Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca, on the evidence of the content of its verses. Verse 45 (Ask those of Our Messengers We have sent before you…) is said to be an exception, but Al-Mizan says this has not been established. → Introduction
Verse 31 (Why was not this Qur'an sent down to some great man from the two cities?): A narration from Imam al-Hādī says that ʿAbd-Allāh b. Umayyah al-Makhzūmī said this to the Prophet in the courtyard of the Kaʿbah, naming al-Walīd b. al-Mughīrah in Mecca and ʿUrwah b. Masʿūd al-Thaqafī in Ṭāʾif. → Narrations
Verses 41–42 (Either We shall take you away—for We will indeed take vengeance on them): Jābir b. ʿAbd-Allāh reports from the Prophet that this was revealed about ʿAlī, who would take vengeance on the pledge-breakers and wrongdoers after him; Imam al-Ṣādiq explains take you away as from Mecca to Medina. Al-Mizan: on the apparent meaning of these narrations, the threat in the two verses is aimed at Muslims (ahl al-qiblah) who deviate from the truth, not at the disbelievers of Quraysh. → Narrations
Verse 45: Narrations from the Imams say the Prophet was told this on the Night Ascension (miʿrāj), when the prophets were gathered for him. → Commentary on verse 45 · Narrations
Verse 57 (When the Son of Mary was cited as an example): Many commentators relate from Ibn ʿAbbās that when the Prophet recited , Ibn al-Zabʿarī argued that Jesus, ʿUzayr and the angels are also worshipped, and that this verse came down. Al-Mizan: the tradition is unreliable for its inconsistencies, and even the version through Shia chains does not say this verse was revealed then, nor does it fit the verses well. Others connect it with , but that verse is Medinan while these verses are Meccan. → Commentary on verse 59
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.