22. That is, Hud (asws) – Qurtubi.

To begin by saying, “the brother of ` Ad” is to throw a hint to the Quraysh that the Messenger raised among you, is, after all, a brother of yours. Does a brother deserve the kind of treatment you have meted him? Further, does not brotherhood demand that you have good faith in him? On the other hand, the Prophet is reminded that he should not forget how other Prophets, brothers of their nations, were treated earlier. Finally, the Quraysh might be reminded that despite ties of brotherhood, or of friendship, the nations of other Prophets had to meet with the destruction because of their rejection (Sayyid, rephrased).

23. Ahqaf is plural of hiqf which, according to most commentators, is for curved sand dunes, high, but not as high as mountains. The area identified is between `Oman and Hadr al-Mawt in Yemen. Some scholars have stated that it was the name of a geographical area.

Syed Sulayman Nadwi’s research leads him to conclude in his Ard al-Qur’an, that the ` Ad lived in the Empty Quarter of today’s Saudi Arabia.

24. The statement that warners came after Hud can have two possible meanings. It is possible that after the destruction of the main body of ` Ad, the rest, as well as those that were rescued, were sent warners after Hud had died. Another possible meaning, as expressed by Zamakhshari, is that there might have been warners, (sort of minor Prophets: Au.), raised after Hud had been commissioned among the main body of `Ad, as aides to him and working for his cause in other areas of the land (Au.).

25. That is, Allah (swt) knows best whether you deserve to be punished immediately, or should you be given respite (Razi, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

26. The original term `aridh is for clouds that gather up at the horizon (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi).

27. Our own Prophet would feel very concerned when he saw clouds advancing. ` A’isha reports, as in Muslim:

“I never saw the Prophet laughing out boisterously so as to see his throat. Most of the time he smiled.” Then she added, “When he saw a piece of cloud or experienced high winds, the effect could be seen on his countenance.” Once she said (to him), “I see people feel glad when they see clouds in hope that it will bring rain. But as for you, I can see concern on your face when you see them advancing.” He said, “O `A’isha, what guarantee is there that they are not laden with chastisement? A nation was punished by the wind. A people saw the chastisement (coming), but said, ‘This is a cloud which will bring us rain.’” (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir and others).

Another report, (shortened here: Au.), also of Muslim has `A’isha saying that when the winds blew hard the Prophet (saws) would say,

“O Allah. I ask you for its best, the best that it bears and the best for which it was sent. And I seek Your refuge from its evil, the evil it bears, and the evil for which it was sent.” She added, “When the sky was filled with it and what it contains of lightning and thunder, His (facial) hue changed. He would go out, come in, go up and come back. When it rained he would feel relieved and I could see it on his face” (Ibn Kathir).

Qurtubi adds: The Prophet said, as in the Sahih of Muslim,

“I have been helped with Saba’, while `Ad were destroyed by the Dabbur (winds).”

28. Trees were uprooted, they were lifted high up in the air and dashed back against the ground. Then the winds piled sands upon them so that there was nothing left to be seen except a few of their ruined dwellings.

29. Yusuf Ali comments: “The ‘Ad and their successors the Thamud were more richly endowed with the faculties of the arts, sciences, and culture than ever were the Quraish before Islam. ‘Hearing and seeing’ refer to the experimental faculties; the word ‘heart’ in Arabic includes intellect, or the rational faculties, as well as the instruments of feeling and emotion, the aesthetic faculties. The Second ‘Ad, or Thamud, have left interesting traces of their architecture in the country round the Hijr.”