And when it was one of the great objectives to indicate the following of some of these nations by others in good and evil in a sequence, and their being led to the destruction of the deniers and the salvation of the believers layer by layer, the destruction of 'Aad and Thamud - due to what they were known for of physical strength and solid foundations - was in the utmost strangeness. The meaning of the conclusion of the story of Midian: 'So We destroyed them,' is supported by His saying: ﴿And 'Aad﴾ meaning: And We destroyed also 'Aad ﴿and Thamud﴾ along with what they were in of arrogance, pride, and superiority. ﴿And it has become clear to you﴾ meaning: It has manifested itself in the utmost clarity, O Arabs, their matter ﴿from their dwellings﴾ meaning: what has been described of their destruction and what they were in of strong bodies, vast minds, high concerns, sharp intellects, and great status, when you passed by those dwellings and looked at them while you were traveling in trade to the Levant. They diverted their thoughts towards enjoying the fleeting pleasures of this world, so they hoped for long-lasting things and built strongly, and nothing of that availed them against the decree of Allah. ﴿And the devil adorned for them﴾ in the utmost adornment ﴿their deeds﴾ meaning: the corrupt ones, so they fully engaged in them along with the clear enemy and turned away from the guiding advisors.

And when this adornment caused them to be prevented from seeing the straight path, He said: ﴿So he turned them away from the path﴾ meaning: He prevented them from walking the path that there is no path except it, as it leads to salvation, while the others lead to destruction. (p-438) For it is non-existence, rather non-existence is better than it. And when that was perhaps thought to be due to their extreme ignorance, He said: ﴿And they were﴾ meaning: The devil did to them what he did of misleading while they were in a state of utmost capability ﴿seeing clearly﴾ meaning: counted among the people as the wise and intelligent ones, greatly due to what they surpassed others in of what they knew of the apparent life of this world. And they did not precede us, but rather we caused them to fall into their evil deeds in what we intended of types of destruction. So beware of their fates, for you do not resemble them in strength, nor do you come close to them in intellect.