Indeed, We sent it[2] down on a blessed night, We have been warning about.
[2] The revelation of the Qur’an started on the Night of Decree (al-Qadr) in the month of Ramadān, the 9th month of the lunar calendar. The Night of Decree is better than one thousand months. See (97:1 and 2:185).
So wait for a day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke[4],
[4] Referring to the drought that affected the pagans of Makkah severely, so they came to the Prophet (ﷺ), begging him to supplicate Allah to remove the affliction from them.
Are they better [in power] or the people of Tubba‘[9] and those who were before them? We destroyed them, for they were truly wicked[10].
[9] i.e., the people of Sheba.
[10] Tubba’ al-Himyari was a righteous Yemeni king of ancient times whose people persisted in disbelief and were destroyed; nonetheless, they were more powerful and superior to the pagans of Makkah.
“Taste this. You are surely the mighty and honorable![12]
[12] Abu Jahl, the chief of pagans in Makkah, replied to the warning of punishment in the Hereafter by saying, “How can I be punished when I am the mighty and honorable one!” So Allah killed him in the Battle of Badr and humiliated him, and revealed this verse. He will be taunted with these words in Hell as a reminder of his own words and additional torment.