Part 47

all the sam e to you whether I forbid you to foll ow what you

are follo wing or not. So wait now for the Punishment of All ah

which will befa ll you and that Punishment cannot be rescinded

Allah, Most Hi gh, menti oned the story of their destruct ion in

detai l and in bri ef, as we said earli er, sllch as in His \Vords, ( So

We saved him and those who were with him by a Mercy from

Us, and We cut the roots of those who beli ed Our Ayal and they

were not believers. ) (Saarail A I-A 'raJ7:72)

His Words, ( And when Our Command ment came, We saved

Hood and those who be lieved wi th him by a Mercy fco m Us,

and We saved them fro m a severe pun isment. Such were' Ad

(people). They rejected the A)'ol or the ir Lord and disobeyed

Th e 5101)" of flood ~ 215

His Messe ngers, and follow ed the command of every proud

obstinate (o ppresso r of (he truth. from their leade rs). And they

were pursued by a curse in thi s world and (so (h ey will be) 0 11

th e Day of Resurrecti on, No doubt! Veril y, . Ad di sbeli eved in

th eir Lord. So away with ' Ad, the peop le o f I-load, ) (Soorah

Hi s Words, ( So As-Saihah (puni shm ent - aw ful CI)" etc, )

ove rtook them with j ustice. and We made them as rubbi sh o f

dead plants . They said: The people of Salih were des troyed

with aw ful cry ) (SoOl'al1 AI-MII'minoon 23: 41 )

As for the detail s of their destruction, w hen Allah said , (

The n, when they saw it as a dense cl oud co mi ng towards their

vall eys. they said. "Th is is a cl oud bringi ng us rain! " Nay. but

it is that (pun ishment) whi ch you were asking to be hastcned!

A wi nd whe rein is a painful punishment ! ) (5001'011 AI-Ahqaf

46:24) - this was the beg inni ng or tile punishme nt whi ch came

(0 them , for they were suffering from a drought and so they

requested rain (from the ir idols). They saw a cl oud in the sky

and thought that it was a rai n of mercy (for them), but it was

a del uge of punishment. Thi s is why He, Most Hi gh, says, (

Nay, but it is that (pu ni shment ) which YOll we re aski ng to be

hastened! A wind w herein is a pai nful puni shme nt ! ) (Soorall

AI-Ahqaf46:2 4) Th at is, from the inflicti on o rthe Punishment

and that is thei r sayi ng, ( "So bring us th at w herewith you have

threatened liS if you are of the truthful." ) (Soorall AI-A 'raJ

7:70) And there are other similar Ve rses in SOOl-all AI-A 'raJ

He (Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar) sa id, "A nd Allah sent

the black cloud whic h Qai l Ibn ' ltr chose (acco rding to the

IIac/eet" narra ted by Imam Ahmad, on the aut hority of AI-

Harith A I-Bakri), with the punishment it contai ned to ' Ad until

it reached them at a va lley known <I S AI-Mu gheeth _When they

216 Tlte SrOl:1' of} lood ~

sa w it, they rega rded it as a good sign and they said , "Thi s is a

cloud whieh wi ll bri ng rai n to us. But All ah said , ( Nay. but it

is that (punishment) whieh you were asking to be hastened ! A

wind where in is a pa inful punishment! Destroying everything

by the Command ori ts Lord! So they became sli ch that nothing

cou ld be see n except th eir dwellings! Thus do We recompense

Ihe peop k who arc ;\/1!irimoOIl (pol yt heists. disbelievers,

sinners, etc.)! ) (Soorah AI-Ahqaf46 :24,25) That is, it destroys

everyth ing that it is co mmanded to destroy.

Muhamm ad Ibn Ishaq said, "The first pe rso n who saw it and

rea lized tha t it was a wind was a woma n fro m ' Ad, whose name

was Mahd. Whe n it became clear what was ill it, she screamed

and then fain ted. When she rega ined consc iousness, thc peop le

as ked her, "W hat di d yo u see, Mahd?" She said , " ) saw a wind

ill it, li ke burni ng fla mcs and in front o f it were men, leading it.

