سورة الدخان

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): فَارْتَقِبْ [Therefore keep waiting]; that is, be patient [and wait] یَومَ تَأْتِی السَّمَاء بِدُخَانٍ مُّبِینٍ [for the day when the heaven shall bring an evident smoke]; this bringing of a clear smoke by the sky is at the time of the raj'ah (return), when the disbelievers come out of their graves.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): [Because of the intense hostilities that the polytheists of Quraysh directed against the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and the way they harassed and harmed him and the other Muslims, he raised his hands in prayer and said to Allah:] O Allah! Curse [the two tribes of] Ri'l and Dhakwan and make the punishment of [the tribe of] Mudar more severe! O Allah! Afflict them with years of famine and drought like the years in the time of Yusuf (peace be upon him)... [As a result of this curse, an affliction seized them so that] whenever one of them went after another, he could not draw near to him, and if he did draw near, because of the intensity of hunger it was as if a smoke had veiled his eyes and he could not see the other. Goods and foodstuffs were being brought to them from various lands, but when they bought them and took delivery, before they could bring them to their houses, worms would eat them and they would spoil. For this reason they were compelled to eat the flesh of dead dogs, carrion and the hides of animals; they would dig open graves and burn the bones of the dead and eat them; and mothers would eat their own children; and a heavy smoke arose between the sky and the earth. As Allah has said: فَارْتَقِبْ یَومَ تَأْتِی السَّمَاء بِدُخَانٍ مُّبِینٍ* یَغْشَی النَّاسَ هَذَا عَذَابٌ أَلیمٌ [Therefore keep waiting for the day when the heaven shall bring an evident smoke, that shall overtake people; this is a painful punishment]. After some time Abu Sufyan and the chiefs of Quraysh [came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and] said: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Do you not order us to maintain the ties of kinship! Attend to your people, for they are on the verge of destruction.' So the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) prayed for them; as Allah has said [reporting their words]: 'Our Lord! Remove from us the punishment, surely we shall believe' (Dukhan/12). Allah answered them: 'We shall remove the punishment a little, but you will return [to your deeds]' (Dukhan/15). Consequently, fertility and abundance of blessing returned to them again; and the verses: 'So [in thankfulness for this great blessing] let them worship the Lord of this House* who fed them against hunger and gave them security from fear and insecurity' (Quraysh/4-3) refer to this matter.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): [The appearance of] smoke is one of the signs of the Hour, which enters the ears of the disbelievers and the hypocrites; and this sign has not yet appeared and it will appear before the establishment of the Hour and will enter their ears in such a way that their heads will become like a roasted head. The believer, on account of this smoke, will [only] be afflicted with a discomfort like a head-cold; and the earth will become like a house that has no opening and in which a fire has been kindled; and this condition will continue for forty days.