وَجاءَ مِن أَقصَى المَدينَةِ رَجُلٌ يَسعىٰ قالَ يا قَومِ اتَّبِعُوا المُرسَلينَ

There came a man from the city outskirts, hurrying. He said: ‘O my people! Follow the apostles!

EXEGESIS

Aqṣā al-madīnah means the farthest place of the city measured from the centre, hence translated as city outskirts. Masjid al-Aqṣā was probably called so because it was one of the furthest places of worship from Mecca. Worthy of note is that the term qaryah, which was used at the beginning of this story, has changed to madīnah, which is more specific than qaryah.^{‎[1]Mizan, 17/75.}

Rajulun (a man) is used in the indefinite form to take the focus away from this man as an individual; instead, the focus is on his characteristics, his message and arguments, his place, and his post-martyrdom gladness.

Yasʿā is a present tense derived from the past tense saʿā, meaning he walked or went quickly, or lightly, as in the walk between Ṣafā and Marwah. It could also mean putting effort, exhorting, or striving to do something. Yasʿā in this verse is a circumstantial adverb describing how the man came to the city.^{‎[2]Mizan, 17/76.}

Yā qawmi (O my people) is the shortened version of yā qawmī which is cropped at the end. It indicates that the man who came from the outskirts of the city was from the same people in terms of origin and citizenship. 

EXPOSITION

According to Ibn Abbas and other exegetes, the person who came from the farthest end of the city to support the messengers was a person named Ḥabīb al-Najjār. His house was located at the farthest gate of the town, and he had believed in the messengers when they had arrived in the city. Later on, when he heard about their plight at the hands of the authorities, he came to the town in a sacrificial move to defend them and to persuade the people to follow them.

There is a considerable debate among the interpreters about the name, identity, profession, and further details of this Ḥabīb, which does not hold any importance; if it did, God would have indicated it and not left it out of the Quran. The main focus should be to reflect upon his strong faith that made him take a firm stance in supporting the messengers. For that reason, he was given the description of the honoured ones (verse 27), a description that God only gives to the high-ranked angels and His sincere servants. He stood against his people, confronted them firmly, and invalidated the proofs presented against worshipping God in favour of worshipping the idols.^{‎[3]Mizan, 17/76.}

Therefore, these verses signify a different aspect of the efforts of the messengers and the strategic defence of the minority of the brave believers in confronting the majority of the stubborn polytheists and how they stood firm until the last breath of their life defending the messengers, sacrificing everything they had to support the truth.

It was a message for the believers in the early days of Islam when the supporters of Prophet Muhammad (s) were few in number, who would be required to speak out in support of the truth at a time where silence would not help strengthen the message.^{‎[4]Amthal, 14/156.} It is also a message for believers of any time and place until the Day of Judgement, so whenever a believer faces circumstances similar to what Ḥabīb had faced, such as being a minority against a majority, he should try his best to support truth and righteousness while opposing evil, oppression, tyranny, and wickedness with whatever capacity available. Ḥabīb gained a lofty status; besides these verses, many narrations indicate his lofty and honoured status that very few would be fortunate to have.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. The Holy Prophet said: ‘The most veracious ones are three: Ḥabīb al-Najjār – the believer of the family of Yā Sīn – who said: O my people! Follow the apostles, Ezekiel – a believer from the family of Pharaoh – who said: Will you kill a man for saying ‘My Lord is Allah?’ [40:28], and Ali ibn Abī Ṭālib, the best of them.’^{‎[5]Mizan, 17/81-83.}

Note: In some of the narrations, the description used for these three personalities is: ‘The first supporters who never, ever disbelieved in God, even for a blink of an eye.’ In some narrations, Ezekiel is replaced with Yūshaʿ ibn Nūn.^{‎[6]Mizan, 17/81-83.}

2. The Messenger of God said: ‘The most beloved striving for God, the all-mighty, is a word of truth spoken to a tyrant ruler.’^{‎[7]Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 3/1944.}
3. Imam Ali (a) said: ‘Surly, enjoining good and forbidding evil do not bring death closer, nor do they decrease the sustenance, and best of all, it is a word of justice in the presence of a tyrant ruler.’^{‎[8]Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 3/1944.}
4. Imam Ali (a) said: ‘If you see an oppressed person, support him against the oppressor.’^{‎[9]Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 2/1780.}
5. Imam al-Kāẓim (a) said to Ali ibn Yaqṭīn: ‘Verily, God, the all-mighty, has His righteous servants among the servants of the oppressors, so that through them He would keep [evil] away from His [other] righteous servants, and you are one of them, O Ali.’^{‎[10]Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 2/1780.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

From the city outskirts is an astonishingly eloquent phrase; with the context of the previous verses, it indicates that the message of the messengers had reached the farthest ends of the city and its outskirts. Ḥabīb’s words, O my people! Follow the apostles! indicate his passion and care for his people. It was similar to Ezekiel, the believer from the household of Pharaoh, when he said to his fellow Egyptians, O my people! Follow me, I will guide you to the way of rectitude (40:38).^{‎[11]Razi, 26/262.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies.^{‎[12]Psalms 23.}

[1] Mizan, 17/75.
[2] Mizan, 17/76.
[3] Mizan, 17/76.
[4] Amthal, 14/156.
[5] Mizan, 17/81-83.
[6] Mizan, 17/81-83.
[7] Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 3/1944.
[8] Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 3/1944.
[9] Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 2/1780.
[10] Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 2/1780.
[11] Razi, 26/262.
[12] Psalms 23.