people of Quraysh, we have come to you with the decisive criterion between you and Muhammad. The rabbis of the Jews have instructed us to put certain questions to him.”

They went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, “Muhammad, inform us…,” then posed their questions. He replied, “I will tell you tomorrow,” but he did not add the qualifying phrase, “if Allah wills.” They left, and he remained fifteen nights without any revelation from Allah concerning the matter; Gabriel did not come to him. The people of Mecca began to agitate, saying, “He promised us ‘tomorrow,’ yet fifteen days have passed.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was grieved by the suspension of revelation. Then Gabriel came down with Surah al-Kahf, containing a gentle rebuke for his sorrow, the story of the young men, and the account of the great traveler, and he recited: “And they ask you about the Spirit. Say, ‘The Spirit is of my Lord’s command…’” [Al-Israʾ: 85].

The report of Ibn Masʿud indicates that the Jews’ question about the Spirit took place in Medina, so it is likely that the Prophet ﷺ was asked about it twice.

Jarir ibn ʿAbd al-Hamid narrated—from al-Aʿmash—from Jaʿfar ibn Iyas—from Saʿid ibn Jubayr—from Ibn ʿAbbas—that the people of Mecca asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to turn al-Safa into gold and to remove the surrounding mountains so they could farm the land. Allah said, “If you wish, I will grant them what they ask; but should they then disbelieve, they will be destroyed like the peoples before them. Or, if you prefer, I will give them respite, for perhaps some of them will repent.” Then He revealed: “Nothing has prevented Us from sending the signs except that the former peoples rejected them” [Al-Israʾ: 59]. This is a sound hadith. It was also transmitted by Salamah ibn Kuhayl—from ʿImran—from Ibn ʿAbbas, and by Ayyub—from Saʿid ibn Jubayr.