O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord…) [5:67].
Said al-Hasan: “The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘When Allah, exalted is He, sent me as His message, I felt oppressed by it, for I knew that some people will give me the lie’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was apprehensive of the Quraysh, Jews and Christians, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”.
Abu Sa‘id Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Saffar informed us> al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Makhladi> Muhammad ibn Hamdun ibn Khalid> Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Halwani> al-Hasan ibn Hammad Sijjadah> ‘Ali ibn ‘Abis> al-A‘mash> Abu’l-Hajjab> ‘Atiyyah> Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri who said: “This verse (O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord…) was revealed on the day of ‘Ghadir Khumm’ about ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be well pleased with him”.
(Allah will protect thee from mankind) [5:67].
Said ‘A’ishah, may Allah be well pleased with her: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, stayed up one night and so I said: ‘What’s the matter, O Messenger of Allah?’ He said: ‘Is there not any righteous man who would stand to watch over us tonight?’ Then we heard commotion caused by arms and the Messenger of Allah asked: ‘Who’s there?’ ‘It is Sa‘d and Hudhayfah, we have come to keep watch over you’, came the response. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went to sleep, and he slept so deep that I heard his snoring; this verse was then revealed. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then popped his head out of the collar of his garment and said: ‘O people, you can leave, for Allah has protected me’ ”.
Isma‘il ibn Ibrahim al-Wa‘iz informed us> Isma‘il ibn Nujayd> Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Khalil> Muhammad ibn al-‘Ala’> al-Himmani> al-Nadr> ‘Ikrimah> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to be guarded. Abu Talib used to send every day men from the Banu Hashim to guard him until this verse was revealed (O Messenger! Make known that which hath been revealed unto thee from thy Lord) up to His words (Allah will protect thee from mankind). And so when his uncle wanted to send with him people to protect him, he said: ‘O uncle! Indeed Allah has protected me from the jinn and humans’ ”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou