سُوْرَةُ الْعَنْكَبُوْتِ
Surah Al-Ankaboot (29) — Ayah 38
وَعَادًا وَثَمُودَا۟ وَقَد تَّبَيَّنَ لَكُم مِّن مَّسَـٰكِنِهِمْ ۖ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ أَعْمَـٰلَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَكَانُوا۟ مُسْتَبْصِرِينَ ﴿38﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And ‘Âd and Thamûd (people)! And indeed (their destruction) is clearly apparent to you from their (ruined) dwellings. Shaitân (Satan) made their deeds fair-seeming to them, and turned them away from the (Right) Path, though they were intelligent.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَعَادًۭا
waʿādan
And Aad
وَثَمُودَا۟
wathamūdā
and Thamud
وَقَد
waqad
and verily
تَّبَيَّنَ
tabayyana
(has) become clear
لَكُم
lakum
to you
مِّن
min
from
مَّسَـٰكِنِهِمْ ۖ
masākinihim
their dwellings
وَزَيَّنَ
wazayyana
And made fair-seeming
لَهُمُ
lahumu
to them
ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ
l-shayṭānu
the Shaitaan
أَعْمَـٰلَهُمْ
aʿmālahum
their deeds
فَصَدَّهُمْ
faṣaddahum
and averted them
عَنِ
ʿani
from
ٱلسَّبِيلِ
l-sabīli
the Way
وَكَانُوا۟
wakānū
though they were
مُسْتَبْصِرِينَ
mus'tabṣirīna
endowed with insight
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
38. And (We destroyed) ‘Ad and Thamud as well, and this has become clear to you from their dwellings [58]. Satan made their deeds seem attractive to them and turned them away from the right path, though they were people of intelligence [59].
[58] The homeland of the people of ‘Ad (the first) was the entire southern Arabia, that is, Yemen, Hadramaut, and the region of Ahqaf, and the region of Thamud was northern Arabia. Every child in Arabia was familiar with the history of these two regions. Then they would also keep seeing their ruined settlements.
[59]
‘Ad and Thamud: Wise in Their Own Affairs, Mad Otherwise:
That is, they were very clever and skilled in worldly matters. They were developed and civilized nations of their respective eras. They were intelligent. They were powerful, and especially had great mastery in the art of stone carving. But in matters concerning Allah, Satan had confounded their minds. Just as nowadays, when Christian scholars enter the field of research and criticism, they dissect things to the finest detail. But when it comes time to prove the doctrine of Trinity with rational arguments, they evade the issue and their intellects fail them. Yet they persist in it. Or, as today’s astronomers study celestial bodies with the most powerful telescopes, some of these scholars of astronomy are so confounded that, on one hand, they express wonder and amazement at the interconnected and organized system of the universe, but on the other hand, they declare all of this to be the result of coincidences. And the amusing thing is that they present these imaginary conjectures to others under the beautiful name of scientific research. The researchers of ‘Ad and Thamud were also people of this kind.
[58] The homeland of the people of ‘Ad (the first) was the entire southern Arabia, that is, Yemen, Hadramaut, and the region of Ahqaf, and the region of Thamud was northern Arabia. Every child in Arabia was familiar with the history of these two regions. Then they would also keep seeing their ruined settlements.
[59]
‘Ad and Thamud: Wise in Their Own Affairs, Mad Otherwise:
That is, they were very clever and skilled in worldly matters. They were developed and civilized nations of their respective eras. They were intelligent. They were powerful, and especially had great mastery in the art of stone carving. But in matters concerning Allah, Satan had confounded their minds. Just as nowadays, when Christian scholars enter the field of research and criticism, they dissect things to the finest detail. But when it comes time to prove the doctrine of Trinity with rational arguments, they evade the issue and their intellects fail them. Yet they persist in it. Or, as today’s astronomers study celestial bodies with the most powerful telescopes, some of these scholars of astronomy are so confounded that, on one hand, they express wonder and amazement at the interconnected and organized system of the universe, but on the other hand, they declare all of this to be the result of coincidences. And the amusing thing is that they present these imaginary conjectures to others under the beautiful name of scientific research. The researchers of ‘Ad and Thamud were also people of this kind.
