His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "So We sent upon them a wind, fierce, in days of misfortune, to make them taste the punishment of disgrace in this worldly life, and the punishment of the Hereafter is more disgraceful, and they will not be helped." "And as for Thamud, We guided them, but they preferred blindness over guidance. So the thunderbolt of the humiliating punishment seized them because of what they used to earn." "And We saved those who believed and were conscious of Allah." It has been narrated in the hadith that "Allah, the Exalted, commanded the keepers of the wind, and they opened upon 'Aad from it the size of a ring of a seal. If they had opened the size of a bull's nostril, the world would have perished." It is also narrated that "the wind would lift the laden camels and carry them until it would throw them into the sea." Jabir ibn Abdullah and Al-Taymi said: "Rain was withheld from them for three years. When Allah intends evil for a people, He withholds rain from them and sends upon them the wind." People differed regarding the fierce wind. Qatadah, Al-Suddi, and Al-Dahhak said: "It is derived from 'sir', which means cold, and the meaning is a cold wind that has a sound." Mujahid said: "Fierce means a strong heat upon them." Al-Tabari and a group of the commentators said: "It is from 'sarsara' if it makes a sound resembling 'sad' and 'ra', and likewise the sound of the wind comes in many instances according to what it encounters." Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, Al-A'raj, Al-Nakha'i, and 'Isa read: "misfortunes" with the 'ha' being silent, which is the plural of 'nuhs'. It is said: "A day of misfortune" and "a people of misfortune." It is a source by which it is sometimes described and sometimes added to 'the day'. In this verse, it is gathered in this description. Abu Amr argued for this reading with the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "A day of continuous misfortune." [Qamar: 19] Al-Nakha'i said: "misfortunes" and it is not "misfortunes" with the 'ha' being broken. The others, Abu Ja'far, Shaiba, Abu Rujai, Qatadah, Al-Jahdari, and Al-A'mash read: "misfortunes" with the 'ha' being broken, which is the plural of 'nuhs' on the pattern of 'hadhr', and it is a description of the day taken from misfortune. Al-Tabari said: "Nuhs and nuhs are two languages." Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "It is not so, but the one language gathers both. One of them is a source and the other is from the examples of the active participle." Al-Farra' recited: "Inform Judham and Lakhm that their brothers, Tay and Bahra, are a people who have helped them, misfortune." A group said: "That 'misfortunes' with the silent 'ha' is a softened form of 'misfortunes' with the broken 'ha', and the meaning in this word is: ominous, from the known misfortune, as said by Mujahid, Qatadah, and Al-Suddi. Al-Dahhak said: "Its meaning is: severe, meaning severe cold until the cold became a punishment for them." Abu Ali said: "Al-Asma'i recited in misfortune with the meaning of cold: 'As if a sip was presented to misfortune, which turns its clarity into water.'" Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: "misfortunes" means: consecutive, and it was the last of Shawwal from Wednesday to Wednesday. And "the punishment of disgrace in this worldly life" is destruction due to disbelief and opposing the command of Allah, the Exalted. There is no disgrace greater than this, except what is in the Hereafter of eternity in the fire.

And the majority of the people read: ﴿ "And as for Thamud" ﴾ without inflection. This is based on the intention of the tribe. Yahya ibn Wathab, Al-A'mash, and Bakr ibn Habib read: "And as for Thamud" with tanween and inflection. This is based on the intention of the clan. Al-A'mash was inflected, and Yahya ibn Wathab reads in all of the Qur'an, except in His saying: ﴿And We gave Thamud the she-camel﴾ [Al-Isra: 59] because it is in the mushaf without an alif. Ibn Abi Ishaq, Al-A'raj - with a difference - Al-A'mash, and Asim read: "Thamud" in the accusative. This is based on an implied verb indicated by His saying: ﴿So We guided them﴾. Its estimation according to Sibawayh is: Whatever there is of something, We guided Thamud, We guided them. The nominative according to him has multiple interpretations. It was narrated from Ibn Abi Ishaq and Al-A'mash: (Thamud) with tanween in the accusative, and Al-Fadl narrated from Asim the two forms.

And His saying: ﴿ [So We guided them] ﴾ means: We made clear to them, as said by Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, Al-Suddi, and Ibn Zayd.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Guidance here does not mean direction. This is like the current Shari'ah of Islam, which is made clear to the Jews and Christians who are mixed with us. However, they turn away and engage in opposition, so that is the preference of blindness over guidance. And His saying: ﴿So they preferred blindness over guidance﴾ is an expression of their earning in blindness. Otherwise, it is by the invention for Allah, the Most High, and it indicates that it is a reference to their earning, as indicated by His saying: ﴿Because of what they used to earn﴾. And His saying: ﴿the punishment of humiliation﴾ is a description with the source, and the meaning is: that which is accompanied by humiliation and disgrace. Then He, the Most High, coupled their mention with the mention of those who believed, feared Allah, and were saved by it to clarify the distinction.