The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 147
Time of Revelation CHAPTER 21 AL-ANBIYA' (Revealed before Hijrah) It can be stated without fear of contradiction that this is a Meccan Surah, having been revealed very early in the Holy Prophet's ministry. According to Imām Suyūṭī, only the 7th verse belongs to the Medinite period (Itqān). Wherry, however, says that the Surah was revealed in the 9th year of the Call. He bases his assumption on the fact that the Surah dwells at some length upon the opposition and hostility of disbelievers to the cause of truth, which according to him developed and stiffened towards the later years of the Meccan life. Wherry's inference is not based on facts. This is like saying that since there is a mention in Surah Ar-Raḥmān of the joining together of the Mediterranean and Red Seas, the plying of big steamships in these two seas, and because these events took place towards the latter half of the 19th century, therefore, Surah Ar-Raḥmān was revealed in that century. The testimony of the Companions of the Holy Prophet, before whose very eyes this Surah was revealed, affords the most dependable evidence about the time of its revelation. Several of them, ‘Abdullah bin Mas'ud being the most prominent among them, have testified to its revelation before the 5th year of the Call. ‘Abdullah has stated that Surahs Kahf, Maryam, Țā Hā and Anbiya' were revealed very early in the Prophet's ministry and that he had learned them by heart (Bukhārī). As ‘Abdullah was a very distinguished and prominent Muslim and an early convert to the new faith, his testimony carries great weight and these Surahs must be taken to have been revealed very early. Moreover, some parts of Surah Maryam were recited before the Negus in the first few days of the migration to Abyssinia and as that migration admittedly took place in the beginning of the 5th year of the Call, therefore the above-mentioned Surahs i. e. Kahf, Maryam and Țā Hā along with the present Surah, must have been revealed before that time. So the fact is established beyond any reasonable doubt that this Sūrah was revealed before the 5th year of the Call and that Wherry's assertion possesses no foundation in fact. But why, in the face of historical evidence of such unimpeachable integrity, he would persuade himself to hold such an untenable view, passes our comprehension. It evidently seems to be the result of blind prejudice or, at best, crass ignorance. Arrangement of the Sürah In the existing arrangement of the Quran this Surah finds a place after Tā Hā. Its immediate connection with Ṭā Hā consists in the fact that towards 2061