The Quraysh said to the Jews, "Give us something we can ask this man about."They replied, "Ask him about the spirit."So they questioned him about the spirit, and Allah revealed, "They ask you about the spirit. Say, the spirit is from the command of my Lord, and you have been given only a little knowledge" [Isra 17:85].The Jews said, "We have been given abundant knowledge. We have been given the Torah, and whoever is given the Torah has been given much good."Then this was revealed, "Say, if the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would run dry" [Kahf 18:109], to the end of the verse.Tirmidhi said, this hadith is hasan sahih gharib through this chain.
حدثنا قتيبة حدثنا يحيى بن زكريا بن أبي زائدة عن داود بن أبي هند عن عكرمة
قالت قريش ليهود أعطونا شيئا نسأل هذا الرجل فقال سلوه عن الروح قال فسألوه عن الروح فأنزل الله تعالى {ويسألونك عن الروح قل الروح من أمر ربي وما أوتيتم من العلم إلا قليلا} قالوا أوتينا علما كثيرا أوتينا التوراة ومن أوتي التوراة فقد أوتي خيرا كثيرا فأنزلت {قل لو كان البحر مدادا لكلمات ربي لنفد البحر} إلى آخر الآية قال هذا حديث حسن صحيح غريب من هذا الوجه
[Its chain of transmission is sahih]. Ahmad narrated it: 1/255, and Nasai in Kubra, no. 11314, from Qutayba, by the same route, and Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (Al-Ihsan): 99, as did Hakim: 2/531, and Dhahabi agreed with him. It has a corroborating narration in Bukhari, no. 125, and Muslim, no. 2794, and others.