Section
Al-Bayhaqī (1) records here the Prophet’s supplication—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—against Quraysh when they obstinately refused to believe, asking that they be visited with “seven (years) like the seven of Joseph.” He then cites what the two Ṣaḥīḥ compilers (2) transmitted through al-Aʿmash, from Muslim b. Ṣubayḥ, from Masrūq, from Ibn Masʿūd, who said:
“Five (signs) have already taken place: al-Lizām, the Romans, the Smoke, the Great Seizure, and the splitting of the moon.”

In another report from Ibn Masʿūd (4) he said: “When Quraysh persisted in their resistance to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and delayed embracing Islam, he said, ‘O Allah, help me against them with seven (years) like the seven of Joseph.’ A drought struck them and stripped away everything, until they were eating carrion and dead flesh; a man would look toward the sky and see something like smoke because of hunger. The Prophet then prayed, so Allah lifted the affliction. ʿAbd Allāh then recited the verse, ‘Indeed, We will remove the punishment for a little while—yet you will revert (to disbelief)’ (Q 44:15). He continued, ‘So they reverted and disbelieved, and they were postponed until the Day of Resurrection—or,’ he said, ‘until the Day of Badr.’ ʿAbd Allāh added, ‘Had it been the Day of Resurrection, the punishment would never have been lifted: “On the Day We seize with the Greatest Seizure, We shall indeed exact vengeance” (Q 44:16)—that is, the Day of Badr.’

In yet another narration from him (6) he said: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw the people turning away, he prayed, ‘O Allah, (send) seven (years) like the seven of Joseph.’ A famine overtook them until they ate carcasses, hides, and bones. Abu Sufyān and a group of Meccans came to him and said, ‘O Muhammad, you claim to have been sent as a mercy, yet your people have perished. Pray to Allah for them.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed, and they were given rain, but it persisted for seven (days) and the people complained of the excess. He then said, ‘O Allah, around us and not upon us,’ whereupon the cloud drifted away from above him and those around were watered.

He concluded: ‘The sign of the Smoke has now passed—that was the famine that struck them—and that is His saying, “Indeed, We will remove the punishment for a little while—yet you will revert (to disbelief)” (Q 44:15); likewise the sign of the Romans, the Great Seizure, and the splitting of the moon. All of that occurred on the Day of Badr.’