Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca, except for two passages: from And those who respond to their Lord… () to the third verse after it, and from Say, I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives () to the fourth verse after it. → Introduction
Verse 16 (those who dispute about God after that obedience has been rendered to Him): Ibn ʿAbbās and Mujāhid report that it was revealed about a group of Jews who told the Muslims that their scripture and prophet came first, so their religion was better. ʿIkrimah reports that it came down when the idolaters of Mecca, after () was revealed, told the believers among them to leave. Al-Mizan: the second report does not match the verse, since there is no real disputation in the story, and the first does not explain after that obedience has been rendered to Him. → Narrations
Verse 23, the verse of affection: Al-Mizan's view: the near relatives are the Prophet's Household, as numerous Sunni and Shia narrations state, and the verse was revealed in Medina and addresses the Muslims there. Narrations from the Imams say that this verse and the four after it were revealed about the love of the Prophet's near relatives, which would make them Medinan. Imam al-Bāqir (Tafsīr al-Qummī) says the verse came down when the Anṣār offered the Prophet some of their wealth to help him in his difficulties; al-Suyūṭī reports this story of the Anṣār and says it is weak. Ibn ʿAbbās reports, with a weak chain, that when the verse came down the people asked who these relatives were, and the Prophet said, "ʿAlī, Fāṭimah, and her two sons." Another report from Ibn ʿAbbās reads it as respect for the Prophet's kinship with Quraysh; Al-Mizan: this does not fit the verse or its context, and the claim in some reports that the verse was abrogated by () is strange. → Commentary on verse 23 · Narrations · Key Debate
Verse 27 (And if God should expand the provision for His servants they would certainly revolt in the earth): ʿAlī is reported to have said it was revealed about the People of the Step (aṣḥāb al-ṣuffah), who wished for worldly wealth. Al-Mizan: that would make the verse Medinan, but the narration looks more like an application of the verse than the occasion of its revelation. → Narrations
Verses 37–38: Al-Mizan reads these verses as Meccan: since the sūrah was revealed in Mecca, the great sins and indecencies are mentioned in general terms, to be detailed later, and those who respond to their Lord refers to righteous conduct in general, because zakāt, khums, fasting and jihad had not yet been made obligatory. → Commentary on verse 37 · Commentary on verse 38
Verse 52 (You did not know what the Book is, nor what is faith): A report from ʿAlī says it was revealed after the Prophet, asked whether he had ever drunk wine, said he had not, and that he knew what the people followed was disbelief even before he knew what the Book or faith was. → 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.