Part 50

saying, ( "\Vi II you be left secu re ill that which you have here,

in gardens and spri ngs and green crops (fields e tc .) and dalc-

palms wi th sofi spad ix'!" , (Soorah AsII-Slw 'ara . 26: 146-148)

That is, yo ur provisions are nUlllerOll S, lu xuriolls and ripe . (

'·And you carve houses out or mountains wi th great sk ill. So

fca r Allah . kecp your duty to Hi m, and abe)' me. And follo\\

not thc cOlllmand of (l1-lIIusr[fe('1I (i.e. their chiefs, Icaders who

we re polytheists, crim inals and sinners), who make mi schicf

in the land, and reform nol." (SoO/'all As h-Shu 'ara' 26: 149-

152). He also sa id to th em, ( "0, my people! Worship A ll ah,

you hm'c no other i/all (god) bu t Ilim . Il c brought you forth

from thc earth and se ttled you therein:' ) (SoO/·all No od II :6 1)

That is, it is I-Ie Who ereatcd you and brought you forth from

the earth and made yo u to popul ate it (i.c. He gave it to YO ll ,

with all that it contains, such as cro ps and fruits), for He is the

Crca lor and the Suslainer and it is I-Ie, Alone, without partn crs,

228 The SIrIl:I' oISalch. flit: Prophef (~r71/(//J/ood

Who ha s the right to be wo rshipped. ( "T hen ask forg iveness

of I-Iim and turn to Him in repentance." ) (Soorah l'lood II :6 1)

That is, des ist from what yo u now fo llow, and engage in wo rship

of All ah , A lo ne, beca use He w ill accept it frol11 yo u and pardon

yo u fo r your s ins. f And to Tha mood (people. We se nt) their

brot her Sa lih. He sa id, "Oil, my people! Wo rsh ip A ll ah, yo u

have no other i/oh (god) but I-l im . I-I e brought you for th fro m

the ea rth and sctt led you thc re in, then <lsk forgiveness or 111m

and turn to I-lim in repcn tan ce. Certainly. my Lord is Ncar (10

all by lI is Know ledge), Rcspon sivc." They sa id , "0. Sa lih! You

have been among us as a figure of good hope (a nd we wished

for you to be o ur c hief), till thi s (new th ing which you have

brough t; tha t we leave our gods and wo rshi p your God [A ll ah)

Alone)!" ) (Saora" Hood II :61 ,62) Thai is, we had hoped

that your mind was unimpaired be fo re you said these words,

Ihat is you r in vitation to us to wo rship A llah, Alone, w ithou t

pa rtners and to abando n the riva ls that we used to worship

and desist from fo ll ow ing the religion of our fath ers and our

gra ndfat hers. Th is is why they said , ( "00 you (now) forb id

us from the worship of what our fathers ha ve worshipped? But

we are rea ll y in g rave do ubt as to that w hic h you invi te LI S to

(Mo nothe ism): He sa id, '0, my pcople! Te ll me . if I ha ve a

c lear proof from my Lord , and there ha s come to me a Mercy

(Prophcthood, etc. ) from Him , who th en ca n help me again st

All ah . if I were to disobey Hi m? The n you inc rease me not but

in loss." ) (Saara" !-load 11 :62.63)

Thi s was kindn ess and gentlen ess from him to them in his

mode of ex press io n and a beaut i ful manller of in vitin g thcm to

goodn ess. T hat is, what do you think, if the matter is as 1 tell

yo u and I in vit e you to it , what will be yo ur exc use to A lla h?

What wi ll save you whe n you stand be fore Him, when yo u ask

me to refrai n from invit ing you to o bey A llah? 1 a m unable to

The StOl")' (JISah-II, the Pmphet o/TI/(II/wor/ 229

do thi s, beca use it is an ob ligation upo n me a nd if I abandon

it , the n no one from a mong you or from a ny oth er peopl e can

protec t me from Him or he lp me, So I w ill conti nu e to ca ll yo u

to A ll ah, A lone, w ith partners , un til A ll ah judgcs be tween mc

They also sa id to him , ( "You arc only or til e I1II1.m!tl/(//"OOIl ! "

