Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca, as the context of its verses attests. → Introduction
Time and purpose: Revealed while the believers were still in Mecca, before the migration to Medina: a small group oppressed and persecuted by the tyrants of Quraysh. Through the story of Moses and Pharaoh, the sūrah promises them that God will make them leaders and heirs, and promises the Prophet a successful return. → Introduction
Verses 43–56, the People of the Book: Al-Mizan's view: the context shows that the polytheists of the Prophet's people consulted some of the People of the Book about his claims, and those consulted confirmed him and declared their faith in the Qur'an. → Introduction to verses 43–56
Verse 52: Al-Ṭabrisī reports Qatādah's view that this verse and those after it were revealed about ʿAbdullāh b. Salām, Tamīm al-Dārī, al-Jārūd al-ʿAbdī and Salmān al-Fārisī when they accepted Islam; others say they concerned forty Christians who believed in the Prophet before his mission, thirty-two from Ethiopia, who accepted the faith at the hands of Jaʿfar b. Abī Ṭālib, and eight from al-Shām. Al-Mizan: other reports give different information. → Narrations
Verse 56: Abū Hurayrah reports that when Abū Ṭālib was dying, the Prophet asked him to say "there is no god but Allah"; he declined for fear that Quraysh would say he did it only in the distress of death, and God revealed You cannot guide whom you love. Al-Mizan: similar reports come from Ibn ʿUmar, Ibn al-Musayyab and others; but the reports from the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt in favor of Abū Ṭālib's faith are numerous, his poetry testifies to the Prophet's sincerity and the truth of his religion, and his efforts in protecting the Prophet in the ten years before the Hijrah equaled those of all the Emigrants and Helpers in the ten years after it. → Narrations
Verse 57: Tafsīr al-Qummī says it was revealed about Quraysh: when the Prophet called them to Islam and to migrate, they said, If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be carried off from our country. Ibn ʿAbbās reports the same, and names al-Ḥārith b. ʿĀmir b. Nawfil as the one who said it. → Commentary on verse 57 · Narrations
Verse 85, the return: Ibn ʿAbbās reports that will bring you back to the destination means back to Mecca. Others say it means death, paradise, the Resurrection or the rajʿah. Al-Mizan's view: most or all of these meanings may be admitted, but in the context of the sūrah the verse is the promise hinted at in the story of Moses; the Prophet migrated from Mecca to Medina and returned to it in triumph, and history bears witness to the greatness of that return. The rajʿah is probably an inner meaning (baṭn), not an explanation of the verse. → Commentary on verse 85 · 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.