Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Chapter 31: Surah Luqman
him peace, about the spirit, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (They will ask thee concerning the Spirit.
Say: the Spirit is by command of my Lord, and of knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little) [17:85].
When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, migrated to Medina, Jewish doctors
went to see him and said: ‘O Muhammad, we have been informed that you said (of knowledge ye have
been vouchsafed but little). Are you referring, by this, to us or to your people’ The Messenger of Allah,
Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘The knowledge that you have is very little in comparison to the
knowledge of Allah, glorified is He. Allah, exalted is He, has given you something which will benefit you
if only you practise it’. They said: ‘O Muhammad, how can you say this when it is you who says (… and he
unto whom wisdom is given, he truly hath received abundant good…) [2:269] How can little knowledge
and abundant good be combined together’ As a response, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And if all the
trees in the earth were pens…)”. 3
(Lo! Allah! With Him is knowledge of the Hour…) [31:34].
This verse was revealed about al-Harith ibn ‘Amr ibn Harithah ibn Muharib ibn Hafsah, from the desert,
who asked the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, about the Hour and its exact timing. He also
asked: ‘Our land has dried up, when is it going to rain And I left my wife pregnant, when is she going
to give birth And I know in which land I was born, but in which land am I going to die’ And so Allah,
exalted is He, revealed this verse. 4
Abu ‘Uthman Sa‘id ibn Muhammad al-Mu’adhdhin informed us> Muhammad ibn Hamdun ibn al-
Fadl> Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz> Hamdan al-Sulami> al-Nadr ibn Muhammad> ‘Ikrimah> Iyas ibn
Salamah who said: “My father related to me that he was with the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him
peace, when a man came toward him leading a mare which was followed by her foal. The man asked:
‘Who are you’ He said: ‘I am the Prophet of Allah’. ‘And who is the Prophet of Allah’ the man asked.
The Prophet said: ‘The Messenger of Allah’. The man asked: ‘When is the Hour going to take place’ The
Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘This is of the unseen, and none knows the
unseen except Allah’. The man asked: ‘When is it going to rain’ The Prophet said: ‘This is of the unseen,
and none knows the unseen except Allah’. The man asked: ‘What is in the womb of this mare of mine’
The prophet said: ‘This is of the unseen, and none knows the unseen except Allah’. The man then said:
‘Show me your sword’. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, gave him his sword. The man
waved the sword and then returned it to the Prophet. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace,
said to him at that point: ‘Indeed, you would not have been able to carry out what you intended!’ The
man had said before coming: ‘I am going to ask him about these things and then behead him’ ”.
Abu ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Ishaq> Abu ‘Amr Muhammad ibn Ja‘far ibn Matar> Muhammad ibn ‘Uthman
ibn Suwayd> Abu Hudhayfah> Sufyan al-Thawri> ‘Abd Allah ibn Dinar> Ibn ‘Umar who related that the
Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “The keys of the unseen are five and none
knows them except Allah, exalted is He: none knows the timing of the Hour except Allah; none knows
what is hidden in wombs except Allah; none knows what is stored in the morrow except Allah; no soul
knows in which land it will die, only Allah knows this; and none knows when it will rain except Allah”.
This was narrated by Bukhari from Muhammad ibn Yusuf from Sufyan. 5
3
Tabari, :81; Qurtubi, :76.
4
Qurtubi, :83.
5
Tabari, :87-88; Durr, :531.
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