an example of a mosquito or what is above it}

Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differed regarding the meaning for which God, majestic be His praise, revealed this verse, and regarding its interpretation.

Some of them spoke according to what:

554- Mūsā ibn Hārūn narrated to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād narrated to us, he said: Asbāṭ narrated to us, from al-Suddī, in a report he mentioned, from Abū Mālik, and from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās—and from Murra, from Ibn Masʿūd, and from some people among the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him): When God presented these two parables for the hypocrites—meaning His statement: "Their example is that of one who kindled a fire" and His statement: "Or like a rainstorm from the sky", the three verses—the hypocrites said: God is far higher and more majestic than to present these parables. So God revealed: "Indeed, God is not timid to present an example of a mosquito" up to His statement: "it is those who are the losers."

And others spoke according to what:

555- Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to me, he said: Qurād narrated to us, from Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī, from al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas regarding the statement of the Exalted: "Indeed, God is not timid to present an example of a mosquito or what is above it." He said: This is a parable that God presented for this world: indeed, the mosquito lives as long as it is hungry, but when it becomes fat, it dies. And such is the example of these people for whom God presented this parable in the Qur'an: when they are filled with satiety from this world, God seizes them at that point. He said: Then he recited: {So when they forgot that with which they had been reminded, We opened to them the doors of every [good] thing until, when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and thereupon they were in despair} [Sūrat al-Anʿām: 44] (1).

556- Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to me, he said: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj narrated to us, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar narrated to us, from his father, from al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, the like thereof—except that he said: So when their appointed terms pass and their duration comes to an end (2), they become like the mosquito that lives as long as it is hungry and dies when it is quenched; so likewise are these people for whom God presented this parable: when they are filled with satiety from this world, God seizes them and destroys them. That is His statement: {until, when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and thereupon they were in despair} [Sūrat al-Anʿām: 44].

And others spoke according to what:

557- Bishr ibn Muʿādh narrated to us, he said: Yazīd narrated to us, from Saʿīd, from Qatāda regarding His statement: "Indeed, God is not timid to present an example of a mosquito or what is above it", that is, God is not timid regarding the truth to mention anything of it, whether little or much (3). When God mentioned the fly and the spider in His Book, the people of misguidance said: What did God intend by mentioning this? So God revealed: