75 Preface ۞ وَلَو رَحِمناهُم وَكَشَفنا ما بِهِم مِن ضُرٍّ لَلَجّوا في طُغيانِهِم يَعمَهونَYusuf AliIf We had mercy on them and removed the distress1 which is on them, they would obstinately persist in their transgression, wandering in distraction to and fro.The reference is to a very severe famine felt in Mecca, which was attributed by the Unbelievers to the presence of the Prophet among them and his preaching against their gods. As this is a Meccan Sūra, the famine referred to must be that described by Ibn Kathir as having occurred in the 8th year of the Mission, say about four years before the Hijrat. There was also a post-Hijrat famine, which is referred to by Bukhan, but that was a later event.