(Lo! thou (O Muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest…) [28:56].
Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah al-Shirazi informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Khamrawayh> 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-Khuza'i> Abu'l-Yaman al-Hakam ibn Nafi'> Shu'ayb> al-Zuhri> Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab> his father who said: “When death was about to overtake Abu Talib, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went to see him and there he found with him Abu Jahl and 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, addressed his uncle: 'O uncle, say, there is no deity save Allah, and I will argue, by means of it, in your favour with Allah, Glorious and Exalted is He'. Abu Jahl and 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah said: 'O Abu Talib, would you shun the religion of 'Abd al-Muttalib?' The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, kept inviting him and repeating his words until the last thing that Abu Talib said was: 'I follow the religion of 'Abd al-Muttalib', and he refused to say, there is no deity save Allah. At that point the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'By Allah, I will ask Allah for your forgiveness for as long as I am not forbidden from doing so'. Then, Allah, glorious and majestic is He, revealed (It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin (to them) after it hath become clear that they are people of Hell-fire) [9:113]. He also revealed about Abu Talib (Lo! thou (O Muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest, but Allah guideth whom He will)”. This was narrated by Bukhari> Abu'l-Yaman> Shu'ayb and also by Muslim> Harmalah> Ibn Wahb> Yunus; and both Yunus and Shu'ayb related it from al-Zuhri.
Master Abu Ishaq Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim informed us> al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Shaybani> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz> Abu 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Bishr> Yahya ibn Sa'id>> Yazid ibn Kaysan> Abu Hazim> Abu Hurayrah who said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to his uncle: 'Say: there is no deity save Allah, and I will be witness, by means of it, for you on the Day of Judgement'. His uncle said: 'If I did not fear that the Quraysh will revile me by saying that it was fear [of death] that drove me to say it, I would have pleased you by saying it'. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (Lo! thou (O Muhammad) guidest not whom thou lovest, but Allah guideth whom He will)”. This was narrated by Muslim> Muhammad ibn Hatim> Yahya ibn Sa'id.
He said: “I heard Abu 'Uthman al-Hiri> al-Hasan ibn Miqsam> Abu Ishaq al-Zajjaj who said regarding this verse: 'The commentators of the Qur'an are in consensus that it was revealed about Abu Talib' ”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou