Tafsir of Al-Fajr 89:6

"‘Ad" is said to the descendant of ‘Ad bin ‘Aws bin Iram bin Sam bin Nuh, just as one says "Hashim" to the descendants of Hashim. The first of them were called "‘Ad the First" and "Iram"—naming them after their ancestor—and those who came after them were called "‘Ad the Last." Ibn al-Ruqayyat said: A legacy of old, built by its first, Reached ‘Ad, and before it, Iram.

"Iram" in the phrase bi-‘Ad Iram is an appositive (‘atf bayan) for ‘Ad, signaling that they are the ancient ‘Ad the First. It is also said that "Iram" is their city and the land they inhabited. This is supported by the reading of Ibn al-Zubayr: bi-‘Ad Iram (in the genitive construct), meaning "the ‘Ad of the people of Iram," similar to the verse: "And ask the city" (Yusuf: 82). It is diptote (ghayr munsarif) whether it refers to a tribe or a land, due to its being a proper noun and feminine.

Al-Hasan read it as bi-‘Ad Aram (with two fatha vowels). Others read it as bi-‘Ad Iram with a quiescent ra’ for ease of pronunciation. It is also read as bi-‘Ad Iram Dhat al-‘Imad (the possessor of pillars), making Iram a construct with Dhat al-‘Imad. Al-Iram means a landmark; thus, it means "the ‘Ad of the people of the landmarks of the pillars." "Dhat al-‘Imad" is the name of the city.

If Dhat al-‘Imad is an adjective for the tribe, it means they were nomads who lived in tents, or that they were tall, comparing their stature to pillars. Hence the saying: "A man is mu‘ammad or ‘amdan" if he is tall. It is also said to mean "possessors of high buildings." If it is an adjective for the city, it means it had columns.

It is narrated that ‘Ad had two sons, Shaddad and Shadid. They ruled and conquered. Shadid died, and power remained with Shaddad. He ruled the world, and its kings submitted to him. He heard of Paradise and said, "I will build its like." He built Iram in some of the deserts of Aden over three hundred years, and he lived for nine hundred years. It was a magnificent city with palaces of gold and silver, and columns of chrysolite and ruby. It contained all kinds of trees and flowing rivers. When it was finished, he set out toward it with his people. When he was a day and a night’s journey away, God sent a cry from the sky, and they perished.

‘Abdullah bin Qilaba went out in search of his camels and stumbled upon it. He carried away what he could. The news reached Mu‘awiyah, who summoned him. He told the story, and Mu‘awiyah sent for Ka‘b, who said: "It is Iram Dhat al-‘Imad. A man from the Muslims will enter it in your time—red-haired, freckled, short, with a mole on his eyebrow and a mole on his heel—who will go out in search of his camels." Then he looked at Ibn Qilaba and said, "By God, this is that man."

"There has not been created the like of it": Either the like of ‘Ad in the lands in terms of size and strength—for a man among them was four hundred cubits tall, and he would take a massive rock and throw it upon a tribe, destroying them—or that there has not been created the like of Shaddad’s city in all the lands of the world. Ibn al-Zubayr read: lam yukhlaq mithluha (God has not created the like of it).

"Who carved the rocks" (jabu al-sakhr): They cut the mountain rocks and took them as houses, as in the verse: "And you carve houses from the mountains" (al-Shu‘ara’: 149). It is said that the first to carve mountains, rocks, and marble were Thamud, and they built 1,700 cities, all of stone.

"Pharaoh, the possessor of the stakes" (Dhu al-Awtad): He was called this due to the abundance of his soldiers and the stakes they would drive into the ground when they camped, or because he tortured people with stakes, as he did to his daughter’s hairdresser and to Asiya.

"Those who transgressed": The best grammatical position for this is in the accusative case as a rebuke (dhamm). It is also permissible for it to be in the nominative as "They are those who transgressed," or in the genitive as an adjective for those mentioned: ‘Ad, Thamud, and Pharaoh.

"So your Lord poured upon them a scourge of punishment": It is said: "He poured the whip upon him," "covered him," and "overwhelmed him." Mentioning the "whip" (sawt) indicates that the great punishment He inflicted upon them in this world is, when compared to what He has prepared for them in the Hereafter, like a whip compared to all other instruments of torture. ‘Amr bin ‘Ubayd narrated that when al-Hasan reached this verse, he would say: "God has many whips, and He took them with one of them."

"The Watchtower" (al-mirsad): The place where the watcher is stationed. It is a noun of place (mi‘fal) from rasada (to watch), like miqat from waqata. This is a metaphor for His waiting for the disobedient with punishment, and that they cannot escape Him. A Bedouin was asked, "Where is your Lord?" He replied, "In the watchtower." When ‘Amr bin ‘Ubayd read this surah before a tyrant and reached this verse, he said, "Indeed, your Lord is in the watchtower, O so-and-so." By this address, he implied that the tyrant was one of those threatened. How excellent he was—a lion of a man, crushing the oppressors with his rebuke and silencing the people of whims and innovation with his arguments.

"As for man, when his Lord tests him and honors him and favors him, he says, 'My Lord has honored me.' But when He tests him and restricts his provision, he says, 'My Lord has humiliated me.'"