46. Al-Ahqaf Page 505 وَ اذْكُرْ And mention اَخَا (the) brother عَادٍ ؕ (of) Aad اِذْ when اَنْذَرَ he warned قَوْمَهٗ his people بِالْاَحْقَافِ in the Al-Ahqaf وَ قَدْ and had already passed away خَلَتِ and had already passed away النُّذُرُ [the] warners مِنْۢ before him بَیْنِ before him یَدَیْهِ before him وَ مِنْ and after him خَلْفِهٖۤ and after him اَلَّا That not تَعْبُدُوْۤا you worship اِلَّا except اللّٰهَ ؕ Allah اِنِّیْۤ Indeed, I اَخَافُ [I] fear عَلَیْكُمْ for you عَذَابَ a punishment یَوْمٍ (of) a Day عَظِیْمٍ Great قَالُوْۤا They said اَجِئْتَنَا Have you come to us لِتَاْفِكَنَا to turn us away عَنْ from اٰلِهَتِنَا ۚ our gods فَاْتِنَا Then bring us بِمَا what تَعِدُنَاۤ you threaten us اِنْ if كُنْتَ you are مِنَ of الصّٰدِقِیْنَ the truthful قَالَ He said اِنَّمَا Only الْعِلْمُ the knowledge عِنْدَ (is) with Allah اللّٰهِ ۖؗ (is) with Allah وَ اُبَلِّغُكُمْ and I convey to you مَّاۤ what اُرْسِلْتُ I am sent بِهٖ with it وَ لٰكِنِّیْۤ but اَرٰىكُمْ I see you قَوْمًا a people تَجْهَلُوْنَ ignorant فَلَمَّا Then when رَاَوْهُ they saw it عَارِضًا (as) a cloud مُّسْتَقْبِلَ approaching اَوْدِیَتِهِمْ ۙ their valleys قَالُوْا they said هٰذَا This عَارِضٌ (is) a cloud مُّمْطِرُنَا ؕ bringing us rain بَلْ Nay هُوَ it مَا (is) what اسْتَعْجَلْتُمْ you were asking it to be hastened بِهٖ ؕ you were asking it to be hastened رِیْحٌ a wind فِیْهَا in it عَذَابٌ (is) a punishment اَلِیْمٌۙ painful تُدَمِّرُ Destroying كُلَّ every شَیْءٍۭ thing بِاَمْرِ by (the) command رَبِّهَا (of) its Lord فَاَصْبَحُوْا Then they became (such) لَا not یُرٰۤی is seen اِلَّا except مَسٰكِنُهُمْ ؕ their dwellings كَذٰلِكَ Thus نَجْزِی We recompense الْقَوْمَ the people الْمُجْرِمِیْنَ [the] criminals وَ لَقَدْ And certainly مَكَّنّٰهُمْ We had established them فِیْمَاۤ in what اِنْ not مَّكَّنّٰكُمْ We have established you فِیْهِ in it وَ جَعَلْنَا and We made لَهُمْ for them سَمْعًا hearing وَّ اَبْصَارًا and vision وَّ اَفْـِٕدَةً ۖؗ and hearts فَمَاۤ But not اَغْنٰی availed عَنْهُمْ them سَمْعُهُمْ their hearing وَ لَاۤ and not اَبْصَارُهُمْ their vision وَ لَاۤ and not اَفْـِٕدَتُهُمْ their hearts مِّنْ any شَیْءٍ thing اِذْ when كَانُوْا they were یَجْحَدُوْنَ ۙ rejecting بِاٰیٰتِ (the) Signs اللّٰهِ (of) Allah وَ حَاقَ and enveloped بِهِمْ them مَّا what كَانُوْا they used (to) بِهٖ [at it] یَسْتَهْزِءُوْنَ۠ ridicule
(46:21) Recount to them the story of (Hud), the brother of (the tribe of) 'Ad. Hud warned his people beside the sand-dunes25 � and there have been other warners before him and since his time � saying: “Serve none but Allah. Verily I fear that the chastisement of an awesome day shall come upon you.”
(46:22) They said: “Have you come to us to turn us away from our gods? Then, bring upon us the scourge that you threaten us with. Do so if you are truthful.”
