Tafsir of An-Najm 53:50

Al-Najm (The Star): Verse 50

(50) And that He destroyed 'Ad, the first ones,

When Allah mentioned that He: {Enriched and provided sufficiency} (An-Najm: 48), this was by the grace of Allah, not by the giving of Sirius (Al-Shi'ra). Therefore, gratitude is due to the One who destroyed (the arrogant) and provided sufficiency.

The state of 'Ad, Thamud, and others serves as sufficient proof for them.

{ 'Ad, the first ones} ('Ādan al-Ūlā):

1. It is said that "the first ones" distinguishes them from a people who were in Mecca, known as the latter 'Ad (Al-'Ad al-Ākhirah).
2. It is also said that "the first ones" is mentioned to indicate their precedence, not necessarily to distinguish them. It is like saying, "Zayd the knowledgeable came to me," where you describe him by his knowledge rather than to single him out for distinction.

There are various readings for { 'Ādan al-Ūlā}:

• { 'Ādan al-Ūlā} (with a kasra on the nūn of the tanwīn): This is done to avoid the meeting of two silent letters (the nūn and the lām).
• { 'Ād * al-Ūlā} (omitting the tanwīn nūn): This is also done to avoid the meeting of two silent letters, similar to the reading of { 'Uzayr the son of Allah} (At-Tawbah: 30).

Regarding the following verse: {And He destroyed Thamud, and He left none remaining} (An-Najm: 50b), there are also variations in the reading of the preceding part:

• {Wa 'Ādan al-Ūlā} (with idghām—merging the nūn into the lām and transferring the dammah of the hamzah to the lām).
• { * 'Ādal-Ūlā} (with a hamzat al-waw—a waw used for the hamzah).

The reader who uses this latter form also reads { 'Alā} (in Surah Al-Fath: 29) in a similar manner. This reading is considered weak, although it is plausible in the context of {Al-Mu'qadah} (The Kindled Fire) and {Al-Mu'ṣadah} (The Blockaded) (Al-Humazah: 6, 8), due to the dammah and the waw. In this specific context (of 'Ad), the hamzah is substituted by the waw. This substitution is also found in manuscript ms8569 for the word su'ūqihā (their markets) because the hamzah exists in the original form. However, this substitution is not appropriate in the case of Mūsā (Moses).

{And Thamud, and He left none remaining.}