Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:70-72

If you ask: What is the meaning of "coming" (al-majī’) in His saying {أجئتنا} (Have you come to us)? I say: There are several possibilities:

1. That Hud (peace be upon him) had a secluded place away from his people where he would worship, just as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did in Hira before his mission. When revelation came to him, he came to his people to invite them.
2. That they intended mockery, as they believed Allah would only send angels. It is as if they said: "Have you come to us from the heaven as an angel comes?"
3. That they did not intend the literal meaning of "coming," but rather the intent and purpose behind it. Just as one says, "He went to insult me," without intending the literal act of walking. It is as if they said: "Have you intended us [with this message] to worship Allah alone, and have you confronted us with this obligation?"

{فأتنا بما تعدنا} A demand for the punishment to be hastened.

{قد وقع عليكم} Meaning: It has become incumbent upon you and is inevitable, or it has descended upon you. The expected event, which must occur, is treated as if it has already happened. Similar to saying to someone who has requested something of you: "That has already been done." (Regarding this, there is a story about Hassan, whose son Abd al-Rahman was stung by a wasp as a child. He came crying, and when he described the insect, his father embraced him and said, "My son, you have spoken poetry.")

{والرجس} The punishment, derived from al-irtijās (agitation/disturbance).

{في أسماء سميتموها} Regarding things that are nothing but names with no realities beneath them, because you call them "gods." The meaning of divinity is absent in them and its existence is impossible. This is like His saying: {ما تدعون من دونه من شيء}. The meaning of {سميتموها} is "you have named them with," as in "I named him Zayd."

{وقطع دابرهم} Their total eradication and destruction, down to the last of them.

The Story of ‘Ad: They spread across the land between Oman and Hadhramaut. They had idols they worshipped: Sada’, Samud, and al-Haba’. Allah sent Hud as a prophet to them; he was the most noble among them in lineage. They denied him and increased in arrogance. Allah withheld rain from them for three years until they suffered greatly. When people faced calamity, they would seek relief at the Sacred House (the Kaaba), both the believers and the polytheists. At that time, the people of Mecca were the Amalekites. Their leader was Mu’awiyah ibn Bakr.

‘Ad sent seventy of their elite to Mecca, including Qayl ibn ‘Anz and Marthad ibn Sa’d (who concealed his faith). They stayed with Mu’awiyah, who honored them as his kin. They spent a month drinking wine and listening to two singing girls. Mu’awiyah, seeing their negligence, feared for his kin. He asked the girls to sing a poem he composed, which they did. Upon hearing it, the delegation realized their people were perishing and went to the Sacred House to pray for rain. Marthad ibn Sa’d told them: "By Allah, you will not be given rain through your prayer, but if you obey your Prophet and repent, you will be given rain." He then revealed his Islam.

They asked Mu’awiyah to keep Marthad away, so he did. Qayl then prayed: "O Allah, give ‘Ad what You used to give them." Allah produced three clouds: white, red, and black. A voice from heaven called: "O Qayl, choose for yourself and your people." He chose the black one, thinking it held the most water. It emerged over ‘Ad from a valley called al-Mughith. They rejoiced, saying, "This is a cloud that will bring us rain." But it brought a barren wind that destroyed them. Hud and the believers were saved and went to Mecca, where they worshipped Allah until they died.

If you ask: What is the benefit of denying faith in them in His saying {وما كانوا مؤمنين} (and they were not believers), while confirming their denial of Allah’s signs? I say: It is an allusion to those among them who did believe, like Marthad ibn Sa’d and those who were saved with Hud. It is as if He said: "We cut off the root of those who denied among them, and they were not like those who believed among them," to indicate that the destruction was specific to the deniers, while Allah saved the believers.