Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca, as the content of the sūrah shows. → Introduction
A point drawn from this: Since the sūrah is Meccan, and zakāh as a fixed financial duty was legislated later in Medina, the zakāh of verse 4 more likely means the act of purifying one's wealth by spending part of it in God's way. → Commentary on verse 4
Verse 64 (until when We overtake their affluent ones with punishment): Qatādah reports that it was revealed about those whom God killed at Badr; Ibn ʿAbbās says, "They are the people of Badr." Al-Mizan: the theme of the verses does not match this. → Narrations
Verses 75–76: Ibn ʿAbbās reports that Abū Sufyān came to the Prophet, asking for help by God and their ties of kinship, because they were reduced to eating ʿilhiz (fur mixed with blood), and God revealed And already We overtook them with chastisement… Al-Mizan: this is the most reliable of differing narrations; it refers to a drought in Mecca and its vicinity caused by the Prophet's prayer against them, and the verses show that some punishment had struck them and was not yet lifted. Most of the other narrations concern events after the migration to Medina and so are irrelevant to this Meccan sūrah. → Commentary on verse 75 · Narrations
Verses 99–100: Imam al-Ṣādiq applies My Lord, send me back to one who withholds zakāh. Al-Mizan: this matches the verse to that case; it does not mean the verse was revealed about it alone. → Narrations
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.