Abū Jaʿfar, from his father, from al-Rabīʿ—who is the son of Anas—regarding His statement: "Cursed were the companions of the trench." He said: We heard that they were a people in the time of the fatrah (the period of interval between prophets). When they saw the strife and evil that had fallen upon the people, and they had become factions—each party rejoicing in what they possessed—they withdrew to a village they inhabited and persisted in the worship of Allah, sincere to Him in religion, monotheists, establishing prayer and giving zakāh. This was their state until a tyrant from among the tyrants heard of them and was told their story. So he sent for them and ordered them to worship the idols that they had adopted. They all refused him and said: "We do not worship but Allah alone, with no partner." He said to them: "If you do not worship these gods which have been worshipped, then I shall kill you." They refused him, so he dug a trench of fire. The tyrant said to them—and he stood them over it—: "Choose this or that which we are upon." They said: "This is more beloved to us." Among them were women and children. The children became fearful, so they said to them: "There is no fire after today." So they fell into it, and their souls were taken before the heat touched them. The fire then emerged from its place and surrounded the tyrants, and Allah burned them with it. Regarding that, Allah the Mighty and Majestic revealed: "Cursed were the companions of the trench. The fire full of fuel. When they were sitting by it. And they were witnesses to what they did against the believers. And they resented them not except because they believed in Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy. To whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. And Allah, over all things, is Witness."

His statement, the Almighty: "Has there reached you the story of the soldiers?"

19210 - My father narrated to us, ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭanāfisī narrated to us, Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh narrated to us, from Abū Isḥāq, from ʿAmr ibn Maymūn, he said: The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) passed by a woman reading "Has there reached you the story of the soldiers?" He stood listening and said: "Yes, it has reached me."

His statement, the Almighty: "In a Preserved Tablet."

19211 - My father narrated to us, Abū Ṣāliḥ narrated to us, Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us: That Abū al-Aʿbas—who is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Salmān—said: There is nothing that Allah has decreed—the Qurʾān, what came before it, and what comes after it—except that it is in the Preserved Tablet. And the Preserved Tablet is between the eyes of Isrāfīl; he is not permitted to look into it.