While I was walking with the Prophet ﷺ through a cultivated field, as he leaned upon a palm branch, he passed by a group of Jews. Some of them said to the others, "Ask him about the spirit."Others said, "What makes you doubt about him? He will not confront you with anything you dislike."But they insisted, "Ask him."So one of them stood up and asked him about the spirit. The Prophet ﷺ fell silent and gave him no answer, and I realized that he was receiving revelation. So I stood where I was, and when the revelation came down he said, "And they ask you about the spirit. Say, the spirit is from the affair of my Lord, and you have not been given of knowledge except a little" [Isra 17:85].
حدثنا عمر بن حفص بن غياث حدثنا أبي حدثنا الأعمش حدثني إبراهيم عن علقمة
بينما أنا أمشي مع النبي ﷺ في حرث وهو متكئ على عسيب إذ مر بنفر من اليهود فقال بعضهم لبعض سلوه عن الروح فقالوا ما رابكم إليه لا يستقبلكم بشيء تكرهونه فقالوا سلوه فقام إليه بعضهم فسأله عن الروح قال فأسكت النبي ﷺ فلم يرد عليه شيئا فعلمت أنه يوحى إليه قال فقمت مكاني فلما نزل الوحي قال {ويسألونك عن الروح قل الروح من أمر ربي وما أوتيتم من العلم إلا قليلا}
Muslim narrated the hadith of Ibn Idris, from Amash, from Abdullah bin Mura, from Masruq, from Abdullah, that a group of Jews passed by him and asked him about the soul. The hadith. He said, the companions of Amash narrated it, among them Abdul-Wahid bin Ziyad, Isa bin Yunus, Hafs bin Ghiyath, Waki, and others, from Amash, from Ibrahim, from Alqama, from Abdullah, and this is the correct version. And Allah knows best.