مَا وَدَّعَکَ رَبُّکَ وَ مَا قَلٰی ؕ﴿۳﴾
Your Lord has not forsaken you nor does He dislike you!
Tafsir al-Kabeer التفسیر الکبیر
قَالَ الْمُفَسِّرُونَ: أَبْطَأَ جِبْرِيلَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ: قَدْ قَلَاهُ اللَّهُ وَوَدَّعَهُ، فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَلَيْهِ هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ
The exegetists have mentioned: Sayyiduna Jibreel – peace be upon him – delayed in bringing the Wahy to the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – so the polytheists said: Allah dislikes him and has abandoned him then Allah Almighty revealed this verse upon him.
وَقَالَ السُّدِّيُّ: أَبْطَأَ عَلَيْهِ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً فَشَكَا ذَلِكَ إِلَى خَدِيجَةَ، فَقَالَتْ: لَعَلَّ رَبَّكَ نَسِيَكَ أَوْ قَلَاكَ
Imam Suddiy said: The Wahy got delayed upon him for 40 nights so he spoke to Sayyidah Khadeejah – may Allah be pleased with her – about it and she said, “Perhaps your Lord has forgotten about you or dislikes you.”
إِنَّ أُمَّ جَمِيلٍ امْرَأَةَ أَبِي لَهَبٍ قَالَتْ لَهُ: يَا مُحَمَّدُ مَا أَرَى شَيْطَانَكَ إِلَّا قَدْ تَرَكَكَ
Umm Jameel, the wife of abu lahab, said to him: O Muhammad, I do not see your devil, perhaps he has left you.
وَاخْتَلَفُوا فِي قَدْرِ مُدَّةِ انْقِطَاعِ الْوَحْيِ
فَقَالَ ابْنُ جُرَيْجٍ: اثْنَا عَشَرَ يَوْمًا
وَقَالَ الْكَلْبِيُّ: خَمْسَةَ عَشَرَ يَوْمًا
وَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: خَمْسَةٌ وَعِشْرُونَ يَوْمًا
وَقَالَ السُّدِّيُّ وَمُقَاتِلٌ: أَرْبَعُونَ يَوْمًا
The scholars differed over the duration for which the Wahy had been delayed:
Sayyiduna Ibn Juraij – may Allah be pleased with him – said: It was delayed for 12 days.
Sayyiduna Kalbi – may Allah be pleased with him – said: It was delayed for 15 days.
Sayyiduna Ibn ‘Abbas – may Allah be pleased with him – said: It was delayed by 25 days.
Sayyiduna Suddiy and Sayyiduna Muqatil – may Allah be pleased with them – said: It had stopped for 40 days.
وَاخْتَلَفُوا فِي سَبَبِ احْتِبَاسِ جِبْرِيلَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ
فَذَكَرَ أَكْثَرُ الْمُفَسِّرِينَ أَنَّ الْيَهُودَ سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَنِ الرُّوحِ وَذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ وَأَصْحَابِ الْكَهْفِ، فَقَالَ: «سَأُخْبِرُكُمْ غَدًا وَلَمْ يَقُلْ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ» فَاحْتَبَسَ عَنْهُ الْوَحْيُ
وَقَالَ ابْنُ زَيْدٍ: السَّبَبُ فِيهِ كَوْنُ جَرْوٍ فِي بَيْتِهِ لِلْحَسَنِ وَالْحُسَيْنِ، فَلَمَّا نَزَلَ جِبْرِيلُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ، عَاتَبَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ، فَقَالَ: «أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّا لَا نَدْخُلُ بَيْتًا فِيهِ كَلْبٌ وَلَا صُورَةٌ»
وَرُوِيَ أَنَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ قَالَ لِجِبْرِيلَ: «مَا جِئْتَنِي حَتَّى اشْتَقْتُ إِلَيْكَ، فَقَالَ جِبْرِيلُ: كُنْتُ إِلَيْكَ أَشْوَقَ وَلَكِنِّي عبدا مأمورا» وَتَلَا: وَما نَتَنَزَّلُ إِلَّا بِأَمْرِ رَبِّكَ [مَرْيَمَ: 64] .
