The conditional sentence and the one that is conjoined to it, namely his saying, "If it is made clear to you, it will distress you," and "If you ask about it when the Qur'an is revealed, it will be made clear to you as a description of things." The meaning is: Do not excessively question the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, until you ask him about burdensome obligations upon you. If he gives you a ruling on them and commands you with them, it will distress you and be difficult for you, and you will regret asking about them. This is similar to what has been narrated that Suraqa bin Malik or Ukasha bin Muhsin said: "O Messenger of Allah, is pilgrimage (hajj) upon us every year?" The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, turned away from him until he repeated his question three times. Then he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Woe to you! What makes you secure that I will say yes? By Allah, if I said yes, it would be obligatory, and if it were obligatory, you would not be able to do it. And if you abandoned it, you would disbelieve. So leave me as I have left you, for those before you were destroyed by their excessive questioning and their differing with their prophets. So if I command you with something, take from it what you can, and if I prohibit you from something, avoid it." [[This context I did not find attributed to either Suraqa or Ukasha. As for Suraqa, Muslim narrated from the long hadith of Jabir regarding the description of hajj, "Then Suraqa bin Malik said: 'O Messenger of Allah, is this for this year or forever?'" I said: And it is also in Bukhari from another chain from Jabir, and in the narrations of Nasai and Ibn Majah from the hadith of Suraqa bin Malik himself that he said to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, "O Messenger of Allah, is this Umrah for this year or forever?" He said: "No, rather forever. Umrah has entered into hajj until the Day of Resurrection." As for Ukasha bin Muhsin, it was narrated by Al-Tabari and Ibn Mardawayh from the route of Muhammad bin Ziyad: I heard Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, say, "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, addressed us and said: 'O people, hajj has been prescribed for you.' Ukasha bin Muhsin Al-Asadi said: 'Every year, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'As for me, if I said yes, it would be obligatory. And if it were obligatory and you abandoned it, you would go astray. Be silent about what I am silent about, for those before you were destroyed by their excessive questioning and their differing with their prophets.' Then Allah revealed: (O you who have believed, do not ask about things) the verse, which is closer to the context of the compiler, without what was mentioned at the end, which the compiler mentioned is in the following hadith. Al-Tabari narrated from the route of Abu Ishaq Al-Hajari from Ibn Abbas from Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, who said that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Indeed, Allah has prescribed hajj upon you, and a man said: 'Every year, O Messenger of Allah?' He turned away from him until he repeated it two or three times. He said: 'Who is the questioner?"} }

It was said, so-and-so. He said: By the One in whose hand is my soul, if I had said yes, it would have been obligatory, and if it had been obligatory, you would not have been able to fulfill it. And if you had abandoned it, you would have disbelieved. Then Allah, the Exalted, revealed this verse: "O you who have believed, do not ask about things..." It was also narrated through the chain of Muawiya ibn Yahya from Safwan ibn Amr from Suleiman ibn Amir from Abu Umamah that he heard him say: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, stood among the people and said: 'Hajj has been made obligatory upon you,' and a man from the Bedouins stood up - and he mentioned the hadith, and in it he said: 'Woe to you! What assures you that I would say yes? By Allah, if I had said yes, it would have been obligatory, and if it had been obligatory, you would have disbelieved.' As for the rest, it is in what Muslim narrated through the chain of Al-Rabi' ibn Muslim from Muhammad ibn Ziyad from Abu Huraira: 'The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, addressed us and said: 'O people, Allah has made Hajj obligatory upon you, so perform Hajj.' A man said: 'Every year, O Messenger of Allah?' He remained silent until the man repeated it three times. He said: 'If I had said yes, it would have been obligatory, and you would not have been able to fulfill it. Then he said: 'Let me be, as I have left you. Indeed, those who were before you perished due to their excessive questioning and their disagreement with their prophets. If I command you with something, then do of it what you are able, and if I prohibit you from something, then leave it.' And Al-Aqra' ibn Habis asked about Hajj, and in some of the Sunnah it is narrated from Ibn Abbas that 'Al-Aqra' ibn Habis asked the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: 'Is Hajj every year or just once?' He said: 'Once.' Anything beyond that is voluntary.' And Al-Tabari narrated this from this chain. The man was named Al-Muhsin Al-Asadi, and in other accounts, he is 'Ukasha ibn Muhsin.' (And if you ask about it when the Qur'an is revealed) And if you ask about these difficult obligations during the time of revelation, while the Messenger is among you receiving revelation, it will be made clear to you. Those difficult obligations that distress you, and you are commanded to bear them, thus exposing yourselves to the anger of Allah by neglecting them. May Allah forgive what has passed. May Allah forgive what has preceded from your questioning, so do not return to similar questions. And Allah is Forgiving and Forbearing; He does not hasten to punish you for what you neglect. If you say: How did He say: 'Do not ask about things' and then said: 'Indeed, they have asked about it' and did not say: 'They have asked about it'? I say: The pronoun in: 'They have asked about it' does not refer back to 'things' so that it must be modified by 'about.' Rather, it refers back to the question indicated by 'do not ask.' This means that a group of these questions were asked by the earlier ones, and they became disbelievers because of it, or due to it. This is because the Children of Israel used to ask their prophets about things, and when they were commanded with them, they abandoned them and perished.