إِنّي آمَنتُ بِرَبِّكُم فَاسمَعونِ

Indeed, I have faith in your Lord, so listen to me.’

EXEGESIS

Āmantu (I believed) is derived from amina, meaning, literally, he felt secure and safe, or came into a state of security or safety. Originally, it means he became quiet or tranquil in heart, mind, or free from fear or expectation of evil. Since people expect a trustworthy source to be free from betrayal and disloyalty, the words related to the trust and the trustworthy are derived from this root. Thus, amīn is a trusted person, which was a title of the Holy Prophet. The derived form, āmana, means he believed in a thing, particularly used for belief in God.^{‎[1]Lane, p. 101.}

EXPOSITION

This statement of Ḥabīb is addressed either to the people of the town or to the messengers. He appealed to them to listen to his testimony of faith in believing in their Lord.^{‎[2]Tabrisi, 8/658.}

Tabatabai considers the addressee of this phrase to be the messengers, since your Lord is an obvious indication of the Lord of the messengers and not the idols that the people considered as their lords. Therefore, he was directing the testimony of his faith to the messengers so that they could bear witness for him before God. Since he was already a believer, his statement was a renewal of his testimony on truth and his emphasis on faith. Besides, his testimony was a form of public support to the messengers, too. The other probability indicating that he was addressing his people in support of the messengers do not befit the context of the verse.

However, some have opined that he was directing his testimony to his people to provoke their anger upon him to keep their attention away from the messengers because he felt they were going to harm them. According to this opinion, he meant that he had believed in the one God, who is also the Lord of the people because His lordship was proven to them.^{‎[3]Mizan, 17/78.}

On the other hand, some exegetes consider the above opinion – of the addressee being the messengers – to be an unsound argument and, based on the context of the previous verses, consider Ḥabīb to be addressing his polytheist people. In this case, there is no need for pronoun shift, since the pronouns in both sentences – so listen to me [you all] (fasmaʿūn) and your Lord (rabbikum) – refer to the people of the town.

The Quran is silent about what happened to Ḥabīb after this statement; however, it is understood from the context and the tone of the following verses that they rebelled against him and harshly stoned him to death, as indicated in a narration. Another narration indicates that they trampled over him violently with their feet which caused his death and his soul to enter paradise. His martyrdom is implicitly indicated in the next verse.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘A believer is firmer than a mountain; a reduction can be done from the mountain, but as for the believer, not a single thing can be reduced from his faith.’
2. Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘Verily, a believer is more solid than an iron rod. If the iron rod enters the fire, it changes; however, if the believer is killed, brought back to life and killed again, his heart would never change.’^{‎[4]Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 1/209.}
3. Imam Ali (a) said: ‘O people, do not feel lonely in the path of guidance due to the scarcity of its people, for the [majority of] people have gathered at the table of a meal, its satiation is short, and its starvation is long.’ In another example, he gave an example of the people of Prophet Noah (a), saying: ‘And none believed with him except a few [11:40].’^{‎[5]Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 1/210.}

Note: Ḥabīb was in the minority; in fact, he was the only believer in the town who accepted the messengers; from the verses and the narrations we have mentioned, he was a true believer with strong faith. 

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

There are three exegetical opinions regarding who were the addressees of the believer: 1. The messengers; when his people wanted to kill him, he directed his testimony to the messengers. 2. The polytheists. 3. Everyone listening to him.

There are a few possibilities for the words of Ḥabīb: so listen to me. First, he was addressing any person of intellect who had the capacity to think. Second, he was setting a proof against his people by making them aware of his faith; this is so that they should not later protest and give an excuse of him hiding his faith, and say that had he informed them they would have believed. The third possibility is that he meant by ‘listening’ to him he meant ‘accept the faith and follow his path’, such as if someone says: ‘I advised him, so he listened to me,’ meaning he took it and accepted it.

In one of the previous verses (verse 22), he mentions God as his originator and in this verse, he says your Lord. Based on the opinion that indicates he was addressing the messengers, the reason could be to make them understand that he has believed in their Lord. Therefore, if he had said ‘my Lord’, it may not have clearly indicated his intent, and it may have seemed as if he was referring to one of the idols. However, based on the opinion that he was addressing his people, he was emphasising monotheism, which he indicated previously by saying, Why should I not worship Him who has originated me, who is the only Lord, his and theirs, as in, Allah is our Lord and your Lord (42:15).

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. Moses said: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.’^{‎[6]Deuteronomy 6:4-9.}
2. Moses said: ‘And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?’^{‎[7]Deuteronomy 10:12-13.}
3. And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.^{‎[8]Hebrews 11:1-3, 6.}

[1] Lane, p. 101.
[2] Tabrisi, 8/658.
[3] Mizan, 17/78.
[4] Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 1/209.
[5] Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 1/210.
[6] Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
[7] Deuteronomy 10:12-13.
[8] Hebrews 11:1-3, 6.