Circumstances of Revelation
Place: Mecca. → Introduction
Time: One of the earliest sūrahs (al-ʿatāʾiq), revealed at the beginning of the Prophet's mission; its opening command to warn the people suggests this. Some suggested it was the very first sūrah revealed; Al-Mizan: its context refutes this, since it describes the people already rejecting the Qur'an recited to them as magic handed down (). Others suggested that verses 1–7 were the first revelation, the rest coming later; the opening verses do not rule this out, but the first verses revealed seem to be the opening of Sūrah al-ʿAlaq (96). A further possibility is that this was the first sūrah revealed when the Prophet was ordered to make his call public (); that would reconcile reports that it was the first sūrah, that it came after al-ʿAlaq, and that it came together with al-Muzzammil, but it remains only a possibility. What is certain is that it was one of the earliest sūrahs. → Introduction
Verses 1–5: Abū Salamah b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān held that O you wrapped in thy cloak was the first of the Qur'an revealed, citing Jābir b. ʿAbd-Allāh's report from the Prophet that after a retreat in Ḥirāʾ he saw the angel who had visited him there, seated between heaven and earth; he went home in fear asking to be wrapped in a cloak, and these verses were revealed. Al-Mizan: this contradicts the accounts that Sūrah al-ʿAlaq was revealed first, which better fits that sūrah's context; and "the angel who had visited me in Ḥirāʾ" itself implies an earlier revelation. → Narrations
Verse 3: Abū Hurayrah reports that the Companions asked how to begin the prayer, and Magnify your Lord was revealed. Al-Mizan: this is problematic, since Abū Hurayrah became a Muslim well after the migration to Medina, while this sūrah was revealed at the beginning of the mission. → Narrations
Verses 11–31: According to numerous (mustafīḍah) narrations these were revealed about al-Walīd b. al-Mughīrah. Tafsīr al-Qummī tells how the Quraysh asked him to judge what the Prophet was reciting; on hearing Sūrah Fuṣṣilat he trembled and went home, and after Abū Jahl pressed him he told the Quraysh to call it sorcery (siḥr), and Leave Me with him whom I created alone was revealed. A similar report from Ibn ʿAbbās has him call it magic handed down. → Commentary on verse 11 · Narrations
Verses 30–31: Ibn ʿAbbās reports, in a passage some exegetes cite, that when There are nineteen over it was revealed, Abū Jahl mocked the number before the Quraysh and Abū al-Ashadd al-Jumaḥī offered to take on seventeen of the keepers himself. Al-Mizan: the context of verse 31 shows there was talk among the audience about the number of hell's keepers, and that verse was revealed in answer. → Commentary on verse 30 · Commentary on verse 31
Verse 52: Imam al-Bāqir said it was revealed when the polytheists demanded to find, like the Children of Israel, their sins and their atonement written beside their heads in the morning; another report says they demanded each to find a writing under his head granting him security from hell. Al-Mizan: the first report is not compatible with the theme and tone of the verse and shows signs of weakness in its content; the second is not in harmony with the context of the verses and their rejection of the demand. → 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.