(Those who entered the city and the faith before them…) [59:9]. Ja‘far ibn Burqan related that Yazid al-Asamm said: “The Helpers said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, divide the land into two equal halves between us and the Emigrants’. He said: ‘No, they will suffice you their livelihood. Instead you will share the fruits of the land with them while keeping the land itself to yourselves’. They said: ‘We accept’, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Those who entered the city and the faith before them…)”. (… but prefer (the fugitives) above themselves though poverty become their lot…) [59:9]. Sa‘id ibn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far al-Mu’adhdhin informed us> Abu ‘Ali al-Faqih> Muhammad ibn Mansur ibn Abi al-Jahm al-Sabi‘i> Nasr ibn ‘Ali al-Jahdami> ‘Abd Allah ibn Dawud> Fudayl ibn Ghazwan> Abu Hazim> Abu Hurayrah who related that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, entrusted one of the folk of the Platform (al-Suffah) to a man from the Helpers. The latter took the former to his family and asked his wife: “Do we have anything [to feed him]?” She said: “We do not have anything except the children’s food”. He said: “Put them to sleep and then bring me the food. And when you put the food down, turn the lamp off”. She did as her husband requested. The Helper offered what he had to his guest. The following morning he took him back to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “Indeed, the dwellers of the heavens are amazed at what you two have done”. This verse was then revealed (… but prefer (the fugitives) above themselves though poverty become their lot…). This was narrated by Bukhari> Musaddid> ‘Abd Allah ibn Dawud, and also by Muslim> Abu Kurayb> Waki‘, and both Ibn Dawud and Waki‘ related it from Fudayl ibn Ghazwan. Abu ‘Abd Allah ibn Ishaq al-Muzakki informed us> Abu’l-Hasan Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Sulayti> Abu’l-‘Abbas ibn ‘Isa ibn Muhammad al-Marwazi> al-Mustajir ibn al-Salt> al-Qasim ibn al-Hakam al-‘Urani> ‘Ubayd Allah ibn al-Walid> Muharib ibn Dithar> ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar who said: “One of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was gifted a sheep’s head. The man said [to himself]: ‘My brother so-and-so is more in need of it than I’, and he sent it to him. This sheep’s head was sent from one person to another — it was handled by seven households — until it returned to the first man who was gifted it in the first place. This verse (… but prefer (the fugitives) above themselves though poverty become their lot…), up to the end, was revealed about this”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
