Tafsir of Hud 11:94

"And when Our command came" (i.e., Our torment, as indicated by His, the Exalted’s, saying: You will come to know), or the time of it, for the anticipation necessitates that. "We saved Shu'ayb and those who believed with him by a mercy from Us" (this is the faith to which We guided them, or by a mercy existing for them).

The fa (ف - then/so) was used in the stories of Thamud and Lut, where it is said: "And when Our command came," while the waw (و - and) is used here and in the story of 'Ad, where it is said: "And when Our command came," etc. This is because there was a preceding promise in those [first] cases, by His, the Exalted’s, saying: "That is a promise that will not be belied," and His saying: "Is not the morning their appointed time?" This functions as a causal reason necessitating the inclusion of the fa in its effect. As for here and in the story of 'Ad, no such thing preceded it. Rather, the arrival of the torment was mentioned as an independent story, and what preceded it was another, though they are related to the same people. Thus, they share in one aspect and differ in another, which is the station of the waw. This is what has been said.

However, this is countered by the fact that a promise is also mentioned here, which is His, the Exalted’s, saying: "O my people, work according to your position," up to His, the Almighty’s, saying: "Watcher." The most that can be said is that it was not mentioned with the word "promise," and such a distinction is insufficient for the difference. It has been said that the mention of the fa in the two [former] instances is due to the proximity of the torment of the people of Salih and Lut to the aforementioned promise, for between the former two and the torment were three days, and between the latter two and it was the time between the angels' saying "Is not the morning their appointed time?" and the morning—a few brief hours. The torment of the people of Shu'ayb and Hud, peace be upon them, was not like this. Indeed, in the story of Shu'ayb, peace be upon him, there is that which indicates a lack of restriction on the time of the arrival of the torment, based on the common usage of sawfa (will/soon).

Moreover, whoever is fair to themselves will not doubt the difference between the promise in the stories of Salih and Lut and the promise in others; for the intimation of the arrival is evident in those two, making its conclusion with fa appropriate, which is not the case for the others. This is what has been said, yet in it there is that which is hidden. Perhaps limiting the distinction to proximity and its absence is less problematic than what has been said, as well as what is said: that bringing the fa is for an old promise, and leaving it out—even if a promise exists—is to indicate the evil state of those two groups and the increased heinousness of it, such that the torment befell them not for a preceding promise, but merely for their wrongdoing. It is as if the reason for considering this in their case, unlike the people of Lut and Salih, peace be upon them, is that they were distinguished from them by accusing those two prophets of madness and confronting them with things that neither the people of Salih nor Lut confronted their prophet with, in what has been related about them in this noble Surah. For in that is what is not hidden from you, so reflect.

"And the cry seized those who had done wrong": The pronoun was abandoned [for the noun] to register the wrongdoing against them and to signal causality—meaning, We seized those wrongdoers because of their wrongdoing which has been detailed. "The cry": It is said that Gabriel, peace be upon him, cried out to them and they perished, and it was a cry in reality. Al-Balkhi allowed that it might be a type of torment, for the Arabs say: "Time cried out to them" when they perish. Imru' al-Qays said: "So leave aside the plunder that was cried [shouted] in its chambers." However, the former is the standard. Al-Rajfa (the earthquake) was mentioned in Al-A'raf as a substitute for it; perhaps it was one of its causes, so there is no contradiction. Others have said something else, so remember that.

"And they became in their homes fallen prone": Meaning dead, from jathama (the bird's chest sticking to the ground). Thus, the body (juthman) is specified for the human person when sitting. Then they expanded usage, using juthum to mean staying/abiding. Then it was borrowed from this jathim (the one prone) for the dead, because he does not move from his place.

Since the object of knowledge was not made in His, the Exalted's, saying: You will come to know who will have the torment come to him, etc., to be the arrival of the torment itself, but rather who will have it come to him, the arrival was made a matter of guaranteed occurrence, dispensing with the need to inform of it, as it was made a condition. The salvation of Shu'ayb and the believers and the destruction of the disbelieving wrongdoers were made the response to it, and the intent is the benefit. The salvation was placed first to show importance and to signal that mercy precedes wrath, as stated by the Shaykh al-Islam. Asbahu (they became) is either incomplete or complete, meaning they became prone, or they entered into the morning while in a state of being prone.