Tafsir of Fussilat 41:17

"As for Thamud, We guided them..."

• Readings: Thamud has been read in the nominative (rafʿ) and the accusative (naṣb), both with and without nunation (tanwīn). The nominative is the most eloquent because it follows the initial particle (ḥarf al-ibtidaʾ). It has also been read with a ḍamma on the thaʾ (Thumūd).
• "We guided them": We pointed out to them the paths of misguidance and guidance, as in His saying: "And We guided him to the two highways" (Al-Balad: 10).
• "But they preferred blindness over guidance": They chose to enter into misguidance rather than entering into guidance.
• A Question: Does "I guided him" (hadaytuhu) not mean "I caused guidance to occur within him"? The evidence is your saying: "I guided him, so he was guided," meaning the attainment of the goal and its realization, just as you say: "I restrained him, so he was restrained." How, then, is its usage for mere indication/pointing out permissible?
• The Answer: It is used to indicate that He empowered them, removed their excuses, and left them with no justification or pretext. It is as if He caused the goal to be realized within them by providing everything that necessitates and requires it.
• "The thunderbolt of humiliation": The calamity of punishment and the striking disaster of punishment.
• "Humiliation" (al-hawn): This is disgrace. It is used to describe the punishment as an intensification, or it is an appositive (badal) for it.
• Theological Note: If there were no proof in the Quran against the Qadariyyah—who are the Magians of this nation by the testimony of its Prophet (peace be upon him), and he is a sufficient witness—other than this verse, it would be a sufficient argument.

"And the Day when the enemies of Allah are gathered to the Fire, then they will be driven in ranks. Until, when they reach it, their hearing and their eyes and their skins will testify against them of what they used to do. And they will say to their skins, 'Why have you testified against us?' They will say, 'Allah, who made everything speak, has made us speak; and He created you the first time, and to Him you are returned.'"