(46:23) He replied: “Allah alone knows about this.26 I only convey to you the Message that I have been sent with. But I see that you are an ignorant people.”27
(46:24) When they saw the scourge advancing towards their valleys, they said: “This is a cloud that will bring much rain to us.” “By no means;28 it is what you had sought to hasten � a wind-storm bearing a grievous chastisement
(46:25) that will destroy everything by the command of its Lord.” Thereafter nothing was left to be seen except their dwellings. Thus do We requite the wrong-doers.29
(46:26) We had established them firmly in a manner We have not established you.30 We had given them ears and eyes and hearts. But nothing availed them � neither their ears, nor their eyes, nor their hearts, for they denied the Signs of Allah.31 Then what they had mocked at encompassed them.
25. Since the Quraysh chiefs thought very highly of themselves and boasted of their glory and affluence, the story of the people of ‘Ad is related to them. The ‘Ad were known in Arabia for their might and glory.
Ahqaf is the plural form of hiqf, which literally means a sand dune. This was used as a special term for the empty quarter in the Arabian desert which to this day has remained unsuitable for habitation.
According to Ibn Ishaq, the ‘Ad were settled in the region extending from Oman to Yemen. (Tabari, Tafsir, comments on Surah al-A’raf’7: 69).
According to the Qur’an, al-Ahqaf was their homeland. They then moved out from their land and established control over neighboring lands. At a place near Hadramawt, which is about 125 miles away from Mukallah in Yemen, there is a grave which people regard as that of the Prophet Hud (peace be on him.) On 15 Sha’ban every year a religious festival is held there, attracting thousands of people from every nook and corner of Arabia. Although it is not conclusively established that what is believed to be the Prophet Hiid’s grave is truly his, yet the pilgrims’ visit and the attachment of the people of southern Arabia to it show that according to local traditions the place is associated with the ‘Ad. Many ruins in the area are called the abode of the ‘Ad by locals.
While looking today at al-Ahqaf region, it is hard to believe that a mighty and glorious civilization once flourished there. It is quite likely, however, that this was a fertile region thousands of years ago and was later reduced to an arid desert as it appears today. Today, however, it is a huge desert and people can hardly muster the courage to penetrate its depths. In 1843, a Bavarian German soldier managed to reach its southern edge. He pointed out that if one looks at it from Hadramawt’s northern plateau, the desert appears to be a one-thousand-feet-deep valley. The Arab Bedouins are mortally afraid of this desert and are not prepared to go there at all. According to the above-mentioned traveler, no local person was willing to escort him there, so he went there alone. According to him, the sand is like fine powder and anything dropped into it sinks and is decomposed in no time. When he threw a plummet into the desert from a distance, it sank into it within five minutes and the end of the rope with which it was attached also decomposed. (For further details of the region, see the following: Harold Ingrams, Arabia and the Isles, London, 1964; R.H. Kiernan, The Unveiling of Arabia. London, 1937; and H. Philby, The Empty Quarter, London, 1933.)
26. God alone knows when His scourge will strike the unbelievers.
The Messenger (peace be on him) is not authorized to decide the period of respite or the date of punishment.
27. Out of their ignorance, the unbelievers take the Prophet's warnings lightly and ask him in a jocular mood to expedite the punishment.
They have absolutely no idea of the gravity and enormity of Divine punishment. Their misdeeds, however, will soon bring such punishment upon them.
28. It is not specified who said so. It emerges from the context that the statement represents what the prevailing state of affairs practically told them. They thought that the clouds would provide them with water.
However, in reality it was God’s punishment that was rushing towards them, bent upon destroying them.
29. Fora detailed account of the story of the people of ‘Ad, see al-A ‘raf 7,nn. 51-6, Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. IIL, pp. 42-5; Hud 11, nn. 54-65, vol. IV, pp. 108-11; al-Muminun 23, nn. 34-7, vol. VI, pp. 96-9; al-Shu‘ara’ 26, nn. 88-94, vol. VIL pp. 91-4; al-’Ankabut 29, nn. 65-6, vol.
VIIL, pp. 36-7; and Ha Mim al-Sajdah 41, nn. 20-1 above.
30. The unbelieving Quraysh are no match for the ‘Ad in their affluence, power, authority and might. Their authority is confined only to the city of Makkah whereas the ‘Ad exercised control over very large chunks of territory.
31. This states a significant truth: God’s signs impart to man true understanding and insight. Thanks to this, man draws sound conclusions, takes proper decisions and thinks in the right way. However, when man refuses to recognize God’s signs, he is unable to perceive truth notwithstanding his faculty of sight. Likewise, he does not heed any advice although he is able to hear. He misuses the powers and abilities of his mind and heart and draws false conclusions. Ultimately, he courts his own disaster.