Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:79

(Then he turned away from them and said...) after what happened to them had occurred, as is apparent, grieved and sorrowful for what they had missed of faith, lamenting over them. (And said: "O my people, I have certainly conveyed to you the message of my Lord and gave you sincere advice") through encouragement and warning, "and I did not spare any effort, but it found no benefit and you did not accept from me." The use of the imperfect tense (present tense) in His saying, the Almighty, (...but you do not love the sincere advisers) is a narration of a past state, meaning: your habit is persistence in hating sincere advisers and showing them enmity.

His, peace be upon him, addressing them is like the address of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to the slain idolaters when they were thrown into the pit of Badr, when he called out: "O so-and-so, O so-and-so" by their names, "We have found what our Lord promised us to be true; have you found what your Lord promised you to be true?" This is based on the premise that Allah, the Exalted, returns their spirits to them so they can hear, and this is a matter peculiar to the prophets (peace and blessings be upon them). It is also possible that he, peace be upon him, mentioned that by way of grief and lamentation, just as one addresses houses and ruins. Some have permitted taking "Then he turned away" as a conjunction to "So the earthquake seized them," thus the address would be to them when they were on the verge of destruction, but this is contrary to the apparent meaning. Further from this is what was said that the verse is subject to precedence and postponement, and its interpretation would be: "Then he turned away from them and said: 'O my people, I have certainly conveyed to you the message of my Lord and gave you sincere advice, but you do not love the sincere advisers,' then the earthquake seized them and they became in their homes fallen prostrate."

The story of Thamud, according to what Ishaq and others have mentioned, is that when 'Ad perished, Thamud inhabited the earth after them, succeeded them, and built it up to the point that one of them would build a dwelling of mud bricks, and it would collapse while the man was still alive. When they saw this, they carved homes into the mountains. They were in abundance of livelihood, so they grew arrogant in the land and worshipped other than Allah, the Exalted. So Allah, the Exalted, sent Salih to them, and they were an Arab people, and Salih, peace be upon him, was the most noble of them in lineage. He was sent to them as a young man, and he called them to Allah, the Exalted, until he turned gray and aged, yet only a few of them—the oppressed—followed him.

When he persisted in calling and warning them, they asked him to show them a sign that would confirm what he said. He said to them: "What sign do you want?" They said: "You will go out with us tomorrow to our festival"—and they had a festival where they went out with their idols—"and you will call upon your God, and we will call upon our gods. If it is answered for you, we will follow you, and if it is answered for us, you will follow us." Salih said to them: "Yes." So they went out, and he went out with them. They called upon their idols and asked them that Salih not be answered in anything he prayed for. Then Junda' bin 'Amr bin Hirash—who was the master of Thamud at that time—said: "O Salih, bring out for us from this rock"—a solitary rock on the side of the Hijr called al-Kathibah—"a she-camel that emerges," meaning resembling the Bactrian camel, or brought out in the form of a camel, hollow, and pregnant. "If you do that, we will believe you and believe in you." Salih took their pledges: "If I do, will you believe me and believe in me?" They said: "Yes."

He prayed two rak'ahs and called upon his Lord. The rock shuddered like a female in labor with her offspring and split open to reveal a she-camel, pregnant, hollow, and pregnant as they described; no one knows what is between her flanks except Allah, the Exalted, in terms of size, while they were looking. Then she birthed offspring equal to her in size. Junda' and a group of his people believed in him, and their chiefs wanted to believe in him, but Dhu'aib bin 'Amr bin Labid, al-Habbab (the owner of their idols), and Rabaab bin Sa'r (their soothsayer) prevented them. When the she-camel emerged, he said to them: "This is the she-camel of Allah; she has a drink, and you have a drink on a known day."

The she-camel remained with her foal in their land, grazing on trees and drinking water. She used to come every other day. When her day arrived, she would put her head in the well of the Hijr—now called the Well of the She-Camel—and would not raise her head until she had drunk everything in it. Then she would raise her head and spread her legs for them, and they would milk as much as they wanted, drinking and storing. Then she would depart through a path other than the one she arrived by, as she could not depart from the same way due to its narrowness for her. Then, on the next day (their day), they would drink what they wanted and store for the day of the she-camel. They continued in abundance and prosperity.

The she-camel would spend the summer when it was hot on the back of the valley, so their livestock would flee from her and descend into the belly of the valley in its heat and barrenness. She would spend the winter in the belly of the valley, so their livestock would flee to its back in the cold and barrenness. This proved difficult for their livestock, for a matter Allah intended for them—a trial and a test. This weighed heavily upon them, so they grew arrogant toward the command of their Lord and conspired to hamstring her.

There were two women from Thamud; one was called 'Unaizah bint Ghunaim bin Mijlaz, known as Umm Ghanim, who was the wife of Dhu'aib bin 'Amr; she was an elderly, aged woman with beautiful daughters and much wealth in camels, cows, and sheep. The other was called Saduq bint al-Mukhtar, who was beautiful, wealthy, and possessed many livestock. She was among the most intense in enmity toward Salih, peace be upon him. They both loved for the she-camel to be hamstrung because she had harmed their livestock. Saduq invited a man called al-Habbab to hamstring the she-camel and offered herself to him if he did so, but he refused. So she invited a cousin of hers called Musda' bin Mihraj, and she offered herself to him if he did it, and he agreed. 'Unaizah (Umm Ghanim) invited Qudar bin Salif, a man who was red, blue-eyed, and short—they claimed he was of illegitimate birth and not the son of Salif, but born on his bed. She said: "I will give you whichever of my daughters you want on the condition that you hamstring the she-camel." He was powerful and protected among his people, so he agreed. He and Musda' went and incited the evildoers of Thamud, and seven followed them, totaling nine men.

