Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca. The ʿAllāmah adds that the content of the sūrah is compatible with its having been revealed in either Mecca or Medina. → Introduction
The occasion: The narrations differ. Qatādah says it was revealed about the Jews, whose tribes vied over which was greater in number until they died in error. Abū Buraydah says it was about some branches of the Anṣār who boasted against one another. Muqātil and al-Kalbī say it was about two factions of Quraysh, Banū ʿAbd Manāf b. Quṣayy and Banū Sahm b. ʿAmr, who counted their living, then went to the graveyards to count their dead. → Narrations
Verses 1–2: Read in the light of these reports, until you visited the graves would mean going to the graveyards to count the dead. Al-Mizan's view: given the theme and context of the verses, the meaning is rather that rivalry in worldly goods distracts people from the remembrance of God until they meet their death. → Commentary on verses 1–2
A summary prepared from Tafsīr al-Mīzān: where and when the sūrah was revealed, and the occasions reported for its verses, with the ʿAllāmah's view of them. Each point links to the full discussion.