Ayat 13-14
ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْاَوَّلِيْنَۙ ١٣ وَقَلِيْلٌ مِّنَ الْاٰخِرِيْنَۗ ١٤
English Sahih Internasional
13. A [large] company of the former peoples
14. And a few of the later peoples,
Asbab Al-Nuzul
(A multitude of those of old, And a multitude of those of later time) [56:13-14]. ‘Urwah ibn Ruwaym said:
“When Allah, exalted is He, revealed (A multitude of those of old, And a few of those of later time) [56:1314], ‘Umar [ibn al-Khattab] wept and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we believed in you and accepted your message and despite this only a few of us will be saved’. Allah, exalted is He, revealed (A multitude of those of old, And a multitude of those of later time). The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then summoned ‘Umar and said: ‘O ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, Allah has revealed something about what you said and made it (A multitude of those of old, And a multitude of those of later time)’. ‘Umar exclaimed: ‘We are pleased with our Lord and believe in our Prophet. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then said: ‘From Adam to us a multitude of people, and from me to the Day of Judgement a multitude which will only be completed by black herdsmen who say, there is no deity except Allah’ ”.
Ayat 28
فِيْ سِدْرٍ مَّخْضُوْدٍۙ ٢٨
English Sahih Internasional
28. [They will be] among lote trees with thorns removed
Asbab Al-Nuzul
(Among thornless lote-trees) [56:28]. Abu’l-‘Aliyah and al-Dahhak said: “Once, Muslims looked at Wajj, a fertile valley in Ta’if, and admired its lote-trees. They said: ‘If only we had something like this!’ Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse in response”.
Ayat 39-40
ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْاَوَّلِيْنَۙ ٣٩ وَثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْاٰخِرِيْنَۗ ࣖ ٤٠
English Sahih Internasional
39. A company of the former peoples
40. And a company of the later peoples.
Asbab Al-Nuzul
(A multitude of those of old, And a multitude of those of later time) [56: 39-40]. ‘Urwah ibn Ruwaym said:
“When Allah, exalted is He, revealed (A multitude of those of old, And a few of those of later time) [56:1314], ‘Umar [ibn al-Khattab] wept and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we believed in you and accepted your message and despite this only a few of us will be saved’. Allah, exalted is He, revealed (A multitude of those of old, And a multitude of those of later time). The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then summoned ‘Umar and said: ‘O ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, Allah has revealed something about what you said and made it (A multitude of those of old, And a multitude of those of later time)’. ‘Umar exclaimed: ‘We are pleased with our Lord and believe in our Prophet. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then said: ‘From Adam to us a multitude of people, and from me to the Day of Judgement a multitude which will only be completed by black herdsmen who say, there is no deity except Allah’ ”.
Ayat 82
وَتَجْعَلُوْنَ رِزْقَكُمْ اَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُوْنَ ٨٢
English Sahih Internasional
82. And make [the thanks for] your provision that you deny [the Provider]?
Asbab Al-Nuzul
(And make denial thereof your livelihood?) [56:82]. Sa'id ibn Muhammad al-Mu'adhdhin informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Hamdun> Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz> Hamdan al-Sulami> al-Nadr ibn Muhammad> 'Ikrimah ibn 'Ammar> Abu Zumayl> Ibn 'Abbas who said: “People were once blessed with rain at the time of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and so the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'Some people have woken up this morning as grateful people while others have woken up as disbelievers. The former said: This is a blessing sent by Allah, exalted is He, while the latter said: the prediction based on such-and-such a star has been fulfilled'. The following verse was then revealed (Nay, I swear by the places of the stars) [56:75] up to His words (And make denial thereof your livelihood?)”. This is narrated by Muslim from 'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-'Azim from al-Nadr ibn Muhammad. It was also reported that once the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, travelled and after traversing a distance camped at a certain place. People were very thirsty but they had no water to drink. They mentioned this to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and he said: “What if I made a prayer and you were given rain, would you say that we were given rain thanks to such-and-such a star?” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, this is not the time of stars”. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, prayed two units of prayer and made supplications to Allah, glorified and blessed is He. The wind erupted and clouds appeared. Rain then poured down so much so that streams of water run down the valleys. People filled their water containers. But then the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, passed by a man who was using a goblet to ladle water. The man was saying: “We were given rain thanks to such-and-such a star”, and failed to say: “This is the sustenance of Allah, glorified is He”. Allah, glory be to Him, revealed (And make denial thereof your livelihood?). Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Zahid informed us> Abu 'Amr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Jizi> al-Hasan ibn Sufyan> Harmalah ibn Yahya and 'Amr ibn Sawwad al-Sarkhi> 'Abd Allah ibn Wahb> Yunus ibn Yazid> Ibn Shihab> 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Utbah> Abu Hurayrah who reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “Have you not heard what your Lord has said? He said: 'I have not blessed My slaves with any bounty except that some of them were ungrateful. They say: The stars did this and we were given it thanks to the stars!' ” This was narrated by Muslim from Harmalah and 'Amr ibn Sawwad.