Why did the Prophet (peace be upon him) fear the entanglement of clouds and believe it to be a torment for his people, despite Allah's promise not to torment them while he was among them: "And Allah would not punish them while you were among them" (Quran 8:33)?

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, in Fath al-Bari, addressed the apparent contradiction between the Anfal verse and Aisha's hadith, stating that the Anfal verse could be subject to specification (takhsis), or restricted to a particular time, or that the state of fear necessitates not feeling secure from Allah's cunning. The more appropriate explanation is to say that the Messenger feared that punishment would befall those among whom he was not present, out of compassion for the believer due to his faith, and for the disbeliever in the hope of his conversion to Islam, and because he was sent as a mercy to the worlds. There is nothing in the hadith to indicate that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was certain that Allah would punish his people. Rather, his statement, "I do not know, perhaps it is as a people said: {And when they saw it as a cloud approaching their valleys}" indicates a lack of certainty regarding the occurrence of the punishment.