Then Allah says, warning and threatening them:

فَارْتَقِبْ يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاء بِدُخَانٍ مُّبِينٍ ﴿١٠﴾

Then wait you for the Day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke.

It was narrated that Masruq said,

"We entered the Masjid -- i.e., the Masjid of Kufah at the gates of Kindah -- and a man was reciting to his companions, يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاء بِدُخَانٍ مُّبِينٍ (the Day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke). He asked them;

`Do you know what that is?' That is the smoke that will come on the Day of Resurrection. It will take away the hearing and sight of the hypocrites, but for the believers it will be like having a cold.'''

He said,

"We came to Ibn Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him, and told him about that. He was lying down, and he sat up with a start and said,

`Allah said to your Prophet

قُلْ مَآ أَسْـَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ وَمَآ أَنَآ مِنَ الْمُتَكَلِّفِينَ

Say: "No wage do I ask of you for this, nor am I one of the pretenders.'' (38:86).

And it is part of knowledge that when a man does not know something, he should say, `Allah knows best.'

I will tell you a Hadith about that.

When the Quraysh did not respond to Islam and they grew stubborn, the Messenger of Allah invoked Allah against them that they would have years like the years (of drought and famine) of Yusuf. They became so exhausted and hungry that they ate bones and dead meat. They looked at the sky, but they saw nothing but smoke.'''

According to another report:

"A man would look at the sky and he would see nothing between him and the sky except a smoky haze, because of his exhaustion.''

فَارْتَقِبْ يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاء بِدُخَانٍ مُّبِينٍ

يَغْشَى النَّاسَ هَذَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴿١١﴾

Then wait you for the Day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke, covering the people, this is a painful torment!

A man came to the Messenger of Allah and said, "O Messenger of Allah! Pray to Allah to send rain to Mudar, for they are dying. So the Prophet prayed for rain for them, and they got rain. Then the Ayah was revealed:

إِنَّا كَاشِفُو الْعَذَابِ قَلِيلًا إِنَّكُمْ عَائِدُونَ

Verily, We shall remove the torment for a while. Verily, you will revert. (44:15)

Ibn Mas`ud said, "Do you think that the torment will be removed for them on the Day of Resurrection? When they were granted ease, they reverted to their former state.

Then Allah revealed:

يَوْمَ نَبْطِشُ الْبَطْشَةَ الْكُبْرَى إِنَّا مُنتَقِمُونَ

On the Day when We shall strike you with the Great Batshah. Verily, We will exact retribution.'' (44:16)

He said, "This means the day of Badr.''

Ibn Mas`ud said,

"Five things have come to pass:

*

the smoke,
*

the (defeat of the) Romans,
*

the (splitting of the) moon,
*

the Batshah, and
*

the torment.''

This Hadith was narrated in the Two Sahihs.

It was also recorded by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, and by At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i in their (Books of) Tafsir, and by Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim with a number of chains of narration.

A number of the Salaf, such as Mujahid, Abu Al-`Aliyah, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i, Ad-Dahhak and `Atiyah Al-`Awfi concurred with Ibn Mas`ud's interpretation of this Ayah and his view that the smoke already happened. This was also the view of Ibn Jarir.

According to the Hadith of Abu Sarihah, Hudhayfah bin Asid Al-Ghifari, may Allah be pleased with him, said,

"The Messenger of Allah looked out upon us from a room while we were discussing the Hour. He said:

لَا تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتْى تَرَوْا عَشْرَ آيَاتٍ: طُلُوعَ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا، وَالدُّخَانَ، وَالدَّابَّةَ، وَخُرُوجَ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ، وَخُرُوجَ عِيْسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَالدَّجَّالَ، وَثَلَاثَةَ خُسُوفٍ: خَسْفٌ بِالْمَشْرِقِ، وَخَسْفٌ بِالْمَغْرِبِ، وَخَسْفٌ بِجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِ، وَنَارًا تَخْرُجُ مِنْ قَعْرِ عَدَنَ تَسُوقُ النَّاسَ أَوْ تَحْشُرُ النَّاسَ تَبِيتُ مَعَهُمْ حَيْثُ بَاتُوا، وَتَقِيلُ مَعَهُمْ حَيْثُ قَالُوا

The Hour will not come until you see ten signs.

*

The rising of the sun from the west;
*

the smoke;
*

the beast;
*

the emergence of Ya'juj and Ma'juj;
*

the appearance of `Isa bin Maryam;
*

the Dajjal;
*

three cases of the earth collapsing -- one in the east, one in the west, and one in the Arabian Peninsula;
*

and a fire which will emerge from the bottom of Aden and will drive the people -- or gather the people -- stopping with them when they stop to sleep at night or rest during the day.''

This was recorded only by Muslim in his Sahih.

In the Two Sahihs it was recorded that the Messenger of Allah said to Ibn Sayyad:

إِنِّي خَبَأْتُ لَكَ خَبْأ

I am concealing something for you.

He said, It is Ad-Dukh.

The Prophet said,

اخْسَأْ فَلَنْ تَعْدُوَ قَدْرَك

Be off with you! You cannot get further than your rank.

He said,

"The Messenger of Allah was concealing from him the words, فَارْتَقِبْ يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاء بِدُخَانٍ مُّبِينٍ (Then wait you for the Day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke).''

This indicates that the smoke is yet to appear.

Ibn Sayyad was a fortune-teller who heard things through the Jinn, whose speech is unclear, therefore he said,

"It is Ad-Dukh,'' meaning Ad-Dukhan (the smoke).

When the Messenger of Allah was sure what was happening, that the source of his information was the Shayatin, he said:

اخْسَأْ فَلَنْ تَعْدُوَ قَدْرَك

Be off with you! You cannot get further than your rank.

There are numerous Marfu` and Mawquf Hadiths,

Sahih, Hasan and others, which indicate that the smoke is one of the awaited signs (of the Hour). This is also the apparent meaning of Ayat in the Qur'an.

Allah says:

فَارْتَقِبْ يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاء بِدُخَانٍ مُّبِينٍ

Then wait you for the Day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke.

meaning, clearly visible, such that all people will see it.

According to Ibn Mas`ud's interpretation, this was a vision which they saw because of their intense hunger and exhaustion.

He also interprets the Ayah يَغْشَى النَّاسَ (Covering mankind),

meaning, it covered them and overwhelmed them.

But if it was only an illusion which happened to the idolators of Makkah, Allah would not have said "covering mankind.''

... هَذَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

this is a painful torment.

means, this will be said to them by way of rebuke.

This is like the Ayah:

يَوْمَ يُدَعُّونَ إِلَى نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ دَعًّا

هَـذِهِ النَّارُ الَّتِى كُنتُم بِهَا تُكَذِّبُونَ

The Day when they will be pushed down by force to the fire of Hell, with a horrible, forceful pushing. This is the Fire which you used to deny. (52:13-14)

Or some of them will say that to others.