(They are asking thee concerning the Spirit…) [17:85]. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Nahwi informed us> Muhammad ibn Bishr ibn al-'Abbas>> Abu Labid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Bishr> Suwayd> Sa'id> 'Ali ibn Mushir> al-A'mash> Ibrahim> 'Alqamah> 'Abd Allah who said: “I was with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, at a plantation. He was leaning on a leafless palm branch when some Jews came by us. Some of them said: 'Ask him about the Spirit'. Others said: 'Do not ask him lest he faces you with what you dislike'. A group of them went to him and asked him: 'O Abu'l-Qasim, what do you say about the Spirit?' He kept quiet. He then stood up and held his forehead with his hand and I knew that revelation was coming to him. Allah, exalted is He, revealed (They are asking thee concerning the Spirit. Say: The Spirit is by command of my Lord, and of knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little)”. This was narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, both from 'Umar ibn Hafs ibn Ghiyath from his father from al-A'mash. 'Ikrimah also reported that Ibn 'Abbas said: “The Quraysh said to the Jews: 'Tell us something about which we should ask this man'. They said: 'Ask him about the Spirit', and so this verse was revealed”. The commentators of the Qur'an said: “The Jews gathered and said to the Quraysh when they asked them about Muhammad and his case: 'Ask Muhammad about the Spirit and about the youths who were lost long ago in the past and about a man who reached to the east and west of the earth. If he answers all these questions, he is not a prophet; if he does not answer any of the questions, he is not a prophet; but if he answers some questions and refrains from answering some others, he is a true prophet'. When they asked him, Allah, exalted is He, revealed regarding the youths (Or deemest thou the people of the Cave and the Inscription are a wonder among Our portents?) [18:9] up to the end of the story. And He revealed about the man who reached to the east and west of the earth (They will ask thee of Dhu'l-Qarnayn. Say: I shall recite unto you a remembrance of Him) [18:83]. And He revealed about the Spirit (They are asking thee concerning the Spirit…).
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
