(And among mankind is he who worshippeth Allah upon a narrow marge…) [22:11]. The commentators of the Qur'an said: “This verse was revealed about some Bedouins who used to travel from the desert to Medina to see the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. If one of them had, during such visits, good health, or his mare gave birth to seemly foals or his wife gave him a boy, such that his wealth and cattle multiplied - he would be pleased and well contended. He would say: 'Since I embraced this religion, I have not seen anything but good'. If, on the other hand, he fell ill, during such visits, or his wife gave birth to a girl, or his foals were stillborn, such that he lost his wealth, or such that the payment of alms to him was delayed - the devil would come to him and whisper: 'Since you embraced this religion, you have not gained anything but evil', and thus he would renounce his religion. Allah, exalted is, therefore, revealed (And among mankind is he who worshippeth Allah upon a narrow marge)”. 'Atiyyah reported that Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said: “A Jewish man who had embraced Islam lost his sight, wealth and children. He thought that Islam was ill-omened and so he went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: 'Discharge me!' The Prophet said: 'you do not get discharged from Islam'. The man said: 'I did not gain any good from this religion of mine!' The Prophet said: 'O Jew, Islam smelts men as fire smelts the dross of iron, silver and gold'. Then the verse (And among mankind is he who worshippeth Allah upon a narrow marge) was revealed”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
