Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca, based on the tone of its verses. → Introduction
The occasion: From its opening, the sūrah appears to have been revealed concerning polytheists who kept people from listening to the Qur'an by spreading fanciful tales; it sets out the basic teachings of the religion and the wise sayings of Luqmān in answer to those stories. → Introduction
Verse 6 (Among the people is he who buys diversionary talk…): Al-Kalbī reports that it was revealed about al-Naḍr b. al-Ḥārith, a trader who bought the tales of the Persians and told them to Quraysh as rivals to the Qur'an's stories of ʿĀd and Thamūd; a narration from Ibn ʿAbbās says the same. Al-Mizan: it is not implausible that the whole sūrah was revealed for this reason. Narrations from the Imams also apply the verse to illicit singing (ghināʾ). → Narrations
Verse 34: ʿIkrimah reports that it was revealed when a man of the Banū Māzin asked the Prophet when the Hour would come, when his arid land would turn green, when his pregnant wife would give birth, what he would earn tomorrow and where he would die. Al-Mizan: this report is not without problems, since its questions do not correspond exactly with the contents of the verse. → 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.