Clarification of the revelation of the four Scriptures and the times at which they were sent down
Abu Zur‘ah ad-Dimashqī reported: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us, saying, “Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ told me, from an informant who said:
• The Torah was revealed to Moses after six nights of the month of Ramadan had elapsed.
• The Psalms were revealed to David after twelve nights of Ramadan had passed—four hundred and eighty-two years after the Torah.
• The Gospel was revealed to Jesus son of Mary after eighteen nights of Ramadan had passed—one thousand and fifty years after the Psalms.
• The Furqān—that is, the Qur’an—was revealed to Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, on the twenty-fourth of Ramadan.
We have already cited in our Tafsīr, under the verse, “The month of Ramadan in which the Qur’an was revealed” (al-Baqarah 2:185), the traditions that deal with this matter, among which is the report that the Gospel was revealed to Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him, eighteen nights into Ramadan. Ibn Jarīr also recorded in his History that it was revealed to him when he was thirty years old, and that he remained until he was taken up to heaven at the age of thirty-three, as will be clarified, God willing.
Ishāq ibn Bishr said: Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah related to us from Qatādah—and Muqātil likewise from Qatādah—from ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Ādam, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:
Allah revealed to Jesus son of Mary: “O Jesus, exert yourself in My cause and do not grow weak; listen and obey. O son of the pure, virgin maiden! You were created without a male, and I made you a sign for all peoples. So worship Me and place your trust in Me. Hold fast to the Book with resolve; interpret it for the Syriac-speaking people, and proclaim to those before you that I am the Truth, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining, Who never perishes.
“Believe in the unlettered Arab Prophet, the rider of the camel, the bearer of the crown—that is, the turban—of the mantle, the sandals, and the staff—that is, the rod; wide-eyed, with a broad, clear forehead, radiant cheeks, curly hair, a full beard, joined eyebrows, an aquiline nose, and slightly spaced front teeth …”