The Scholars have also differed about the reasons as to why Sayyiduna Jibreel – peace be upon him – did not come to convey the Wahy:
Most the exegetists relied on the reason that the jews has asked the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – questions concerning the soul, Sayyiduna Dhul Qarnain – may Allah be pleased with him – and the people of the cave – may Allah be pleased with them, so he told them, “I shall inform you tomorrow but he did not say “in sha Allah” (by the Divine Will of Allah” therefore the Wahy had been stopped.
Sayyiduna Ibn Zaid – may Allah be pleased with him – said: The reason for the delay of Wahy was the presence of the puppy of Imam Hasan and Husain – may Allah be pleased with them – in his house, so when Sayyiduna Jibreel – peace be upon him – descended, Sayyiduna Rasoolullah – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – reprimanded him – and he then said, “Do you not know that I do not enter a house where there is a dog or picture (Image, painting, statue, model etc. of a living being)?”
It is also narrated that Sayyiduna Rasoolullah – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – said to Sayyiduna Jibreel – peace be upon him: Although I anticipated your arrival but you did not come to visit me.” Sayyiduna Jibreel – peace be upon him – replied, “I was yarning to meet you but I am only a servant to abide by the command (of my Master Allah)” and recited the following verse:
وَما نَتَنَزَّلُ إِلَّا بِأَمْرِ رَبِّكَ
(And Jibreel said to the beloved Prophet), ‘We angels do not descend but by the command of your honour’s Lord.
(Maryam 19, Verse 64)
Tafsir al-Kabeer (Mafateeh al-Ghaib) of Imam Fakhruddin Muhammad ibn Umar al-Raazi al-Shafe’i t D. 606 A.H.
Tafsir al-Jalalain تفسیر الجلالین
{مَا وَدَّعَك} تَرَكَك يَا مُحَمَّد {رَبّك وَمَا قَلَى} أَبْغَضك نَزَلَ هَذَا لَمَّا قَالَ الْكُفَّار عِنْد تَأَخُّر الْوَحْي عَنْهُ خَمْسَة عَشَر يَوْمًا إِنَّ رَبّه وَدَّعَهُ وَقَلَاهُ
Your Lord has neither forsaken you nor He has abandoned you, O Muhammad, nor does He hate you: this was revealed when the revelation had not come to him for fifteen days, the disbelievers said, ‘His Lord has abandoned him and hates him’.
Tafsir al-Jalalain of Imam Jalaaluddin Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mahalli al-Shafe’i t D. 864 A.H. and Imam Jalaaluddin Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr al-Suyooti al-Shafe’i t D. 911 A.H.
Tafsir Rooh al-Bayaan تفسیر روح البیان
ولا تقولن لشئ انى فاعل ذلك غدا الا ان يشاء الله
فاخبره بما سئل عنه
Indeed the Wahy had stopped upon the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – for over ten days due to leaving out “in sha Allah” and the way it happened that the polytheists of Quraish wrote to the jews of Madinah Munawwarah and asked them for a method to demoralize Sayyiduna Muhammad – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – so the jews suggested to ask him about the people of the cave, the incident of Sayyiduna Dhul Qarnain and about the soul, then see if he informs you about people of the cave, the incident of Sayyiduna Dhul Qarnain and if he does not inform you about the soul then know that he is speaking the truth. The polytheists approached him and inquired him about them, so the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – told them to go back and he shall inform them about it tomorrow but he did not say “in sha Allah” therefore the Wahy stopped for days and then the polytheists began to say that Muhammad’s Lord has abandoned him and dislikes him. Sayyiduna Jibreel – peace be upon him – then descended with the following command of Allah:
ولا تقولن لشئ انى فاعل ذلك غدا الا ان يشاء الله
And never say of anything, that I will do this tomorrow, except if Allah Wills.
(Al-Kahf 18, Verse 23-24)
Then he revealed to him what he had asked for.
Tafsir Rooh al-Bayaan of Imam Isma’eel Haqqi ibn Mustafa al-Istanbuli Hanafi t D. 1127 A.H.
MUSJIDUL HAQ 
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