English Translation

Abu Mu’awiyah told us: al-A’mash told us, from Muslim, from Masruq, who said: A man came to Abdullah and said, "I left in the mosque a man interpreting the Qur’an by his own opinion, saying about this verse, {The Day when the sky will bring a visible smoke} to the end of it, that on the Day of Resurrection smoke will cover them, taking away their breath until it afflicts them like a cold." He said: Abdullah said, "Whoever knows something, let him say it, and whoever does not know, let him say, ‘Allah knows best.’ For it is part of a man’s understanding that he says ‘Allah knows best’ about what he does not know. This was only because when Quraysh defied the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, he prayed against them for years like the years of Joseph, so a drought struck them and they suffered until they ate bones, and a man would look up at the sky and see between himself and the sky something like smoke from hunger. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, sent down: {So watch for the Day when the sky will bring a visible smoke, enveloping the people; this is a painful punishment}. Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was approached and it was said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah for rain for Mudar, for they have perished.’ He said: So he prayed for them, and Allah, Mighty and Majestic, sent down: {Indeed, We will remove the punishment a little}. Then when it struck them a second time, they returned [to disbelief], so there was revealed: {The Day when We strike with the greatest assault, indeed We will take retribution} — on the Day of Badr."