۞ وَلَوْ رَحِمْنَاهُمْ وَكَشَفْنَا مَا بِهِم مِّن ضُرٍّ لَّلَجُّوا فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ (75)
(23:75) If We take compassion on them and relieve them of their affliction, they will persist blindly in their rebellion: *72
*72) The affliction alluded to in this verse was the famine which occurred in Makkah some time after the advent of Prophethood. According to Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, when the Quraish persistently refused to accept the invitation of the Holy Prophet and started putting up stiff resistance, he prayed, "O AIIah, help me against them with a seven-year famine like the seven-year famine of the time of Prophet Joseph." So a severe famine started in Makkah with the result that people were obliged to eat carrion. This famine has been alluded to in a number of Makki Surahs. For instance see Al-An'am (VI): 42-44, AI-A'araf (VII): 94-99, Yunus (X): 11, 12, 21, An-Nahl (XVI): 112-113 and Ad-Dukhan (XLIV): 10-16 along with the relevant E.N.'s.