Al-Ma'aarij • EN-ASBAB-AL-NUZUL-BY-AL-WAHIDI
﴿ بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ سَأَلَ سَآئِلٌۢ بِعَذَابٍۢ وَاقِعٍۢ ﴾
“ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall”
(A questioner questioned concerning the doom about to fall) [70:1]. This verse was revealed about al-Nadr ibn al-Harith when he said [as reported in the Qur�an] (O Allah! if this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom!) [8:32], and so he prayed against himself and asked for chastisement. He got what he asked for at the Battle of Badr when he was killed in captivity. And the verse (A questioner questioned concerning the doom about to fall) was revealed about him.