embracing Islam, so the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—supplicated against them, saying, “O Allah, help me against them by afflicting them with seven years like the seven years of Joseph.” A famine then overtook them, during which they perished and ate carrion and bones, while a man would see what lay between heaven and earth as though it were smoke (1).

Ibn Jarīr al-Tabarī considered this view the stronger one. He then said, “This is because Allah—exalted is His praise—threatened the polytheists of Quraysh with the Smoke. His words to His Prophet Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—‘Then wait for the Day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke’ [al-Dukhān: 10] occur in the context of Allah addressing the disbelievers of Quraysh and rebuking them for their polytheism, when He says: ‘There is no deity except Him. He gives life and causes death—your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers. Yet they are in doubt, amusing themselves’ [al-Dukhān: 8–9]. He then followed this with His words to His Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—‘Then wait for the Day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke,’ commanding him to remain patient … until His punishment came upon them, and threatening the polytheists. Since it was a threat directed at them, it is more likely that He brought it upon them than that He deferred it from them and inflicted it upon others” (2).

The second view is that this Smoke is one of the awaited signs that have not yet occurred and that it will appear shortly before the Hour begins.

This was the view of Ibn Abbās and some of the Companions and Successors. Ibn Jarīr al-Tabarī and Ibn Abī Hātim narrated from Abdullah ibn Abī Mulaykah (3), who said: