51. 'Ad, an ancient Arab people, were well-known throughout Arabia. They
were known for their proverbial glory and grandeur. And when they were destroyed,
their extinction also became proverbial. So much so that ttre word 'Ad has come
to be used for things ancient and the word 'adiyat for archaeological remains.
The land whose owner is unknown and which is lying fallow, from neglect is called
'adi al-ard.
The ancient Arabic poetry is replete with references to this people. Arab genealogists
consider the 'Ad as the foremost among the extinct tribes of Arabia. Once a
person of the Banel Dhuhl b. Shayban tribe, who was a resident of the 'Ad territory,
called on the Prophet (peace be on him). He related stories to the Prophet about
the people of 'Ad, stories handed down to the people of that region from generation
to generation. (See Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 3, p. 482 - Ed.)
According to the Qur'an the people of 'Ad lived mainly in the Ahqaf region which
is situated to the south-west of the Empty Quarter (al-Rub' al-Khali) and which
lies between Hijaz, Yemen and Yamamah. It was from there that the people of
'Ad spread to the western coast of Yemen and established their hegemony in Oman,
Hadramawt and Iraq. There is very little archaeological evidence about the 'Ad.
Only a few ruins in South Arabia are ascribed to them. At a place in Hadramawt
there is a grave which is considered to be that of the Prophet Hud. James R.
Wellested, a British naval officer, discovered an ancient inscription in 1837
in a place called Hisn al-Ghurab which contains a reference to the Prophet Hud.
The contents unmistakably bear out that it had been written by those who followed
the Shari'ah of Hud. (For details see Tafhim al-Qur'an,
(al-Al. Ahqaf 46, n. 25.)