) (SoOl'(lh A'\"h-SII/I'a/'{l' 26: 153) Tha t is, yo u arc bew itched

and YO ll do no t know wha t you <I re saying in your invilation

to LI S to wors hip A ll ah , Alone. lind to abandon the wo rship o f

rivals to Him . The majority o f scho lars are agreed lIpon th is

understa nding, i.e. that '111I1sahhamon' mea ns bewi tched. But

it was a lso sai d that ( "o f" the IIII1.W1hhanJolI" ) mea ns those

who have lun gs. So it is as if they we re saying. " You arc only

a hum an bei ng, possessing lungs." Bu t th e first ex pl anation is

more ap parent , because they sa id arier that , ( "Yo u are but a

human be in g lik e us." ) (Soora" Ash-SIIII 'ara' 26: 154) and

they sa id, ( " T hen bring LIS a sign if yo u arc of th e truthfu!' "

) (500/'011 Ash-Shu'ara' 26: 154) They asked hi m to produce

some miracle w hi c h would prove the trut h of what he brought

to them. ( l ie said, " I {e re is a she-ca mel: it has a right to drink

(water) . and you have a right to drink (wa tc r) (each) on a day.

known. And touc h he r not with ha rm , lest thc punishment of

a Great Day se ize you." ) (Soomh Ash-SIIl/'ora . 26: 155, 156)

Sc holars of fq(<;eer ha ve reported that Thamood g,1Ihered one

day in the ir mee tin g pl ace and Sale h ~, ca me to th em and

invited thcm to Allah and hc remi ndcd titem, wa rn ed the m,

<Idmo nished the m and com manded them , but they said to him,

" 11' you brin g forth far us li'Dln this rock," and they indi ca tcd

a rock therc, "a she-came l o f slic h-a nd -sucil a descripti on .,,"

and th ey described and named , and became stubborn regarding

it , in sisting th at it be in the te nth month o f' pregnancy. tha t it be

230 77le SlOry of Sall!h, the Prophet of Tlwmood

tall and possessed of thi s attribute and that att ri bute. Prophet

Sal eh ~ sa id to them, " I f I do as YO ll ask, in the manner you

have requested, w ill you ha ve faith in what I ha ve brought and

believe in that wi th whi ch I have been se nt?" They said, <;Yes."

So he took the ir cove nant and their ag reement on tha L. T hen he

went to a place of praye r and prayed to Allah, the A lmighty, the

All-Powerfu l as much as Al lah had orda ined for him , then he

in voked his Lord , the Almighty, the A llPowe rful, asking Him

to give what they had asked for. So Allah, the A lmighty, the

AllPowerful comma nded that rock to spl it open and produce a

huge camel, with a great hump, wh ich was in the tenth month

of pregnancy, as they had requested, or in accordance wi th

the descripti on they had given. When they saw w ith their own

eyes a great thing, an amaz ing sight , (A ll ah 's) overwhe lming

Ab ili ty (to do a ll thin gs) and an irrefutabl e proof, a large

number of them be lieved , but 1110st of the m conti nued in thei r

disbeli ef, error and obsti nacy. Thi s is why A llah says, ( but

they did wrong by them (i.e. Allah's Signs) ) (Saara" AI-A 'raf

7: I 03) That is, they (i.e. 1110st of them) rejected them and d id

not follow th e truth in spite of them.

This is why Saleh ~ said to them , ( "Th is she-came l of All ah

is a Sign unto you.") (SoO/'ah AI-A 'raJ7:73) I-Ie attributed it to

A ll ah, as a term o f hon or and veneration, as in th e ex press ions

" the HOllse of AII.lh" and " the slave of Allah ". ( "A sign for

you (Jews)." ) (Saarah Ali 'hllrall 3: 13) That is, evidence of

th e tTuth of what I have brought to you. ( "leave her to feed on

Al lah's carth, and tOll ch her not w ith evi l, lest a nen r puni shment

wi ll seize you." ) (Saarah Haad II :64) They agreed to let the

she-ca me l rema in among them, grazin g wherever it wished

fro m th eir land and drink ing the water at fixed times. When it

drank the wate r, it would consu me thc water of the we ll that

day and they knew their need for wate r from one day to the

Tlte StOlJ' ofSalc:h. ,he i'lVphC!( ofT/mll/oad 231

next. It was said that th ey lI sed to drink it s milk and that it was

sullicicnt for a ll oft hcm, whi ch is w hy hc said , ( "It has a ri ght

to drink (water), and you havc a righ t to drink (water) (each)

on a day, known." ) (Sool"Oll A.~·"·SIIlI·ara ·26: 155) Thi s is why

A llah, Most Hi gh , sa id (to Saleh ), ( Veril y, We arc send ing

the she-camc l as a lest for thl!lll . ) (Sooralt AI-Qamar 54:27)

That is as a test to sec whether they will believe or disbclicve.