Ibn Abbas said, "I know of a verse in the Quran about which no one has ever asked me. I do not know whether people already understood it and so did not ask, or whether they failed to notice it and therefore did not ask about it."Then he began narrating to us. When he got up to leave, we blamed one another for not having asked him about it. I said, "I will take care of it when he comes again tomorrow."When he came the next day, I said, "Ibn Abbas, you mentioned yesterday that there is a verse in the Quran about which no one has ever asked you, and that you do not know whether people understood it and so did not ask, or whether they failed to notice it. Tell me about it, and about the verses you recited before it."He replied, "Yes. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Quraysh, 'People of Quraysh, no being worshipped besides Allah holds any good.' Quraysh knew that the Christians worshipped Isa son of Maryam, so they said, 'Muhammad, what do you say about him?'They said, 'Muhammad, do you not claim that Isa was a prophet and a righteous servant from among the servants of Allah? If you are truthful, then their gods are just as you say.'So Allah revealed, "And when the son of Maryam was presented as an example, your people at once turned away from it" [Zukhruf 43:57]."I asked, "What does 'turned away' mean?"He said, "They laughed loudly. And His statement, "And indeed, he will be a sign for the Hour" [Zukhruf 43:61], refers to the descent of Isa son of Maryam
before the Day of Resurrection."
ابن عباس قال: لقد علمت آية من القرآن ما سألني عنها رجل قط، فما أدري أعلمها الناس، فلم يسألوا عنها، أم لم يفطنوا لها، فيسألوا عنها؟ ثم طفق يحدثنا، فلما قام، تلاومنا أن لا نكون سألناه عنها، فقلت: أنا لها إذا راح غدا، فلما راح الغد قلت: يا ابن عباس، ذكرت أمس أن آية من القرآن لم يسألك عنها رجل قط، فلا تدري أعلمها الناس، فلم يسألوا عنها، أم لم يفطنوا لها؟ فقلت: أخبرني عنها، وعن اللاتي قرأت قبلها. قال: نعم، إن رسول الله ﷺ قال لقريش: يا معشر قريش، إنه ليس أحد يعبد من دون الله فيه خير، وقد علمت قريش أن النصارى تعبد عيسى ابن مريم، وما تقول في محمد فقالوا: يا محمد، ألست تزعم أن عيسى كان نبيا وعبدا من عباد الله، صالحا، فلئن كنت صادقا، فإن آلهتهم لكما تقولون. قال: فأنزل الله عز وجل: {ولما ضرب ابن مريم مثلا إذا قومك منه يصدون} قال: قلت: ما يصدون؟ قال: يضحون: {وإنه لعلم للساعة}، قال: هو خروج عيسى ابن مريم عليه السلام قبل يوم القيامة.
Ahmad (2918) narrated it, and this is his wording, as did Tabarani in Al-Kabir (12/153), Tahawi in Mushkil Athar (986), and Ibn Hibban (6817), all of them by way of Asim bin Bahdala, from Abu Razeen Masud bin Malik Al-Asadi, from Abu Yahya, the freed slave of Banu Aqeel Al-Ansari, from Ibn Abbas, who said, and then he related it.Its chain is hasan because of Asim bin Bahdala, for his hadith is hasan.