(They ask thee of the (destined) Hour, when will it come to port…) [7:187].
Said ibn 'Abbas: “Jabal ibn Qushayr and Shamwal ibn Zayd, who belonged to the Jews, said: 'O Muhammad, tell us when the last Hour will be, if you are really a prophet, for we know when it is going to be?' And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”.
Qatadah said: “The Quraysh said to Muhammad: 'There are between us ties of kinship, so tell us the timing of the last Hour?' And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (They ask thee of the (destined) Hour)”.
Abu Sa'id ibn Abu Bakr al-Warraq informed us> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdan> Abu Ya'la> 'Uqbah ibn Mukram> Yunus> 'Abd al-Ghaffar ibn al-Qasim> Aban ibn Laqit> Qarzah ibn Hassan who said: “I heard Abu Musa on a Friday on the pulpit of the main mosque of Basrah say: 'The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was asked about the timing of the last Hour while I was present, and so he said: 'None know its timing except Allah. He alone will manifest it at its proper time. However, I will inform you about its signs and what will happen ahead of it. There will be a lot of trials and harj ahead of the last Hour'. They asked: 'What does harj mean, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'This is an Abyssinian word which means killing, dryness of people's hearts and that one is cast among strangers, such that people hardly know each other, those who have good minds will disappear and only a group of weak people will remain who would neither know good nor forbid evil” '.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou