{فَانْتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُمْ وَإِنَّهُمَا ...}

{فَانْتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُمْ}: We recompensed them for their previous crimes with punishment. The pronoun refers to the People of the Thicket (Ashab al-Ayka). At-Tabrisi claimed that it refers to them and the people of Lot, but that is not the case. More than one narrator reported from Qatadah, who said: "It has been mentioned to us that the Exalted in Majesty empowered the heat against them for seven days; no shade would shade them from it, and nothing could protect them from it. Then, the Glorified sent a cloud upon them, and they began seeking relief from it, so He sent fire upon them from it, which consumed them. This is the 'punishment of the day of the shadow.'"

{وَإِنَّهُمَا}: That is, the locations of the people of Lot and the people of Shu'ayb—peace be upon them both. This is the view of the majority. It has also been said that the pronoun refers to the Thicket and Madyan; the latter was not mentioned here, but the mention of the former implies it, due to the sending of Shu'ayb—peace and blessings be upon him—to both groups. Ibn 'Asakir and others reported from Ibn 'Umar—may Allah be pleased with them both—that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Madyan and the People of the Thicket are two nations to whom Allah the Exalted sent Shu'ayb (peace be upon him)."

This view is not free from being far-fetched. In fact, it has been said that the first view is likewise, because the report concerning the city of the people of Lot—peace be upon him—is that it is:

{لَبِإِمَامٍ مُبِينٍ}

Meaning: On a clear path, which is repeated alongside the report regarding it previously that it is on an established road, according to most exegetes. Combining others with it in the report does not negate the repetition with respect to it. It is as if, for this reason, some said: The pronoun refers to Lot and Shu'ayb—peace be upon them both—meaning: "They are both indeed on a clear path of truth."

Al-Jubba'i said: The pronoun refers to the report of the destruction of the people of Lot and the report of the destruction of the people of Shu'ayb. Al-Imam (the imam) is a name for that which is followed, and it has been applied to a road, the Preserved Tablet, the general tablet prepared for reading, and the blueprint of a building. In this context, it is intended to mean the Preserved Tablet.

Mu'arrij said: Al-Imam means "the book" in the language of Himyar. Reporting that they are in the Preserved Tablet is an allusion to the precedence of His decree—the Exalted—regarding the destruction of the two nations due to what He—the Glorified—knew of their evil deeds.