from Ibn Abbās concerning the words of Allah Most High:

“Although previously they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieved.”

He said: “They sought support, saying: ‘We shall help Muhammad against them.’ Yet they were not as they claimed; they were lying.”

It was also narrated from Ma'mar, from Qatāda, concerning the words of Allah Most High:

“Although previously they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieved.”

He said: “They used to say: ‘A Prophet will come.’ ‘But when there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it.’”

He also narrated, through his chain of transmission, from Ibn Ishāq:

“Muhammad ibn Abī Muhammad narrated to us, saying: ‘Ikrima—or Sa'īd ibn Jubayr—informed me, from Ibn Abbās, that the Jews used to seek victory over al-Aws and al-Khazraj through Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, before his mission began. But when Allah sent him from among the Arabs, they disbelieved in him and denied what they had previously said about him.

“Mu'ādh ibn Jabal, Bishr ibn al-Barā' ibn Ma'rūr, and Dāwūd ibn Salama said to them: ‘O Jews, fear Allah and embrace Islam. You used to seek victory over us through Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while we were polytheists. You told us that he would be sent and described his characteristics to us.’

“Salām ibn Mushkim, a member of Banū al-Nadīr, replied: ‘He has brought us nothing that we recognize, and he is not the one we used to tell you about.’ So Allah Most High revealed concerning this:

‘And when there came to them a Book from Allah confirming that which was with them—although previously they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieved—but when there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it; so the curse of Allah is upon the disbelievers.’”

He also narrated, through his chain of transmission, from al-Rabī' ibn Anas, from Abū al-Āliya, who said:

“The Jews used to seek victory through Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, over the Arab polytheists, saying: ‘O Allah, send this Prophet whom we find mentioned in our scriptures, so that we may torment the polytheists and kill them.’ But when Allah sent Muhammad