‘Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with them) narrates that a Jewish scholar came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said,“O Muhammad (peace be upon him)! Or O Abul Qasim (peace be upon him)! On the Day of Resurrection, Allah, the Exalted, will hold the heavens on one finger, the earths on one finger, the mountains and trees on one finger, the water and moist earth on one finger, and all creation on one finger. Then He will shake them and say, ‘I am the King, I am the King.’”Hearing this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled in amazement and affirmed the words of that scholar. Then he recited this verse:“They did not appraise Allah with true appraisal as is due to Him, and on the Day of Resurrection the whole earth will be in His grip, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand. Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him.”

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says that three men gathered near the House of Allah; two of them were from the Quraysh and one from Thaqif, or two were from Thaqif and one from the Quraysh. Their understanding was little and their bellies were full of fat (from this it is understood that with obesity, wisdom is less). One of them said, "What do you think, does Allah hear what we say?" The second said, "If we call out loudly, He will hear, and if we speak quietly, He will not hear." The third said, "If He hears when we call out loudly, then He will also hear when we speak quietly." Then Allah revealed this verse: "You did not conceal yourselves lest your ears, your eyes, and your skins would testify against you..." (the whole verse: but you thought that many of the deeds you do, Allah does not know).

Masruq says: We were sitting with Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) and he was lying down among us, when a man came and said,“O Abu Abdur Rahman! There is a storyteller at the gates of Kindah who says that the verse about smoke in the Qur’an refers to smoke that will come and suffocate the disbelievers, while the Muslims will only experience a cold-like sensation from it.”Upon hearing this, Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) sat up angrily and said,“O people! Fear Allah. Whoever among you knows something should say it, and whoever does not know should say, ‘Allah knows best.’ For this is the essence of knowledge: that if one of you does not know something, he should say, ‘Allah knows best.’ Allah, Glorified and Exalted, said to His Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): ‘Say, O Muhammad (peace be upon him), I do not ask you for any reward, nor am I one of those who pretend’ (__QUR_N__). When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw the state of the people, that they would not accept through explanation, he said, ‘O Allah! Send upon them a seven-year famine like the seven years of famine during the time of Yusuf (peace be upon him).’ So a famine struck the Quraysh that consumed everything, until they ate skins and carrion out of hunger, and when one of them looked at the sky, it appeared to him like smoke. Then Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, ‘O Muhammad (peace be upon him)! You command obedience to Allah and maintaining family ties, but your people have been destroyed. Pray to Allah for them.’ Allah the Exalted said, ‘So watch for the Day when the sky will bring a visible smoke, covering the people; this is a painful punishment...’ (__QUR_N__) until He said, ‘We will remove the punishment a little, but you will surely revert’ (__QUR_N__). If this verse referred to the punishment of the Hereafter, would it ever be removed? Then Allah the Exalted says, ‘On the Day We will strike with the greatest assault, We will surely take retribution’ (__QUR_N__). This ‘assault’ refers to the punishment at Badr, and these signs—smoke, the assault, the ‘lizam’, and the signs of Rome—have already passed.”

`Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says that five signs have already passed, and they are Dukhan, Lizam, Rome, Batshah, and Qamar (that is, the splitting of the moon).

Narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that armed men from Makkah descended upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from the mountain of Taneem. They intended to attack the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions by deception and in a state of heedlessness. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) captured them but did not kill them. Then Allah Almighty revealed this verse: "That is, He is Allah who restrained their hands from you (and their deception did not succeed) and restrained your hands from them (that is, you did not kill them) after He had given you victory over them within the boundary of Makkah."

Narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: When this verse was revealed, "O you who believe! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet... till the end," Sayyiduna Thabit bin Qais bin Shammas (may Allah be pleased with him) stayed in his house and said, "I am among the people of Hell" (because his voice was very loud and he was the orator of the Ansar, so he became afraid), and he stopped coming to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), "O Abu Amr! What is the condition of Thabit? Has he fallen ill?" Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "He is my neighbor, I do not know that he is ill." Then Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) went to Sayyiduna Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) and conveyed to him what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had said. So Sayyiduna Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "This verse has been revealed, and you know that my voice is louder than the voice of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), (therefore) I am among the people of Hell." Then Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) conveyed this to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "No, rather he is among the people of Paradise."

‘Abdul Wahhab bin ‘Ata, regarding the statement of Allah ((The Day We will say to Hell...)) the verse, narrates from Sa‘id, who narrates from Qatadah, who narrates from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), who narrates from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: People will continue to be thrown into Hell and it will keep saying,“Is there any more?”until Allah, the Mighty, will place His Foot in it. Then one part of it will draw back into another and it will say,“Enough, enough, by Your honor and generosity.”And there will remain space in Paradise until Allah creates a creation for it and places them in that space.

Abu Ishaq says: I saw a man who asked Aswad bin Yazid, and he used to teach the Qur'an in the mosque, "Do you recite (muddakkir) with a dal or a dhal?" He replied, "I heard Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with them both) saying, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reciting (fahal min muddakkir) with a dal.'" (That is, the letter without a dot.)

Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The angels were created from light, the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire, and our master Adam (peace be upon him) from that which has been described in the Qur’an (i.e., from clay).

`Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says that from the time we became Muslims until the revelation of this verse, "Has the time not come for the hearts of those who believe to be humbled at the remembrance of Allah," for which Allah reproached us, four years had passed.