When Isaiah had finished his address, they rushed upon him to kill him. He fled from them and came upon a tree, which split open for him, and he entered inside it. But Satan caught up with him, seized the fringe of his garment, and showed it to them. So they placed a saw in the middle of the tree and sawed it until they cut it apart, cutting him in two within it.

After this, Allah appointed over the Children of Israel a man from among them named Nashi'ah ibn Amos, and He sent them Jeremiah ibn Hilkiah as a Prophet. He was from the tribe of Aaron ibn Imran.

Ibn Ishaq mentioned that he was Khidr, and that his name was Jeremiah. He was called Khidr because he sat upon a white patch of ground, and when he rose from it, it was waving with greenery.

Allah sent Jeremiah to that king in order to set him aright and guide him. Then wrongdoing among the Children of Israel became widespread: they committed sins and regarded sacred prohibitions as lawful. So Allah revealed to Jeremiah: “Go to your people among the Children of Israel. Relate to them what I command you, remind them of My blessings, and make them aware of the calamities that await them.”

Jeremiah said, “My Lord, I am weak unless You strengthen me; incapable unless You enable me to convey Your message; and forsaken unless You grant me victory.” Allah Most High said: “Do you not know that all matters proceed by My will, and that hearts and tongues are in My hand? I turn them as I will. I am with you, and nothing can reach you while I am with you.”

Jeremiah then stood among them, not knowing what to say, so Allah inspired him at that moment with an eloquent sermon, in which he made clear the reward of obedience and the punishment of disobedience. At its conclusion, he said, relating from Allah Most High: “By My might, I have sworn that I shall surely bring upon them a trial at which even the forbearing will be bewildered. And I shall surely set over them a harsh and tyrannical ruler, whom I shall clothe in awe and from whose breast I shall remove mercy. He will be followed by a multitude like the blackness of a dark night.”

Then Allah revealed to Jeremiah: “I shall destroy the Children of Israel through Japheth; and Japheth was among the people of Babylon—as we mentioned in Surah al-Baqarah.” Thus Allah set Nebuchadnezzar over them. He set out with six hundred thousand banners, entered the Holy House with his troops, overran Syria, and killed the Children of Israel until he annihilated them. He destroyed the Holy House and ordered his troops that every man should fill his shield with soil and cast it into the Holy House. They did so until they had filled it.

He then ordered them to gather all those who were in the towns of Jerusalem. Every young and old person from among the Children of Israel was gathered before him, and he selected seventy thousand boys from them. When the spoils of his army had been brought forth and he wished to distribute them among his troops, the kings who were with him said, “O King, all our spoils are yours; divide among us these boys whom you have selected from the Children of Israel.” So he divided them among the kings who were with him, and each of them received four boys. He divided the remaining Children of Israel into three groups: one third he left in Syria, one third he enslaved, and one third he killed. He took the youth of Jerusalem and the seventy thousand boys to Babylon.

This was the first assault that Allah brought upon the Children of Israel because of their wrongdoing. Thus is the meaning of His saying, Most High: “When the first of the two promises came to pass, We sent against you servants of Ours, possessing great might”—meaning Nebuchadnezzar and his companions.