They set out and lay in wait for the she-camel until she departed from the water. Qudar lay in ambush for her at the base of a rock on her path, and Musda' lay in ambush at the base of another. She passed by Musda', and he shot her with an arrow, piercing the muscle of her leg. Umm Ghanim came out and ordered one of her daughters—who was among the most beautiful-faced—to reveal her face so that Qudar would see her, and she incited him to hamstring her. He charged at the she-camel with a sword and struck her hock, so she fell and let out one loud cry, and her foal fled up the mountain. Qudar then struck her in the throat and slaughtered her. The people of the town came out and divided her meat.

When her foal saw that, it fled until it reached an inaccessible mountain called Qarah and cried out three times. Salih, peace be upon him, had said to them: "Catch the young one; perhaps the punishment will be averted from you." They went out in search of it, saw it on the mountain, and tried to catch it but could not. The rock opened after its cry, and it entered. Salih then said to them: "For every cry there is a set time; enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days. That is a promise not to be lied to."

It is narrated from Ibn Ishaq that four of the nine followed the foal, including Musda', who shot it with an arrow, hitting its heart, then dragged it by its leg and brought it down. They cast its meat with the meat of its mother. Salih said to them: "You have violated the sanctity of Allah, the Exalted; so rejoice in His punishment and wrath." They would mock him and say: "When is it, and what is its sign?" He said: "You will wake up tomorrow—and it was Thursday—with your faces yellow, the day after with your faces red, and the third day with your faces black. Then the punishment will come upon you." Those men intended to kill him, so they came to him at night, but the angels struck them with stones. When they were delayed for their companions, they came to Salih's house and found them crushed by stones. They said to Salih: "You killed them," and intended to harm him, but his tribe protected him. Later, when they saw the signs, they sought to kill him, so he fled and joined a clan of Thamud called Banu Ghanim and stayed with their master, whose name was Nufail, known as Abu Hadab. They demanded him from Nufail, but he said: "You have no way to reach him," so they left him and were preoccupied with what had befallen them. Then he, peace be upon him, left with those who were with him for the Levant and settled in the sands of Palestine.

When the fourth day arrived and the morning sun rose high, they applied patience (aloe) and shrouded themselves in leather sheets. A cry came to them from the sky; their hearts were severed, and they all perished except for a crippled girl called Dhari'ah bint Salaf, who was a disbeliever, intense in her enmity toward Salih, peace be upon him. Allah, the Exalted, freed her legs after she witnessed the punishment, and she went out quickly until she reached Wadi al-Qura and informed them of the news. Then she asked for water, and when she drank, she died. There was a man among them called Abu Righal—the father of Thaqif—who was in the Sacred Precinct of Allah, so the Sanctuary prevented the punishment of Allah from him. When he went out, what befell them befell him; he was buried, and with him was a branch of gold. It is reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed by his grave and was informed of his story, so the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) rushed to it with their swords, dug it up, and extracted that branch.

It is reported that he, peace be upon him, went out with one hundred and twenty Muslims while he was weeping. He looked back and saw smoke rising, so he knew they had perished. They had been fifteen hundred households. It is reported that he returned with those who were with him and they inhabited their homes.

Abu al-Shaykh extracted from Wahb who said: "When Salih and those with him were saved, he said: 'O my people, this is a land upon which Allah has been angered, and its people; so depart and join the Sacred Sanctuary of Allah, the Exalted, and His security.' They immediately set out for the Hajj and went on until they reached Makkah, and they remained there until they died, and those are their graves to the west of the Kaaba." Ibn al-Zubayr narrated from Jabir that our Prophet (peace be upon him) when he passed by al-Hijr during the expedition of Tabuk, said to his companions: "None of you should enter the village, nor drink from its water, nor enter upon those who were punished unless you are weeping, lest what befell them befall you."

Muhyi al-Sunnah al-Baghawi mentioned that the believers who were with Salih were four thousand and that he went out with them to Hadhramaut. When he entered it, he, peace be upon him, died; hence it was called Hadhramaut. Then the four thousand built a city called Hadhoora. Then it was quoted from a group of scholars that he died in Makkah when he was fifty-eight years old, and perhaps that is what is relied upon.

It has come down that the most wretched of the first was the hamstringer of the she-camel, and the most wretched of the latter is the killer of 'Ali (may Allah honor his face). The Prophet (peace be upon him) had informed 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him and honor his face) of that. In my view, the most wretched of the latter is more wretched than the most wretched of the first, and the difference between them is like the difference between 'Ali (may Allah honor his face) and the she-camel. The reports have indicated, or rather clearly stated, that the killer of the Prince considered his killing lawful, or rather believed in the reward for it. His companions praised him for that; 'Imran bin Hittan—may the wrath of Allah, the Exalted, be upon him—said: "O strike of a pious one, he intended by it nothing save to attain the pleasure of the Lord of the Throne. I remember him one day and deem him the worthiest of creation in the scales of Allah."

And to Allah belongs the creator of the words: "O strike of a wretch, who cast him into the blazing fire, he shall meet the All-Merciful because of it in anger. As if he intended nothing by his strike but to burn in the flames of the Gathering tomorrow. I remember him one day and curse him; likewise, I curse 'Imran bin Hittan."

That his action was based on a doubt that would save him from this is a type of delirium. If such a doubt were sufficient to save one from the punishment for such a sin, a person could do whatever they wish. Glory be to You, this is a great slander. Examples have been set by Qudar, the hamstringer of the she-camel. How subtle is the saying of 'Amarah al-Yamani: "Do not be astonished at Qudar, the she-camel of Salih; for every era has a she-camel and a Qudar." There are other narrations of this story that we have omitted, restricting ourselves to what has preceded because it is more well-known.