Tafsir of Hud 11:59

“And that is ‘Ad”—the demonstrative pronoun is feminine, taking into account the tribe, as has been said. Thus, the reference is to what is in the mind, and the distant form is used to debase them, or to place them in the position of the distant because they no longer exist, or the reference is to their graves and their sites of destruction, in which case the reference is to a physical, distant object, and the attribution is metaphorical. Alternatively, it is a metaphor of omission, meaning “those are the graves of ‘Ad.” It is also permitted that it is by estimation of “the people of that, which is ‘Ad.” The sentence is a subject and predicate, and the intention is to urge [the listeners] to draw a lesson from them and to be admonished by their conditions.

His saying—Exalted is He—“denied the signs of their Lord”, etc., is a resumption of the narration of some of their abominable acts; that is, they disbelieved in the signs of their Lord, by which He supported His Messenger who called to Him and by which He indicated his truthfulness, and they rejected them, saying: “O Hud, you have not brought us clear evidence.” Or, they denied His signs—Exalted is He—in the horizons and in themselves, which indicate Him—the Almighty—according to what Hud (peace be upon him) had told them. It is also permissible that this refers to the signs brought by Hud and other messengers (peace be upon them), which is consistent with the plural “messengers” mentioned subsequently.

The verb jahadu (denied) is connected with the particle bi (by/with), treating it as synonymous with kafaru (disbelieved), because that is what is intended, or by incorporating its meaning into it. Just as kafara functions like jahada, it is connected directly, as in His saying: “Verily, ‘Ad disbelieved in their Lord.” It is said that kafara is like shakara, connecting both directly and with the particle bi. The apparent meaning of the Qamus is that jahada is likewise.

“And disobeyed His messengers”—it is said that the messengers refer to Hud (peace be upon him) and the messengers who were with him from those before him, though this is contrary to the apparent meaning. It is also said that they refer to Hud (peace be upon him) and all the messengers before him who were sent to the nations preceding and following him, based on the principle that disobeying him—peace be upon him—and likewise disobeying any messenger, is equivalent to disobeying all messengers, because they are all in agreement regarding Monotheism; thus, disobeying one is a disobedience to all of them in that regard. Or, it is based on the fact that every messenger before him commanded them to obey the messengers and believe in them if they encountered them, but they did not comply with that command.

“And followed the command of every tyrant”—one who is arrogant toward accepting the truth. Al-Kalbi said: He is the one who kills in anger and punishes for disobedience. Al-Zajjaj said: He is the one who compels people to do what he wishes. Ibn al-Anbari mentioned that he is the one who is great in his own estimation, arrogant toward the servants.

“Obstinate”—that is, one who is tyrannical (tāghin) from ‘anda, which takes the nūn with the triple vowel (fat-ha, damma, and kasra), meaning he becomes tyrannical and exceeds the limit in disobedience. Al-Raghib explained it as one who is infatuated with what he possesses, and al-Jawhari as one who opposes the truth while knowing it. ‘Anada is used similarly, and the latter is applied to the camel that deviates from the path and turns away from the intended direction. Its plural is ‘und like rāki‘ and ruka‘, and the plural of ‘anīd is ‘unud like raghīf and rughuf.

It is said that ‘anūd has the same meaning as ‘anīd. Some have claimed that one says “a camel is ‘anūd” but one does not say ‘anīd, and that the former is pluralized as ‘unad and the latter as ‘und. Others say that ‘anūd is one who deviates from the physical path, while ‘anīd is one who deviates from the path in judgment, and both derive from ‘and. Its original meaning, it is said, is to isolate oneself to a side, because ‘and (with a fathah) is the side; it is said: “He walks in the middle, not to the side (‘andan),” and from this comes ‘inda (the preposition of location). The term ‘and (with triple vowels) is also used for the direction.

This ruling is not like the two previous rulings—of denying the signs and disobeying the messengers—in its encompassing every single individual among them, for the “following of the command” is from the traits of the subordinates, not the leaders. It is also said that it is like them in its encompassment, and that “the command” means the “affair,” and that “every tyrant, obstinate” refers to those among the people who possess this quality, not specific individuals of ‘Ad who are characterized by it. “Following the command” refers to adhering to it or being satisfied with it in the most perfect way, which leads to characterization; that is, each of them was characterized by the qualities of every tyrant, obstinate one. The obvious affectation in this is not hidden, and universality can be claimed without needing to resort to such things. The meaning, according to what has preceded, is that they disobeyed those who called them to the path of guidance and obeyed those who urged them toward the abysses of ruin.