Tafsir of Ad-Dhariyat 51:41

Surah Adh-Dhariyat (51): Verse 41

وَفِي عَادٍ إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الْعَاقِمَ رِيحًا

And in [the story of] 'Ad [when We sent against them] the barren wind.

Regarding the Conjunction (عطف):

• What was mentioned previously regarding the connection (of these stories) to the story of Moses (peace be upon him) applies here as well.

Issues (مسائل):

The First Issue:

• It has been mentioned that the purpose here is to console the heart of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and remind him of the state of the previous Prophets.
• In the accounts of 'Ad and Thamud, their specific messengers were not mentioned, unlike Abraham and Moses (peace be upon them).
• We say there are six narratives mentioned concerning the signs/stories:
  1. The narrative of Abraham (peace be upon him) and his glad tidings.
  2. The narrative of the people of Lot and the salvation of the believers among them.
  3. The narrative of Moses (peace be upon him).
• In these three narratives, the Messengers and the believers are mentioned because the number of those saved among them was large. This is clear for Abraham and Moses. As for the people of Lot, although the saved were only one household, the destroyed were also inhabitants of a single locality.

• However, in the case of 'Ad, Thamud, and the people of Noah, the number of the destroyed relative to the saved was many times greater than the ratio of the destroyed to the saved among the people of Lot (peace be upon him).
• Therefore, the first three narratives are mentioned for consolation regarding salvation, while the latter three (including 'Ad) are mentioned for consolation regarding the destruction of the enemy.
• The overall purpose is consolation, evidenced by the Almighty's saying at the end of these verses:

  {Likewise, no messenger came to those before them except that they said, "A sorcerer or a madman."} (Adh-Dhariyat: 54) ...until He said: {So turn away from them; you are not to blame. *But remind, for indeed the reminder benefits the believers.} (Adh-Dhariyat: 55)

• In Surah Hud, after mentioning these stories, He said:

  {That is from the news of the towns which We relate to you...} (Hud: 100) ...until He said: {And thus is the taking of your Lord when He takes the towns while they are unjust. Indeed, His taking is severe and hard.} (Hud: 102) In Surah Hud, what follows emphasizes the threat. Here (in Adh-Dhariyat), what follows emphasizes consolation.

Regarding the term {الْعَاقِمَ} (Barren):

• It means it was not fertile for producing rain (i.e., it was not a rain-bearing wind, laawāqih).
• It was a wind that shattered and uprooted.
• The form fa'īl (فعيل) does not take the feminine marker tā’ al-ta’nīth (ة) when it means the passive participle (maf'ūl), nor sometimes when it means the active participle (fā'il).
• We have previously explained the reason: Since fa'īl was used for both the active and passive meanings without distinction, it was more appropriate that the masculine and feminine forms were also not distinguished within it. If gender distinction had occurred, the distinction between the active and passive would have had to occur first, as the active agent is a necessary component of the verbal structure. The first element established in the verb is the agent, and then the masculine/feminine aspect becomes like an attribute to the agent and the object (e.g., fā'il and fā'ilah, maf'ūl and maf'ūlah).
• This is also supported by the fact that the distinction between the active and passive was made by a letter interspersed within the word structure: fā'il (فاعل) has an alif separating the fā' and the ayn (which is part of the root), and maf'ūl (مفعول) has a wāw separating the ayn and the lām.
• The feminine marker, however, is a letter added at the end of the word. Therefore, the distinction in gender did not affect the structure, because the distinction between the active and passive involved two elements, each specific to one role (the alif after the fā' is specific to the active agent, and the mīm and wāw are specific to the passive object).
• The distinction in gender, when present, is made by a letter attached to it, while the distinction between active/passive required a separate element. Thus, if fa'īl does not distinguish the active from the passive except through an external element, then the feminine and masculine cannot be distinguished from each other except by a letter attached to it.

And the Almighty's saying:

{ ما تذر من شىء أتت عليه إلا جعلته كالرميم }

{It left nothing it came upon except that it made it like old, decayed matter.}