Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca, judging by the context, content and tone of its verses. → Introduction
Verse 10, the Foremost Ones: Ibn ʿAbbās reports that it was revealed about Ḥazaqīl, the believer from the people of Pharaoh; Ḥabīb al-Najjār, mentioned in Sūrah Yāsīn; and ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, each the foremost of his people, with ʿAlī the best of them. Al-Mizan: these and the other narrations on the Foremost Ones give exemplars of them. → Narrations
Verses 13–14 and 39–40: Jābir reports that when the sūrah came down with a multitude from the former ones and a few from the latter ones, ʿUmar objected, and the Prophet recited a multitude from the former ones and a multitude from the latter ones. Abū Hurayrah reports that the Companions were dejected at the first verse, that the second was revealed at midday, and that it abrogated a few from the latter ones. Al-Mizan cites al-Zamakhsharī's objection that the first verse concerns the Foremost Ones and the second the People of the Right Hand, and that reports cannot abrogate verses of the Qur'an; he finds no support in the wording for reading the "abrogation" as a correction of the Companions' understanding, and says the first report is like the second. → Narrations
Verse 74: Majmaʿ al-bayān cites an authentic tradition that when So celebrate with the Name of your Lord, the All-supreme was revealed, the Prophet said, "Insert this into your bowing in prayer." → Narrations
Verses 75–82: Ibn ʿAbbās reports that after rain fell, the Prophet said that some people were grateful and others ungrateful, saying, "This rain is a favor that such and such a setting star bestowed upon us," and these verses were revealed. Al-Mizan's view: copious Sunni reports say this, which would make the verses Medinan; but the sūrah was revealed in Mecca, and this reading does not fit the context and tone of the verses. → 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.