Narrated Masruq:
We were with `Abdullah and he said, "When the Prophet (ﷺ) saw the refusal of the people to accept Islam he said, "O Allah! Send (famine) years on them for (seven years) like the seven years (of famine during the time) of (Prophet) Joseph." So famine overtook them for one year and destroyed every kind of life to such an extent that the people started eating hides, carcasses and rotten dead animals. Whenever one of them looked towards the sky, he would (imagine himself to) see smoke because of hunger. So Abu Sufyan went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Muhammad! You order people to obey Allah and to keep good relations with kith and kin. No doubt the people of your tribe are dying, so please pray to Allah for them." So Allah revealed: "Then watch you For the day that The sky will bring forth a kind Of smoke Plainly visible ... Verily! You will return (to disbelief) On the day when We shall seize You with a mighty grasp. (44.10-16) Ibn Mas`ud added, "Al-Batsha (i.e. grasp) happened in the battle of Badr and no doubt smoke, Al-Batsha, Al-Lizam, and the verse of Surat Ar-Rum have all passed .
Narrated Masruq:
We came upon `Abdullah bin Mas`ud and he said "O people! If somebody knows something, he can say it, but if he does not know it, he should say, "Allah knows better,' for it is a sign of having knowledge to say about something which one does not know, 'Allah knows better.' Allah said to His Prophet: 'Say (O Muhammad ! ) No wage do I ask of You for this (Qur'an) nor am I one of the pretenders (a person who pretends things which do not exist).' (38.86) Now I will tell you about Ad- Dukhan (the smoke), Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) invited the Quraish to embrace Islam, but they delayed their response. So he said, "O Allah! Help me against them by sending on them seven years of famine similar to the seven years of famine of Joseph." So the famine year overtook them and everything was destroyed till they ate dead animals and skins. People started imagining to see smoke between them and the sky because of severe hunger. Allah said: 'Then watch you for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible, covering the people. . . This is painful torment.' (44.10-11) (So they invoked Allah) "Our Lord! Remove the punishment from us really we are believers." How can there be an (effectual) reminder for them when an Apostle, explaining things clearly, has already come to them? Then they had turned away from him and said: 'One taught (by a human being), a madman?' 'We shall indeed remove punishment for a while, but truly, you will revert (to disbelief).' (44.12-15) Will the punishment be removed on the Day of Resurrection?" `Abdullah added, "The punishment was removed from them for a while but they reverted to disbelief, so Allah destroyed them on the Day of Badr. Allah said: 'The day We shall seize you with a mighty grasp. We will indeed (then) exact retribution." (44.16)
Narrated `Abdullah:
It (i.e., the imagined smoke) was because, when the Quraish refused to obey the Prophet, he asked Allah to afflict them with years of famine similar to those of (Prophet) Joseph. So they were stricken with famine and fatigue, so much so that they ate even bones. A man would look towards the sky and imagine seeing something like smoke between him and the sky because of extreme fatigue. So Allah revealed:-- 'Then watch you for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible, covering the people; this is a painfull of torment.' (44.10-11) Then someone (Abu Sufyan) came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said, "O Allah's Messenger! Invoke Allah to send rain for the tribes of Mudar for they are on the verge of destruction." On that the Prophet (ﷺ) said (astonishingly) "Shall I invoke Allah) for the tribes of Mudar? Verily, you are a brave man!" But the Prophet prayed for rain and it rained for them. Then the Verse was revealed. 'But truly you will return (to disbelief).' (44.15) (When the famine was over and) they restored prosperity and welfare, they reverted to their ways (of heathenism) whereupon Allah revealed: 'On the Day when We shall seize you with a Mighty Grasp. We will indeed (then) exact retribution.' (44.16) The narrator said, "That was the day of the Battle of Badr."