Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca, on the evidence of the context and tone of its verses; Al-Mizan: no heed should be given to the view that some or all of its verses are Medinan. Some have said that its first verses were a general announcement which the Prophet recited to believers and idolaters together. → Introduction
Verses 1–18: Numerous narrations from the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt state that these verses describe not the revelation as a whole but the revelation God gave His Prophet during the Night Journey (al-Miʿrāj); statements from Companions such as Ibn ʿAbbās, Anas and Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī confirm this. Al-Mizan's view: this reading appears to be supported by the verses themselves, which makes them part of the story of the Night Journey. → Introduction · Narrations
After its revelation: A report from Imam al-Bāqir in Majmaʿ al-bayān says that when the sūrah was revealed, ʿUtbah b. Abī Lahab came to the Prophet, divorced his daughter and spat in his face, saying "You have disbelieved in the Star and the Lord of the Star!"; the Prophet prayed against him, and a lion later seized him on the road to Syria. Al-Mizan notes that the same story is narrated in al-Durr al-manthūr by various routes. → Narrations
Verses 33–41: Al-Mizan: the context of these nine verses coheres with the account in the literature on occasions of revelation: a Muslim who spent his wealth in the way of God was reproached by someone who warned him he would be left penniless and promised to bear his sins for him, so he stopped spending, and these verses were revealed. Al-Zamakhsharī names the man as ʿUthmān and the reproacher as his milk-brother ʿAbd-Allāh b. Saʿd b. Abī Sarḥ, and explains turned away as fleeing from battle at Uḥud, adding that ʿUthmān redeemed himself afterwards. Al-Mizan: connecting turned away with Uḥud is a problem, since these verses were revealed in Mecca, before any battle had taken place. Mujāhid's report that the verse is about al-Walīd b. al-Mughīrah does not match the apparent meaning of the verses; it is also said to be about al-ʿĀṣ b. Wāʾil, or about an unnamed man. → Introduction · 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.