Allah imposed it on them ( ror seven nights and eight days ill

succession ) (Soorah AI-Haqqah 69:7). It did not leave a single

person frolll 'Ad ali ve." He (Ibn lshaq) said, "Hood ~ and

those who believed in him were in an enclosed area. Nothing

hi t them or those with th em except that w hich was gentle to

the ski n and pleasing to the soul. The wi nd passed ove r ' Ad,

dest roying all that was betwee n the heaven and the earth and

marking them with stones." Then he reported the res t of the

Im am Ahmad na rrated a hadeelh in his Mllsnad on the

authority of Al-H a rith (i. e. Jbn Hassan, or it was said , Ibn

Yazeed Al-Bakri) which resemb les this story; he said, " I sel

out to comp lain to lh e Messenger of A ll ah 3:i abollt A I- 'A Ia' Ibn

Al-Hadram i and I passed by Ar-Rabazah, where [ saw an old

woman from Banll Tameem, who was alone in that area. She

sa id to me, ' 0 , slave of All ah! I need to reach the Messenger

The SI0/1' of Ilood ~ 2 17

of A Hah to ask him for somc of my needs, will you take me to

him?' So I took her along with me to AI-Madinah and found

the Mosque full of people. I also found a blaek fl ag ra ised

high, wh ile Bilal was holdi ng a sword before the Messenger of

All ah. I asked, ' What is the mattcr with the people?' Th ey said,

' Th e Prophct ~ intends to send ' Amf Ibn AI-' As (o n a military

expediti on) somewhere.' So I sat down. When the Prophet ~

went to his house, I asked fo r permission to see hi m, and he ga ve

me permi ss ion. I entered and greeted him. He said, ' Was there a

di spute be tw een you and Banu Tamee m?' I said, ' Yes. And we

had been victorious over them. I passed by an old woman from

Bantl Tamee m, who was alone, and she asked mc to bring her

to you, and she is at the doo r.' So he all owed her in and I said,

' 0 Messenger o f All ah ! What if you make a barrier betw ee n us

and (the tr ibe of) Banu Tameem. such as the desert?' The old

woman became angry and opposed me. So I said, ' My examp le

is the ex amp le of a shee p that carri ed its own destructi on. I

ca rried thi s woman and did not know that she wa s an opponent.

I seek refuge wit h All ah and 1-1 is Messenger that I become li ke

the emi ssary of ' Ad.' So the Prophet :ij: asked me about the

emissary o f ' Ad, having better know ledge in it, but he liked to

hear the story again. I said, ' Once, ' Ad suffe red from a famine

and they sent an emi ssary (to get reli ef), whose name was Qail.

Qa il passed by Mu 'awiyah Ibn Bakr and stayed with him for

a month . Mu' awiyah suppli ed him with alcoho lic drinks, and

two fe male singers were singing for hi m. When the month

ended, Qail went to th e mo untains of Tih amah and said, '0,

All ah! YOli kn ow that I d id not co me here to cure an ill person

or to ransom a pri soner. 0 , All ah! Give ' Ad wat er as You used

to.' So blac k clouds ca me and he was call ed, 'Choose which

one of them you wish (to go to ' Ad)!' So he po inted to one of

the bl ack clouds and he heard someone proclai mi ng fro m it,

2 18 Tlte Story of H()od ~

' Take it , as ashes that wil ll eavc non c in 'Ad! " And it bas been

conveyed to me Ih al the w ind sent to thcm was no more than

what wou ld pass through thi s ri ng of mi ne, but il destroyed

them '," Abu Wa'il said, "That is true. When a man or a woman

wou ld send an em issary, they would tell him , 'Do not be like

the em issary of 'Ad (bring ing disaster and utter destruct ion to

them in stead of re li ef),' (I) At-Tirmidhi record ed it thu s on the

authority of' Abd Ibn l-iul11a id, who IlmTaled it on the au thori ty

ofZa id Ibn AI-Hubab. III

'A bdullah Ibn Ma s'ood, 'Abdullah Ibn ' Abbas (may Allah

be pl eased w ith them both ) and more th an one 11110111 from

among the Tabi'ool/ sa id th at it was a cold wi nd, which blew

seve rely. ( Wh ich A llah imposed on them for seven nights and

e ight days in successio n. ) (SoO/'all AI-Haqqah 69:7) Th at is,

comp let e and sll ccess ive days. It was sa id that thc first of the m

was a Friday and it was a lso sa id that it was a Wednesday. (

So that YOll co uld see men lying overthrown (destroyed), as if

they were hollow tru nks of date-palms! ) (SoO/'ah AI-I-Iaqqah

69:7) Allah comparcd thcm wi th holl owed out trunks of date-

palms, whi ch have no heads and thi s was because the w in d

would co me to one of them and pick him up and ra ise him into

th e air, thcn it would in vert him and drop him on the to p of his

head and shatter it and hc wo uld remain li ke a body without