44:10
Then watch thou for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke (or mist) plainly visible,
In Qurʾānic interpretation, the phrase referring to the appearance of “manifest smoke” is understood in several ways by classical commentators. Many scholars interpret it as one of the signs indicating that the Hour, or the end of the world, is approaching. According to this view, the smoke will affect people differently: believers may experience it as a mild affliction similar to a severe cold, while disbelievers will experience it as a more intense form of suffering. These interpretations are discussed in classical Qurʾānic commentaries such as those associated with Al-Qurtubi and others.
Another interpretation relates the verse to an event during the lifetime of Muhammad. According to this explanation, the Prophet prayed for a famine to afflict those who rejected his message. The resulting famine became so severe that the people experienced intense hunger, causing their vision to blur and creating the appearance of smoke rising between the sky and the earth. In this reading, the description of smoke covering the people symbolizes the overwhelming hardship that afflicted them during that period. This interpretation appears in classical commentaries such as those of Ibn Kathir, Al-Qurtubi, and Al-Tabari.
A third interpretation proposes that the verse refers to the conquest of Mecca. In this explanation, the “smoke” is understood metaphorically as the dust raised by the advancing Muslim forces as they entered the city. Regardless of the specific interpretation, commentators generally agree that the verse describes a form of divine punishment or warning directed toward those who reject the message of revelation. Some scholars understand the phrase “this is a painful punishment” as describing the suffering experienced by the disbelievers, while others interpret it as words spoken to them as a form of rebuke for their denial of the truth.
References:
Nasr, Hossein (2015). Study Quran.