Tafseer of Ornaments of gold · Az-Zukhruf · 43:31
And they said, "Why was this Qur'an not sent down upon a great man from [one of] the two cities?"
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: وَقَالُوا لَوْلا نُزِّلَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ ("And they said: 'If only this Qurʾān had been sent down upon some eminent man from one of the two towns'") (43:31).
The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: and these polytheists against Allah from the Quraysh said, when the Qurʾān came to them from Allah: this is sorcery; and if it were true, why then was it not sent down upon an eminent man from one of these two towns, Mecca or al-Ṭāʾif?
People differed concerning the man whom they described as "eminent," about whom they said: why was this Qurʾān not sent down upon him? Some said: why was it not sent down upon al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra al-Makhzūmī from the inhabitants of Mecca, or upon Ḥabīb ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿUmayr al-Thaqafī from the inhabitants of al-Ṭāʾif?
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: لَوْلا نُزِّلَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ ("If only this Qurʾān had been sent down upon some eminent man from one of the two towns"), he said: by "the eminent one" he means al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra al-Qurashī, or Ḥabīb ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿUmayr al-Thaqafī; and by "the two towns" Mecca and al-Ṭāʾif.
Others said: no, by that was meant ʿUtba ibn Rabīʿa from the inhabitants of Mecca, and Ibn ʿAbd Yālīl from the inhabitants of al-Ṭāʾif.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ ("upon some eminent man from one of the two towns"), he said: ʿUtba ibn Rabīʿa from the inhabitants of Mecca, and Ibn ʿAbd Yālīl al-Thaqafī from al-Ṭāʾif.
Others said: no, by that was meant from the inhabitants of Mecca: al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, and from the inhabitants of al-Ṭāʾif: Ibn Masʿūd.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ ("an eminent man from one of the two towns"), he said: the man is al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra. He said: had what Muḥammad says been true, then this would have been sent down upon me, or upon Ibn Masʿūd al-Thaqafī; and the two towns are al-Ṭāʾif and Mecca, and Ibn Masʿūd al-Thaqafī is from al-Ṭāʾif, and his name is ʿUrwa ibn Masʿūd.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: لَوْلا نُزِّلَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ ("If only this Qurʾān had been sent down upon some eminent man from one of the two towns"), and the two towns are Mecca and al-Ṭāʾif; he said: that is what the polytheists of the Quraysh said. He said: it has reached us that there was no clan of the Quraysh but it laid claim to him and said: he is one of us; and we used to relate that the two men were al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra and ʿUrwa al-Thaqafī Abū Masʿūd, who said: why was it not sent down upon one of these two men.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: لَوْلا نُزِّلَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ ("If only this Qurʾān had been sent down upon some eminent man from one of the two towns"), he said: one of the two eminent ones was ʿUrwa ibn Masʿūd al-Thaqafī, who was the eminent one of the inhabitants of al-Ṭāʾif.
Others said: no, by that was meant from the inhabitants of Mecca: al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, and from the inhabitants of al-Ṭāʾif: Kināna ibn ʿAbd ibn ʿAmr.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وَقَالُوا لَوْلا نُزِّلَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ ("And they said: 'If only this Qurʾān had been sent down upon some eminent man from one of the two towns'"), he said: al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra al-Qurashī, and Kināna ibn ʿAbd ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿUmayr, the eminent one of the inhabitants of al-Ṭāʾif.
And the most correct of these statements is that one says it as He, mighty is His praise, said, reporting about these polytheists: وَقَالُوا لَوْلا نُزِّلَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ ("And they said: 'If only this Qurʾān had been sent down upon some eminent man from one of the two towns'"), since it is possible that it was one of these, and Allah, blessed and exalted is He, has given us no indication in His Book as to which of them precisely they meant, nor by the tongue of His messenger ﷺ, while the differences of opinion concerning it exist as I have set out.
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Footnotes:
(1) It is ʿUrwa ibn Masʿūd al-Thaqafī, as occurs repeatedly in the narrations, not Abū Masʿūd, as in this narration; it is perhaps a copyist's error.
