(Lo! We have given thee Abundance…) [108:1-3]. Said Ibn 'Abbas: “This Surah was revealed about al-'As ibn Wa'il. He met the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, as he was entering the Sacred Mosque while the Prophet was coming out of it. They met at the gate of Banu Sahm and started talking to each other while the chiefs of Quraysh were sitting in the mosque. When al-'As entered the mosque, they asked him: 'Who were you talking to?' He said: 'I was talking to that man without posterity', meaning the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, had lost 'Abd Allah, his son from Khadijah, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this Surah”. Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Fadl informed us> Muhammad ibn Ya'qub> Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Jabbar> Yunus ibn Bukayr> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> Yazid ibn Ruman who said: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was mentioned, al-'As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi used to say: 'Leave him be, he is just a man without posterity; he has no offspring: If he were to die, no one would mention him again and you will be rid of him'. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Lo! We have given thee Abundance…) to the end of the Surah”. 'Ata' reported that Ibn 'Abbas said: “Al-'As ibn Wa'il used to pass by the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and say: 'Indeed I am insulting you, and truly you are without posterity, without no male offspring to survive you'. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Lo! it is thy insulter) i.e. al-'As (who is without posterity) insofar as the good of this world and of the life to come are concerned”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
