(Lo! We it is Who bring the dead to life. We record that which they send before them, and their footprints…) [36:12]. Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri said: “The Banu Salamah were settled at one extremity of Medina and wanted to move closer to the mosque [of the Prophet]. This verse was then revealed (Lo! We it is Who bring the dead to life. We record that which they send before them, and their footprints…), and so the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to them: ‘Your footprints are recorded, why then do you want to move?’ ” The prophetic descendent Isma‘il ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan Tabari informed us> his grandfather> ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sharqi> ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Bishr> ‘Abd al-Razzaq> al-Thawri> Sa‘id ibn Turayf> Abu Nadrah> Abu Sa‘id who said: “The Banu Salamah complained to the Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, about the remoteness of their homes from the mosque. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (We record that which they send before them…) upon which the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘Do not move from your homes. Your footprints are recorded for you in your favour’ ”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
