Surah Al-Ankabut

Introduction

Ibn al-Durays, al-Nahhas, Ibn Marduwayh, and al-Bayhaqi recorded in al-Dala’il, on the authority of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), that it was revealed in Makkah. Ibn Marduwayh recorded a similar account from Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr. The statement that it is Makki is also narrated from al-Hasan, Jabir, and Ikrimah. According to some, it is the last surah to be revealed in Makkah. In al-Bahr, it is narrated from the "Doctor" (Ibn Abbas) and Qatadah that it is Madani. Yahya ibn Salam said: It is Makki except for its beginning up to His saying: "And He will surely make evident the hypocrites." Jalal al-Suyuti mentioned this in al-Itqan without attributing it, noting that Ibn Jarir recorded it regarding the reason for its revelation. I say: Added to this is the verse: "And how many a creature..." based on what Ibn Abi Hatim recorded regarding the reason for its revelation, and the discussion on that will follow, if Allah the Exalted wills.

It consists of sixty-nine verses by consensus, as stated by al-Dani and al-Tabarsi. Jalal mentioned, regarding the reason for its connection to the preceding surah, that the Exalted informed us at the beginning of the previous surah regarding Pharaoh that "he exalted himself in the land and made its people into factions, oppressing a sector among them, slaughtering their [newborn] sons and keeping their females alive." He opened this [surah] by mentioning the believers whom the disbelievers tested and tortured for their faith with torments far less than what Pharaoh inflicted upon the Children of Israel, in order to console them with what befell those before them and to urge them to have patience. For this reason, it is said here: "And We certainly tried those before them." Furthermore, since the end of the previous surah contained an allusion to the migration of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)—that is, in His saying: "Indeed, [O Muhammad], He who imposed upon you the Qur'an will take you back to a place of return" according to some interpretations—and the end of this [surah] contains an allusion to the migration of the believers in His saying: "O My servants who have believed, indeed My earth is spacious," it was appropriate for them to succeed one another.

(In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Alif-Lam-Mim.)

The discussion regarding this and its counterparts has already preceded. Some have not permitted here a grammatical connection between what follows it and itself, because the interrogative acts as a barrier to it. This has been researched by stating that what is required in an interrogative is that it takes the primary position within its clause; and this does not contradict that clause functioning as a predicate or the like—similar to your saying: "Zayd, did his father stand?" Thus, if it were said here that the meaning is "what is recited to you..."