(Think not that those who exult in what they have given…) [3:188]. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja'far informed us> Abu'l-Haytham al-Marwazi> Muhammad ibn Yusuf> Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari> Sa'id ibn Abi Maryam> Muhammad ibn Ja'far> Zayd ibn Aslam> 'Ata' ibn Yasar> Abu Sa'id al-Khudri who related that a group of hypocrites were in the habit of failing to join the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, whenever he set off for a military expedition. But then they would come and apologize to him the moment he came back, swearing to him [about their sincerity] and wishing to be praised for that which they had not done. And so this verse (Think not that those who exult in what they have given…). This was narrated by Muslim> al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Halwani> Ibn Abi Maryam. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Shadhyani informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya> Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Daghuli> Muhammad ibn Jahm> Ja'far ibn 'Awf> Hisham ibn Sa'id> Zayd ibn Aslam who related that Marwan ibn al-Hakam was one day, whilst he was the governor of Medina, with Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, Zayd ibn Thabit and Rafi' ibn Khudayj. He asked: “O Abu Sa'id, regarding the saying of Allah, exalted is He, (Think not that those who exult in what they have given) and, by Allah, we do exult in what we give and like to be praised for what we have not done!” Abu Sa'id replied: “This was not revealed about that. Rather, a group of people at the time of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, were in the habit of failing to join him and his Companions in military expeditions. Whenever a setback or something disliked befell the Muslims, they exulted in their failure to join them; but when something good happened to the Muslims, they liked to be praised for what they had not done”. Sa'id ibn Muhammad al-Zahid informed us> Abu Sa'id ibn Hamdun> Abu Hamid al-Sharqi> Abu'l-Azhar> 'Abd al-Razzaq> Ibn Jurayj> Ibn Abi Malikah> 'Alqamah ibn Waqqas who informed him that Marwan said to his chamberlain, Rafi': “Go to Ibn 'Abbas and say to him: 'If everyone who exults in what he does and likes to be praised for what he has not done will be chastised, then we will all be chastised'.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
