"And we used to sit in places therein"—meaning in the heaven—"to listen, but whoever listens now will find a flaming star lying in wait for him," meaning guardians preventing him from listening.
Muhammad said: "The flaming star lying in wait" means it has been set in wait for the purpose of pelting, and "shuhuban" (flaming stars) is the plural of "shihab" (a flaming star).
Yahya said: They used to listen to some news from the heaven, but as for the revelation, they were not able to listen to it.
Yahya, on the authority of 'Ubayd al-Samad, who said: I heard Abu Raja' al-'Utaridi saying: "Before the Prophet (peace be upon him) was sent, we would not see a star being thrown; then, one night, while we were sitting, the stars began to be thrown. We said: 'What is this? This must be a matter that has just occurred.' Then, news reached us that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had been sent."
﴿وَأَنا كُنَّا نقعد مِنْهَا﴾ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ ﴿مَقَاعِدَ لِلسَّمْعِ فَمَنْ يَسْتَمِعِ الآنَ يَجِدْ لَهُ شِهَابًا رصدا﴾ أَيْ: حَفَظة تَمْنَعُ مِنَ الِاسْتِمَاعِ.
قَالَ محمدٌ: (الشهَاب الرَّصد): أَي: قد أُرصِدَ بِهِ للرَّجْم، و (شُهُبًا) جَمْعُ شِهَابٍ.
قَالَ يَحْيَى: وَكَانُوا يَسْتَمِعُونَ أَخْبَارًا مِنْ أَخْبَارِ السَّمَاءِ، وأمَّا الْوَحْيُ فَلَمْ يَكُونُوا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَى أَنْ يَسْتَمِعُوهُ.
يَحْيَى: عَنْ عُبَيْدِ الصَّمَدِ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ أَبَا رجاءٍ العُطَاردي يَقُولُ: ((كُنَّا قَبْلَ أَنْ يُبعث النَّبِيُّ مَا نَرَى نَجْمًا يَرْمَى بِهِ؛ فَبَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ ذَاتَ لَيْلَةٍ إِذَا النُّجُومُ قَدْ رُمِيَ بِهَا فَقُلْنَا: مَا هَذَا؟ إِنْ هَذَا إِلَّا أمرٌ حَدَثٌ. فجاءنا أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ بُعِثَ)).
