(But if they strive with thee to make thee ascribe unto Me as partner…) [31:15]. This was revealed about Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas as mentioned before in Surah al-‘Ankabut [29:8]. (…and follow the path of him who repenteth unto Me…) [31:15]. This verse was revealed about Abu Bakr, may Allah be well pleased with him. ‘Ata’ reported that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “This refers to Abu Bakr, may Allah be well pleased with him. When the latter embraced Islam, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf, Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas, Sa‘id ibn Zayd, ‘Uthman, Talhah and al-Zubayr went to him and said: ‘Did you believe in Muhammad and adopt his message?’ And when he said that he did they all went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and declared their faith in him and believed in his message. And so, Allah, exalted is He, addressing Sa‘d, said (…and follow the path of him who repenteth unto Me…), i.e. Abu Bakr, may Allah be well pleased with him”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
