ثُلَّةٌ مِنَ الأَوَّلينَ

A multitude from the former ones.

EXEGESIS

Thullah refers to a group, crowd, or multitude of people or sheep. It is also used for a lump of wool.^{‎[1]Raghib; Maqayis, under th-l-l.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. The Prophet said: ‘The two multitudes are both from my nation.’^{‎[2]Tabari, 27/110; Suyuti, 6/159; Qurtubi, 18/201.}

Note: Verses 39 and 40 also talk about multitudes: A multitude from the former ones, and a multitude from the latter ones. That makes this narration inconsistent with three multitudes mentioned in this chapter. Even if one interprets the narration as ‘All of these groups are from my nation’ then that would suggest that the whole chapter – especially verse 7: And you will be three groups – only concerns those who were living at the time of the Prophet and afterwards, which is unlikely because the chapter is apparently more universal than that. Meanwhile, there might have been a mistake in the transcription of this narration, recording thullatān instead of thuluthān. In fact, it has also been narrated as: ‘The two multitudes are both from my nation.’^{‎[3]Zamakhshari, 4/458; Fatḥ-Allāh Kāshānī, Manhaj al-Ṣādiqīn, 9/149-150.} This would also comply with another prophetic narration where he describes the hereafter and says: ‘The people of paradise will be in 120 lines, eighty of which will be from my nation.’^{‎[4]Tabrisi, 7/112; Nur, 3/470; Fatḥ-Allāh Kāshānī, Manhaj al-Ṣādiqīn, 9/149.}

2. A part of a lengthy sacred tradition (al-ḥadīth al-qudsī) where God converses with Prophet Moses (a) is: ‘I enjoin and recommend you, O Moses, an enjoinment out of caring and concern, to … his name is Aḥmad Muhammad, the trustworthy, one of the remaining ones from the multitude of the former ones …’^{‎[5]Kafi, 8/43.}

Note: Two points can be deduced from this holy narration: 1. The former ones and the latter ones do not only include the nation of Prophet Muhammad (s), but they include everyone throughout history. 2. What makes a person to be among the former ones is not a temporal or historical matter. That is because the Prophet should historically be considered among the latter ones, while this narration classifies him as one of the former ones.

[1] Raghib; Maqayis, under th-l-l.
[2] Tabari, 27/110; Suyuti, 6/159; Qurtubi, 18/201.
[3] Zamakhshari, 4/458; Fatḥ-Allāh Kāshānī, Manhaj al-Ṣādiqīn, 9/149-150.
[4] Tabrisi, 7/112; Nur, 3/470; Fatḥ-Allāh Kāshānī, Manhaj al-Ṣādiqīn, 9/149.
[5] Kafi, 8/43.