RENAISSANCE FEBRUARY 2021

Ḥ adith Studies 18 Monthly Renaissance February 2021 possibility that Ab ū Lahab was being paid back in the same coin; however, the revealed words are ٍ ۡ ﻟَﻬَﺐ L±َ َۤ ﺗَﺒَﺖۡ ﻳَﺪ . These words in no way have a ring of condemnation and reprimand, but, as will be explained later, they refer to the end of Ab ū Lahab’s political dominance, a defeat of all his friends and allies and a devastation of his pomp and wealth. In other words, this sentence is not a statement of fact; it is a prediction of Ab ū Lahab’s destruction given in the past tense. This prediction was made when the truth had been communicated to him in such an ultimate form that he was left with no excuse to deny it. It is thus incorrect to believe that this s ū rah is an early Makkan one. It was revealed when the signs of Ab ū Lahab’s destruction were becoming evident. He died a little after the battle of Badr; thus the revelation of this s ū rah too should be around this period. It is also evident from the style of the s ū rah that it was revealed before his death. Had it been revealed after his death, the style of the s ū rah would have been like َ َﻟَﻢۡ ﺗَﺮَ ﻛَﻴۡﻒ (Have you not seen?) or words similar to it. The past tense adopted in the opening verse of the s ū rah is employed for expressing the certainty of a future event. Examples of this style abound in the Qur’ ā n and we have referred to them several times earlier. 2 B. Analysis of the Isn ā d Following is a shortened schematic illustration of the variants of this narrative: 2. Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī , Tadabbur-i Qur’ ā n , vol. 9, 629-630.