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207. " and among people is he who sells his self to seek the pleasure of
allah; and allah is affectionate unto his (faithful) servants."
commentary:
ibn-i-abil-hadeed, one of the scholars of the sunni schools who
lived in the seventh century a.h., has cited in his famous book,
sharh-i-nahjul-balaqah (the explanation of the statements of imam `ali
(a.s.)), that the commentators totally had said that the above verse was
revealed about and in the praise of ali-ibn-abi-talib after that he
readily slept in the bed of the prophet (p.b.u.h.) on the night known as
laylat-ul-mabit.1 this idea is in wide scale famous so that none can
deny it but a pagan or a crazy one.
the explanation of the event precisely is such that the pagans of
mecca decided to elect one person from each tribe to kill the prophet
muhammad (p.b.u.h.) all together in order to prevent the rise of
bani-hashim tribe in vengeance for his bloodshed. they thought, in
that way, they could be free from the prophet's call. but the prophet
(p.b.u.h.) became aware of their hostile plot before it was too late.
then, `ali-ibn-abi-talib (a.s.) accepted readily to sleep in the prophet's
bed so that he (p.b.u.h.) could get out of mecca safely.
as soon as ali (a.s.) slept in that bed instead of the holy prophet
(p.b.u.h.), the providence questioned his two dear angels, gabriel and
michael, which of them was ready to be devoted to the other, but
neither of them was ready to do that. so, the lord told them to watch
then how `ali-ibn-abi-talib (a.s.) was ready to devote his soul for the
messenger of allah (p.b.u.h.).
many of the muslim scholars have confessed to the above fact.
the late `allamah amini has mentioned the names of such scholars in
his famous book: al-qadir, vol. 2, p. 48, including musnad-i-imam
ahmad hanbal, vol. 1, p. 348.
it is cited in atyab-ul-bayan fi tafsir-il-qur'an that the book
called qayat-ul-maram has narrated twenty traditions, nine of which are
through the sunnite scholars and eleven of them are narrated through
shi`ah scholars, denoting that the verse under discussion was revealed
on the virtue of ali-ibn-abi-talib (a.s.) on laylat-ul-mabit i.e. the night
when he (a.s.) slept in the prophet's bed and the messenger of allah
(p.b.u.h.) migrated to medina. 2
one of the books written in the third century a.h. entitled:
tarikh-i-tabari, vol. 2, p. 373 has explained the description of the event
of laylat-ul-mabit, the night in which `ali (a.s.) slept in the bed of the
messenger of allah (p.b.u.h.). this event is also explained in
tarikh-i-ya`qubi, vol. 2, p. 39.
ibn-i-abil-hadeed expresses in sharh-i-nahjul-balaqah, vol. 4, p.
73 that mu`awiyah payed four thousand dirhams in order that it would
be said by people that the above holy verse was revealed upon the
virtue of ibn-i-muljam.
some of the books from both sunni and shi`ah schools, which
have vividly considered the revelation of this verse upon the virtue of
`ali-ibn-abi-talib (a.s.), are as follows:
'ihya'-u-`ulum-id-din, vol. 3, p.238 by qazali;tathkirat-ul-khawas,
by sebt-ibn-jauzi hanafi; as-sirat-un-nabawiyyah ibn-i-husham, vol. 2,
p. 291, by ibn-i-husham; as-sirat-ul-halabiyyah, vol. 2, p. 29, printed in
maktabat-ut-tijariyat-ul-kubra, egypt, by halabi; al-fusul-ul-
muhimmah, by ibn-i-sabbaq maliki.
explanations:
1- sometimes it happens that an evil person says something which
seems wonderful: " and among people is he whose speech... causes you to
wonder, ..." (the qur'an, 2: 204); but, in comparison with that, a true
believer does something that causes the world to wonder:
" and among people is he who sells his self..."
2- the most profitable bargain is the one that a person sells his
best property, his soul, to allah, his creator. such a bargain is done
neither for paradise nor for being safe from the fire of hell, but it is
merely performed for gaining his pleasure:
"...to seek the pleasure of allah; ..."
3- this is important that a person ventures his self and puts his
soul in danger on the way of allah by going forward towards the
danger with no fear of it, whether the one confronts that danger or not.
regarding to the occasion of revelation, the praise is for the one who
exposes his soul in the process of sale although there happens no
adventure.
4- the love and affection of allah is the best reward. allah has
ordinarily assigned a definite reward for every action in the qur'an, but
in this verse, instead of expressing any sorts of reward, it simply says
allah is affectionate:
"...and allah is affectionate unto his (faithful)
servants."
1 sharh-i-nahjul-balaqah, vol. 13, p. 262, egypt edition, 1961
2 atyab-ul-bayan, vol. 2, p. 386
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