Surah Ash-Shu'araa (26) — Ayah 146

(Ayah 146 to 150) ➊ { اَتُتْرَكُوْنَ فِيْ مَا هٰهُنَاۤ اٰمِنِيْنَ …:} Like the people of ‘Ad, these people too had turned away from the worship of Allah, were idol worshipers and deniers of the Resurrection, as a result of which all their efforts were limited to the attainment of worldly comforts and indulgence in luxury, completely devoid of any concern for the Hereafter and the sense of accountability before Allah. Their worst and most corrupt people had become their leaders and guides. Allah sent Salih (peace be upon him) to them, who, according to the above verses, advised them to fear Allah and obey His Messenger, and informed them that he was not seeking any kind of material benefit from them. After this, he reminded them of Allah’s blessings and warned them of His punishment. The people of Thamud lived in the region of Hijr, which is located between Madinah Munawwarah and Tabuk, and nowadays it is called “Madain Salih.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by here on his way to Tabuk; for details, see Surah Al-A’raf (7:73). That is, in this world, in your own region, you are living in peace, without fear of any enemy, you have everything you need, and all means of comfort and ease are available to you, so will you be allowed to live forever in these gardens, springs, fields with soft and delicate clusters of trees, and in the solid and beautiful buildings skillfully carved out of mountains? When it is certain that this will not happen, rather, in every case you will have to present yourselves before the Owner and be held accountable, then fear Allah and think about the answer to this question: you eat what He provides and sing the praises of another, and obey me, for He has sent me for your guidance.

➋ { وَ تَنْحِتُوْنَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ …:} The distinctive feature of the civilization of ‘Ad was that they built lofty buildings with pillars, whereas the most prominent feature of the civilization of Thamud, for which they were famous, was that they carved buildings inside mountains. Thus, in Surah Al-Fajr (7), ‘Ad are called {’’ ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ‘‘} (those with pillars), and regarding Thamud it is said: «{الَّذِيْنَ جَابُوا الصَّخْرَ بِالْوَادِ}» [ الفجر : ۹ ] “who carved out the rocks in the valley.” In addition, they also built large palaces in their plains, as it is said: «{ تَتَّخِذُوْنَ مِنْ سُهُوْلِهَا قُصُوْرًا }» [ الأعراف : ۷۴ ] “You build palaces on its plains.” The purpose of these constructions was to display their grandeur, skill, and artistic excellence, not any real necessity. This is the state of corrupt societies: on one hand, people cannot find a place to shelter themselves, while on the other, the rich and wealthy, instead of helping the weak, after building more buildings than they need, start constructing unnecessary monuments for show.

In Tafheem-ul-Qur’an it is stated: “Some of the buildings of Thamud still remain, which I myself saw in December 1959. This place is located a few miles north of the famous Hijaz site ‘Al-Ula’ (which was called Wadi Al-Qura in the Prophet’s time), between Madinah and Tabuk. Even today, the local people refer to this place by the names Al-Hijr and Madain Salih. In this area, ‘Al-Ula’ is still a very lush and fertile valley, with many springs and gardens, but around ‘Al-Hijr’ there is great desolation, the population is nominal, vegetation is very scarce, and there are a few wells, one of which, according to local tradition, was the one from which Salih’s (peace be upon him) she-camel used to drink water. Now it is found inside a deserted small Turkish-era outpost and is completely dry. When we entered this area and approached ‘Al-Ula’, mountains appeared everywhere that seemed to have been shattered as if in play; it was clear that some terrible earthquake had shaken them from the ground to the summit and split them apart. We found similar mountains to the east, going from ‘Al-Ula’ to Khaybar for about fifty (50) miles, and to the north, within 30 or 40 miles inside the borders of the state of Jordan. This means that there was a region three to four hundred miles long and a hundred miles wide that was shaken by a great earthquake.”