(Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah…) [33:23]. Abu Muhammad Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Humayd> Makki ibn 'Abdan> 'Abd Allah ibn Hashim> Bahz ibn Asad> Sulayman ibn al-Mughirah> Thabit> Anas who said: “My uncle Anas ibn al-Nadr - after whom I was named Anas - failed to take part in the Battle of Badr. When he returned, he was extremely pained that he did not participate in Badr. He said: 'I was absent from the first battle fought by the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. By Allah, if Allah, glorified and exalted is He, enables me to take part in any future fighting, He will see what I will do!' At the Battle of Uhud, when the Muslims were exposed, he said: 'O Allah, I exonerate myself from that which these idolaters have brought and seek Your pardon from what these - i.e. the Muslims - have done'. He then proceeded with the sword in his hand. On the way, he met Sa'd ibn Mu'adh and said to him: 'O Sa'd, by Him in Whose Hand is my soul, I can smell the scent of the Garden by Uhud'. He fought the idolaters until he was killed. We found him among the dead. He had suffered eighty something wounds, ranging from a blow with the sword, a stab with spear to a hit by a arrow. They mutilated him to the extent that we did not recognise him. It was his sister who identified him by his finger. This verse was then revealed (Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah…). We used to say: 'This verse was revealed about him and his fellow Muslims [who died fighting]' ”. Narrated by Muslim from Muhammad ibn Hatim from Bahz ibn Asad. Sa'id ibn Ahmad ibn Ja'far al-Mu'adhdhin informed us> Abu 'Ali ibn Abi Bakr al-Faqih> Ibrahim ibn 'Abd Allah al-Zabibi> Bundar> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari> his father> Thumamah> Anas ibn Malik who said: “This verse was revealed about Anas ibn al-Nadr (Of the believers are men who are true to that which they covenanted with Allah)”. This was narrated by Bukhari from Bundar. (Some of them have paid their vow by death (in battle), and some of them still are waiting…) [33:23].
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
