Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:139-141

"So they denied him, and We destroyed them. Indeed in that is a sign, but most of them were not believers. And indeed, your Lord is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful. Thamud denied the messengers."

(So they denied him): That is, they persisted in denying him, peace be upon him. (And We destroyed them): By cause of that, with a scorching wind. (Indeed in that is a sign, but most of them were not believers. And indeed, your Lord is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful. Thamud denied the messengers.)

(Thamud): It is a non-Arabic name according to some, but the majority hold that it is Arabic. Its declension is left incomplete (diptote) because it is the name of a tribe. It is derived from al-thamd, which is water that is little and has no source. From this comes the saying: "So-and-so is mathmud; the women have thamada him"—meaning they have cut off the source of his vital fluid due to his excessive sexual intercourse with them. It is also said that one is mathmud if they are asked so frequently that their wealth is depleted; or it refers to what remains in a skin; or what appears in the winter and disappears in the summer. In al-Qamus, it is stated that Thamud is a tribe, and it may be fully declined, and the tha may be vocalized with a damma (thumud), which is also a recorded recitation. In Saba'ik al-Dhahab, it is stated that originally it was the name of the forefather of the tribe, then it was transferred and made the name of the tribe itself. The reason for the feminine form of the verb here is similar to that which preceded in His saying, the Exalted: "‘Ad denied," and the same applies to the discourse in His saying, the Glorified: