“Have you not considered those who fled their homes, though they were thousands, fearing death? Allah said to them, ‘Die,’ then brought them to life. Indeed, Allah is surely full of bounty to mankind, but most people do not give thanks. And fight in the way of Allah, and know that Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. Who is it that will lend Allah a goodly loan, so that He may multiply it for him many times over? Allah withholds and grants abundantly, and to Him you will be returned.” (2:243–245)
His saying, Most High: “Have you not considered those who fled their homes?” Most scholars of exegesis said: There was a town called Dāwardān, near Wāsiṭ, in which a plague broke out. One group left it, while another remained. Most of those who remained in the town perished, whereas those who left survived. When the plague subsided, they returned safely. Those who had remained said, “Our companions were more prudent than we were. Had we done as they did, we too would have survived. If the plague strikes again, we shall certainly leave for a land where there is no epidemic.”
The following year, the plague struck again, and most of its inhabitants fled. They went out until they came down into a broad valley. (1) When they reached the place in which they sought safety, an angel called out to them from the bottom of the valley and another from its top: “Die!” So they all died.
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Sarakhsī informed us; Zāhir ibn Aḥmad informed us; Abū Isḥāq al-Hāshimī informed us; Abū Muṣʿab informed us from Mālik, from Ibn Shihāb, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿah, that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, set out for Syria. When he reached Sargh (2), he learned that an epidemic had broken out in Syria. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf then informed him that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “If you hear of it in a land, do not enter it; and if it breaks out in a land while you are in it, do not leave it in flight from it.” (3) So ʿUmar returned from Sargh.
Al-Kalbī, Muqātil, and al-Ḍaḥḥāk said: They fled only from fighting, for one of the kings of the Children of Israel had commanded them to go forth to fight their enemy. They assembled as an army, but then lost courage, feared death, and made excuses. They said to their king, “There is an epidemic in the land to which you are taking us, so we shall not go there until the epidemic has ceased.” Thereupon Allah sent death upon them, and they fled their homes in escape from death.
When the king saw this, he said, “O Allah, Lord of Jacob and God of Moses, You see the disobedience of Your servants; so show them a sign within themselves, that they may know they cannot escape from You.” When they went out, Allah Most High said to them, “Die!” as a punishment for them. They all died, and their beasts likewise died, as though they were a single man. Eight days passed over them, until they became bloated and their bodies began to decay. People came out to them but were unable—