And when the matter reached a limit with which there was no concealment, it became clear that they knew that. Nothing compelled them to state their denial of it except the rush towards that due to the dominance of desires without contemplation of its consequences. Thus, it became a matter of adhering to error. The context was for denying the resurrection, which was brought by a warner from the warned people. It was as if it was said: Indeed, the denial of these people is more astonishing; has this ever happened to anyone? So Allah, the Most High, said, comforting this noble Prophet; for when calamity is widespread, it becomes easier. Clarifying the glory of the Qur'an and the glory of its verses, confirming the warning and cautioning by it, not for advice: ﴿They denied﴾. And He named the action with the letter 'taa' as an indication of their humiliation in the face of this glory. And when these mentioned factions, due to their strength and multitude, seemed to be the people of glory entirely, having encompassed its time and place, He dropped the conjunction and said: ﴿Before them﴾.

And when they did not have a fame by which they were known, He said: ﴿The people of Noah﴾. And He indicated the great consolation that a warner came to them from among themselves. They were powerful in standing firm in what they attempted and numerous to the extent that all their attributes could not be contained by understanding. They harmed their Messenger, and their harm lasted nearly ten centuries. And when their last affair was that the two waters met upon them: the water of the sky, and the water of the earth rose to them and drowned them, He followed them from their group with their story, that the water descended upon them and overwhelmed them, indicating the greatness of the power and action by choice. He said: ﴿And the companions of the well﴾, meaning: the well that collapsed upon them, and it sank along with what was around it, taking them and all that they had, as their story was mentioned in Al-Furqan.

And when the sign of [the people of] Salih was among the greatest indications of the power over resurrection, and their destruction was appropriate for the destruction of those before them, as for the companions of the well, it was by the earthquake which is [upon] the principle of the sinking. And as for the people of Noah, it was because the earthquake was affected by the cry which was carried by the wind that is known for carrying the clouds that bear water, He followed them with it. And they were the companions of a well, and they were not sunk. So He said: ﴿And Thamud﴾.