His saying, Exalted is He: "They seek the hastening of evil before good."

12137 - ‘Ali ibn al-Hasan narrated to us, Abu al-Jamahir narrated to us, Sa‘id ibn Bashir narrated to us, from Qatada regarding His saying: "And they seek the hastening of evil," he said: These were the polytheists of the Arabs who sought the hastening of evil before good. They said: "O Allah, if this is the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky or bring us a painful punishment."

12138 - Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Tihrani informed us in what he wrote to me, ‘Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, Ma‘mar narrated to us, from Qatada regarding "And they seek the hastening of evil before good," he said: [They seek] the punishment before the well-being.

12139 - ‘Abd Allah narrated to us from Sulayman, al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali narrated to us, ‘Amir narrated to us, Asbat narrated to us from al-Suddi regarding His saying: "And they seek the hastening of evil before good," he said: When they requested the punishment.

His saying: "And there have passed before them."

12140 - Musa ibn Abi Musa narrated to us, Harun ibn Hatim narrated to us, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hammad narrated to us, from Asbat, from al-Suddi, from Abu Malik regarding His saying: "There have passed" means: there have gone by.

His saying: "The exemplary punishments."

[The first interpretation]

12141 - Abu Zur‘a narrated to us, Minjab narrated to us, Bishr ibn ‘Umara narrated to us, from Abu Rawq, from al-Dahhak, from Ibn ‘Abbas regarding His saying: "And there have passed before them the exemplary punishments," he said: What reached the past generations of punishment.

And the second interpretation:

12142 - al-Hajjaj ibn Hamza narrated to us, Shubana narrated to us, Warqa’ narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Najih, from Mujahid regarding "And there have passed before them the exemplary punishments," he said: The examples.

It was narrated from Abu Salih something similar to that.

12143 - Abu Yazid al-Qaratisi informed us in what he wrote to me, Asbagh ibn al-Faraj narrated to us, he said: I heard ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd regarding the saying of Allah "And there have passed before them the exemplary punishments," he said: The exemplary punishments that Allah set for them from the nations of the punishment with which He punished them. The exemplary punishments of the punishment descended upon them, which had passed before them, and they recognized that, and that which Allah exemplified by them ceased when they disobeyed Him and disobeyed His messengers.