۟ ٱلْأَرْضَ فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ جِئْنَا بِكُمْ لَفِيفًۭا
And We said after Pharaoh to the Children of Israel, "Dwell in the land, and when there comes the promise of the Hereafter, We will bring you forth in [one] gathering."
Explained together with ayah 90
وَبِٱلْحَقِّ أَنزَلْنَٰهُ وَبِٱلْحَقِّ نَزَلَ ۗ وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ إِلَّا مُبَشِّرًۭا وَنَذِيرًۭا
And with the truth We have sent the Qur'an down, and with the truth it has descended. And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a bringer of good tidings and a warner.
Explained together with ayah 90
وَقُرْءَانًۭا فَرَقْنَٰهُ لِتَقْرَأَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ عَلَىٰ مُكْثٍۢ وَنَزَّلْنَٰهُ تَنزِيلًۭا
And [it is] a Qur'an which We have separated [by intervals] that you might recite it to the people over a prolonged period. And We have sent it down progressively.
Explained together with ayah 90
قُلْ ءَامِنُوا۟ بِهِۦٓ أَوْ لَا تُؤْمِنُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمَ مِن قَبْلِهِۦٓ إِذَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ يَخِرُّونَ لِلْأَذْقَانِ سُجَّدًۭا
Say, "Believe in it or do not believe. Indeed, those who were given knowledge before it - when it is recited to them, they fall upon their faces in prostration,
Say: “Have faith in it, or do not have faith.” Surely those who were given knowledge before it, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in prostration. The side of Unity, the exalted Majesty, is alluding to the fact that He has never had and will never have any need for an obedience that was not and then came into being. He is saying, “You have no worth, for nothing is worthy of Me. If you want, have faith, and if you do not want, do not. I have no need for your faith. Beginningless majesty and beauty gain no adornment from the obedi- ence of newly arrived things. I had still not written out existence for any existent thing when My majesty was contemplating My beauty and I was pleased with Myself in Myself. Today that I have created the creatures, I am what I was. I have no need in Myself for any causes and no need in My perfection for any seeking.”
وَيَقُولُونَ سُبْحَٰنَ رَبِّنَآ إِن كَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّنَا لَمَفْعُولًۭا
And they say, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, the promise of our Lord has been fulfilled."
Explained together with ayah 107
وَيَخِرُّونَ لِلْأَذْقَانِ يَبْكُونَ وَيَزِيدُهُمْ خُشُوعًۭا ۩
And they fall upon their faces weeping, and the Qur'an increases them in humble submission.
They fall down on their faces weeping. Weeping is the state of the beginners and the attribute of the travelers-everyone according to his own state and every traveler in the measure of his own deeds. The repenter looks upon his own sin and weeps in fear of punishment. The obedient person looks upon his own lax obedience and weeps in fear of shortcoming. The worshiper weeps in fear of the outcome: “What will be done with me tomorrow?” The recognizer looks at the beginningless precedent and weeps: “What was done to me and decreed for me in the Beginningless?” All this happens to travelers on the path and is a mark of the weakness of their state. As for those who have been snatched away from themselves, the folk of stability, for them weeping is an imperfection and defect in their road. Thus it is related that Junayd was sitting with his wife and Shiblī entered. The wife wanted to cover herself, but Junayd said to her, “Shiblī is not aware of you, so sit.” Junayd kept speaking to her, and then Shiblī wept. When Shiblī began to weep, Junayd said to his wife, “Cover yourself, for Shiblī has come back from absence to awareness.”
قُلِ ٱدْعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ أَوِ ٱدْعُوا۟ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنَ ۖ أَيًّۭا مَّا تَدْعُوا۟ فَلَهُ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ وَلَا تَجْهَرْ بِصَلَاتِكَ وَلَا تُخَافِتْ بِهَا وَٱبْتَغِ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ سَبِيلًۭا
Say, "Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful. Whichever [name] you call - to Him belong the best names." And do not recite [too] loudly in your prayer or [too] quietly but seek between that an [intermediate] way.
(Say (unto mankind): Cry unto Allah, or cry unto the Beneficent�) [17:110]. Said Ibn �Abbas: �One night in Mecca, The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, stood up for the night vigil prayer. He kept saying in his prostration: �O Beneficent, O Merciful!� And so the idolaters said: �Muhammad used to call unto one Allah; now he is calling unto two gods: Allah and the Beneficent. We do not know of anyone by the name of the Beneficent except the beneficent of al-Yamamah (meaning Musaylimah the liar)�, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Said Maymun ibn Mihran: �At the beginning of revelation, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give peace, used to write �In Thy name, O Allah� until this verse was revealed (Lo! It is from Solomon, and lo, it is: In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful) [27:30], after which he always wrote �In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful�. The Arab idolaters then commented: �We know this Merciful but who is the Beneficent?� As a response, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. Said al-Dahhak: �The people of the Book said to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace: �You mention very little the Beneficent and yet Allah mentions this name in the Torah in abundance�. Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse as a response to them�. (And thou (Muhammad), be not loud-voiced in thy worship nor yet silent therein, but follow a way between) [17:110]. Abu �Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Thaqafi> �Abd Allah ibn Muti� and Ahmad ibn Mani�> Hushaym> Abu Bishr> Sa�id ibn Jubayr> Ibn �Abbas who said regarding the words of Allah, exalted is He (And thou (Muhammad), be not loud-voiced in thy worship nor yet silent therein�): �This verse was revealed while the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was in hiding in Mecca. Whenever the unbelievers heard the Qur�an being recited, they reviled it and reviled the person who had brought it. Hence, Allah, glorious and majestic is He, said to His Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace (And thou (Muhammad), be not loud-voiced in thy worship) i.e. upon reciting the Qur�an in prayer, lest the idolaters hear it and revile the Qur�an, (nor yet silent therein) such that your Companions do not hear you, (but follow a way between)�.
Commentary: Asbab al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi. Qur'an text and translation via AlQuran Cloud.
