And with the same chain of transmission, 'Ubayd Allah related to us> Abu Ja'far> al-Rabi' who said: “There were some men who were always forerunners to the assembly of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. Among these men were Bilal, 'Ammar, Suhayb and Salman [al-Farisi]. The nobles and chiefs of his people would come to see him and find all the aforementioned already sitting with him. In one occasion they said: 'Suhayb is a Byzantine, Salman a Persian, Bilal an Abyssinian: they all come and sit close to him whereas when we come we sit on the side'. And then they mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. They said to him: 'We are the nobles and chiefs of your clan, why do you not sit closer to us when we come to see you'. He was about to do just that when Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Said 'Ikrimah: “A group of unbeliever nobles from Banu 'Abd Manaf headed by 'Utbah ibn Rabi'ah, Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah, Mut'im ibn 'Adiyy, al-Harith ibn Nawfal went to Abu Talib and said: 'If only your nephew Muhammad repels from him our clients, slaves and downtrodden, it would please us, mean a great deal to us and would be a step forward for us to follow him and believe in him'. Abu Talib went and conveyed to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, what they said. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab commented: 'Why do you not do as they ask so that we consider what they want and verify whether they are truthful?' Then Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. When it was revealed, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab went and apologized for what he had said”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
