Then he caused to be said about their arrogance: ﴿So the earthquake seized them﴾, meaning: the one from which the cry came, the seizing of one who is in the grip, to the utmost degree of smallness and insignificance. And perhaps the unification of the abode here with the earthquake is in the story of Salih and Shu'ayb - peace be upon them - in His saying, the Exalted: ﴿So they became in their abode﴾, meaning: their dwellings. And its gathering in the two stories with the cry, in the Surah of Hud - peace be upon him - is to indicate the greatness of the shaking and the cry in the two places. This is because when the shaking is in one thing, it is more possible, so it would be in the intended punishment greater. And the cry has the nature of spreading. So if it encompasses distant places and far-off dwellings, it destroys their people and tears apart their gathering and separates their unity - it would be of the excessive strength and intense severity to the extent that the souls are disturbed by contemplating its description and the hearts are compelled by it. The essence of it is that where he expressed by the earthquake, he unified the abode; an indication of the severity of the punishment by the greatness of the disturbance. And where he expressed by the cry, he gathered; a hint at the generality of death by the intensity of the sound. There is no contradiction that their punishment was by both of them, and perhaps one of them was a cause for the other. And perhaps what is meant by the earthquake is the disturbance of the hearts, a disturbance that cut them off, or that the abode shook and the hearts shook, which is closer. And the A'raf is specified with what is mentioned in it; because its purpose is to warn the heedless, and the earthquake is a greater clamor for the lack of familiarity with it - and Allah knows best. ﴿Crouching﴾, meaning: kneeling on their knees, remaining in their places, with no movement from any of them. And there remained from them at that hour no one except one man who was in the sanctuary. When he came out of it, what befell his people befell him, and he was Abu Righal. And the distance of the sanctuary from their land exceeds a journey of ten days. And among the great signs is that that which took their hearts and removed their souls did not affect Salih - peace be upon him - and the weak ones with him at all. And that is like the wind that shook the confederates and subjected them to the severest punishment, and threw stones and dust upon them until it defeated them, and what the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and his companions received from it was not great harm. And Allah restrained it from Hudhayfah, and likewise the cold that was at that time when the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - sent him to learn their news.