5857 - Usayd ibn 'Asim narrated to us, al-Husayn—meaning Ibn Hafs—narrated to us, Sufyan narrated to us, from Hisham ibn Hassan, from Jabalah ibn 'Atiyah, from Ibn Muhayriz, who said: This verse was recited in his presence: "And Allah has preferred the strivers over the sedentary with a great reward. Degrees from Him, and forgiveness and mercy, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." He said: "The degrees are seventy degrees; between each two degrees is the [length of] a sprint of a noble, groomed horse [covering a distance of] seventy years."

5858 - Abu Zur'ah narrated to us, Yahya ibn 'Abd Allah narrated to us, Ibn Lahi'ah informed me, 'Ata' informed me, from Sa'id ibn Jubayr regarding His saying: "Degrees from Him, and forgiveness and mercy," meaning: favors and mercy.

5859 - My father narrated to us, 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn al-Mughirah narrated to us, Yazid ibn Zuray', narrated to us, from Sa'id, from Qatadah regarding His saying: "Degrees from Him, and forgiveness and mercy," he says: Islam is a degree, the Hijrah (emigration) is a degree, and being killed in the way of Allah is a degree.

His saying, the Almighty: "And was."

5860 - Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Qasim ibn 'Atiyah narrated to us, Ibrahim—meaning Ibn Musa—narrated to us, Abu Mu'awiyah informed us, from Mujammi' ibn Yahya, from Khalid ibn Yazid, from Ibn 'Abbas regarding His saying: "And was," he said: And likewise He was, He has never ceased to be.

His saying, the Almighty: "And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

5861 - Abu Zur'ah narrated to us, Yahya ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Bukayr narrated to us, Ibn Lahi'ah informed me, 'Ata' informed me, from Sa'id ibn Jubayr regarding His saying: "And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful," through the favor of seventy degrees.

His saying, the Almighty: "Indeed, those whom the angels take in death while they are wronging themselves."

[The first perspective]

5862 - Yunus ibn 'Abd al-A'la informed us by way of recitation, Ibn Wahb informed us, Ibn Lahi'ah informed me, from Abu al-Aswad, that he heard a mawla (freed slave) of Ibn 'Abbas saying, from Ibn 'Abbas: That some Muslims were with the polytheists, increasing the numbers of the polytheists against the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). An arrow would come and be shot, hitting one of them and killing him, or he would be struck and killed. So Allah the Almighty revealed concerning them: "Indeed, those whom the angels take in death while they are wronging themselves, they (the angels) will say, 'In what condition were you?' They will say, 'We were oppressed in the land.' They (the angels) will say, 'Was not the earth of Allah spacious..." [until the end of the] verse.