(And they say: We will not put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us) [18:90].
‘Ikrimah reported that Ibn ‘Abbas related that ‘Utbah, Shaybah, Abu Sufyan, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Abu’l-Bukhturi, al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, Abu Jahl, ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Umayyah, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, and the chiefs of Quraysh gathered in front of the Ka‘bah and said to each other: “Send for Muhammad, speak to him, and argue with him so that others do not blame you about him”. They sent to him with a message that the nobles of your people have gathered and want to speak with you. He came promptly, thinking that they had changed their mind about him, for he was keen to see them guided and was pained for their stubbornness. When he sat with them, they said: ‘O Muhammad, by Allah we do not know of any man among the Arabs who has introduced to his people what you have introduced. You have insulted our forefathers, censored our religion, accused us of ignorance, slandered our idols, divided the community and you have not left anything revolting except that you have placed it between us and you. Now, if you have brought all this to seek wealth, we will collect from our wealth so that you become the richest among us; if you seek status, we will make you our chief; if you seek kingship, we will make you our king; and if the jinn that appears to you has completely overwhelmed you, we will spend our money to get you the right medicine to cure you or discharge our duty toward you’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to them: ‘I do not have what you accuse me of. I did not bring you what I brought to seek wealth, status or kingship. Rather, it is Allah, glorious and majestic is He, Who has sent me to you as a Messenger. He has revealed to me a Scripture and commanded me to be a carrier of good tiding as well as a warner. I have conveyed to you the message of my Lord and advised you well. If you accept that which I have brought you, it is your share in this world and in the next. And if you reject it, I will be patient with the judgment of Allah until He judges between me and you’. They said: ‘O Muhammad, if you do not accept our offer, then you know that, compared to other people, we have a more restricted land, a tougher life and much less wealth. So ask your Lord, Who has sent you with that which He has sent you, to remove from us these mountains which have restricted our land and expand our country and run through it rivers like the rivers of Syria and Iraq. And let Him resurrect our dead forefathers, and among those resurrected, let Him resurrect Qusayy ibn Kilab, for he was a truthful old man, so that we ask them about whether what you say is true or false. If you do what we ask for, we will believe you and, by the same token, know your status with Allah, and that He has sent you as a Messenger, as you claim’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘I was not sent to bring what you have asked for. Rather, I came to you from Allah, glorious is He, with that which He has sent me, and I have conveyed to you what I have been sent with to you. If you accept it, it is your share in this world and in the next; but if you reject it, I will be patient with Allah’s judgement’. They said: ‘If you do not do what we have asked for, then ask your Lord to send an angel to confirm your message, and ask Him to provide you with gardens, treasures and palaces of gold and silver which will suffice you from your needs, for you stand in the market place as we do, and strive to earn a living as we do, in order that we appreciate your merit and position with your Lord, if you are truly a messenger, as you claim to be’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘I will not do it, nor am I someone to ask his Lord for such things, nor was I sent to you with this; He has rather sent me as a bringer of good tidings and as a warner’. They said: ‘In that case, cause the heaven to fall piecemeal down on us, since you claim that your Lord can do so if He wills’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘That is up to Allah, He will do it if He wills’. One of them said: ‘We will not believe in you until you bring Allah and the angels as warrants. ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah al-Makhzumi — the son of ‘Atikah bint ‘Abd al-Muttalib, the maternal aunt of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace — said: ‘I will never believe in you until you get a ladder and climbed up to heaven while I am watching you, and bring an unfolded Scripture with you and a group of angels to testify about what you say’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, left to his family very sad for failing to get his people to follow him as well as for the antagonism they displayed toward him. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And they say: We will not put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us…).
Sa‘id ibn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far informed us> Abu ‘Ali ibn Abi Bakr al-Faqih> Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn al-Junayd> Ziyad ibn Ayyub> Hushaym> ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr> Sa‘id ibn Jubayr who said: “I said to him [to ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr]: ‘The words of Allah (And they say: We will not put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us) was it revealed about ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah?’ He said: ‘This is what they claim’ ”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou