His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "‘Aad denied, so how was My punishment and My warnings?" "Indeed, We sent upon them a cold wind on a day of continuous misfortune." "It tears away the people as if they were uprooted palm trunks." "So how was My punishment and My warnings?" "And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy to remember, so is there any who will remember?" "Thamud denied the warnings." "So they said, 'Is a single human being from us to be followed? Then we would certainly be in error and madness.'" "Has the reminder been cast upon him from among us? Rather, he is a lying, arrogant man." "They will know tomorrow who is the lying, arrogant one."

"‘Aad" is a tribe, and their stories have preceded.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "So how was My punishment and My warnings?" The position of "how" is in the accusative, either as a report of "was" or as an adverbial phrase. "Was" means: it occurred and happened in this sense. "Warnings" is the plural of "warner," which is the source. Warsh alone read: "My warnings" with the 'ya', while the others read: "My warnings" without the 'ya' according to the script of the mushaf.

And "the cold wind" (صَرْصَر) was said by Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, and Al-Dahhak to mean: the cold one, and it is from the root of صَرّ. A group of the interpreters said it means: the howling one, derived from: the wind howled when it blew forcefully as if it were pronouncing these two letters: the 'sad' and the 'ra'. The verb is intensified as they say: "kabkab and kafkaf" from "kab and kaf"; this is common. And the readers did not differ in the sukoon of the 'ha' in "misfortune" and the addition of the day to it except for what was narrated from Al-Hasan that he read: "on a day of misfortune" with tanween and "misfortune" with a kasra on the 'ha', and "continuous" means: successive. Qatadah said: that misfortune continued with them until they reached Hell. Al-Dahhak said in the book of Al-Thalabi: the meaning was that it was bitter for them. It was mentioned by Al-Naqqash from Al-Hasan, and it was narrated that the day in which they had continuous misfortune was a Wednesday. It was reported in some hadiths in the interpretation of this verse: a day of continuous misfortune, the day of Wednesday. Some people interpreted that it is a continuous misfortune throughout all time, and this is weak in my opinion. And Abu Bishr Al-Dulabi mentioned a hadith narrated by Abu Ja'far Al-Mansur from his father Ali from his father Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The last Wednesday of the month is a day of continuous misfortune." And there is something similar in the speech of the Persians and non-Arabs. There has been mention of the Wednesday that does not rotate in some poetry of the Khurasani-born. Al-Thalabi mentioned from Zirr ibn Hubaysh in the interpretation of this verse for 'Aad that it was on a Wednesday that does not rotate, and Al-Naqqash mentioned it from Ja'far ibn Muhammad and said: the moon was ill-omened for a man. And this is an evil insinuation, seeking refuge with Allah, the Most High, that it be correct from Ja'far ibn Muhammad.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "It tears away the people" means: it moves them from their places, tearing them away and throwing them down. It was narrated from Mujahid that it would throw a man on his head, and his head and neck would shatter along with what is near them from his hands.

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

For this reason, the comparison with the trunks of the palm trees is fitting. They used to dig holes to protect themselves from the wind. So it is as if he compared the holes after the removal with the digging of the trunks of the palm trees. The palm trees are both masculine and feminine, and for this reason, Allah, the Most High, said here: "مُنْقَعِرٍ" (empty), and in another surah, "خاوِيَةٍ" (vacant). The "kaf" in His saying, "كَأنَّهم أعْجازُ" (as if they were trunks) is in the position of the حال (state), as stated by Al-Zajjaj. The reports regarding the Khuljan and others are all weak. The benefit of His saying, ﴿فَكَيْفَ كانَ عَذابِي ونُذُرِ﴾ (So how was My punishment and My warning) is to instill fear and shake the souls. Al-Rummani said: Since the warning is of various types, He repeated the reminder and the alerting. The benefit of the repetition of His saying, ﴿وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنا القُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُدَّكِرٍ﴾ (And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy to remember, so is there anyone who will remember?) is affirmation, encouragement, and alerting the souls. This is found in the repetition of the speech, like the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Have I not conveyed? Have I not conveyed? Have I not conveyed?" Like his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "Beware of false speech, beware of false speech, beware of false speech, beware of false speech." The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, did this three times. All of this is one direction, even if it varies.

"Thamud" is the tribe of Salih, peace be upon him, and they are the people of Al-Hijr. The majority read: "أبَشَرًا مِنّا واحِدًا" (A single human being from among us), and its accusative is implied by a verb that indicates it: we follow him. "واحِدًا" (one) is an adjective for "بَشَرًا" (human). Abu Al-Samali read: "أبَشَرٌ مِنّا واحِدًا نَتَّبِعُهُ" (Is there a single human being from among us that we will follow?), and its nominative is either on the implied verb that is built for the passive, the estimation being: Is a human being informed? Or it is on the subject, and the predicate is in His saying, "نَتَّبِعُهُ" (we will follow him). "واحِدًا" in this reading is a حال (state), either from the pronoun in "نَتَّبِعُهُ" or from the implied with "مِنّا" (from us), as if they were saying: Is there a human being that exists among us who is one? In this, there is consideration. Abu Amr Al-Dani reported that the reading of Abu Al-Samali: "أبَشَرٌ مِنّا واحِدٌ" (Is there a single human being from among us?) is in the nominative in both cases. This statement from Thamud is envy from them towards Salih, peace be upon him, and a rejection that a type of human would be preferred over others in this favor. They said: Should we all be together and follow one? They did not know that the favor is in the hand of Allah, the Most High, who gives it to whom He wills, and the light of guidance flows to whom He is pleased with.

And their saying: "فِي ضَلالٍ" (in misguidance) means: in a matter that is destructive and harmful by destruction. And "سُعُرٍ" (in raging) means: in the burning of souls and their igniting out of anger and concern for following him. It was said regarding "السُعُرِ": hardship, and it was said madness. From it, it was said: a she-camel that is "مَسْعُورَةٌ" (raging) if it excessively runs. Then they increased with the success of their saying: ﴿أأُلْقِيَ الذِكْرُ عَلَيْهِ مِن بَيْنِنا﴾ (Has the reminder been sent down upon him from among us?). "أُلْقِيَ" means "was sent down," and it is as if it implies haste in the action. The Arabs use this verb, and from it is His saying, ﴿وَألْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِنِّي﴾ (And I threw upon you love from Me) [Ta-Ha: 39], and from it is His saying, ﴿إنّا سَنُلْقِي عَلَيْكَ قَوْلا ثَقِيلا﴾ (Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word) [Al-Muzzammil: 5]. And "الذِكْرُ" here refers to the message and what could have come to them from wisdom and admonition.

Then they said: "Rather, he is a lying, arrogant one." This means: The matter is not as he claims. And "the arrogant one" is the one who is boastful and merry. It is as if they accused him of being arrogant, wanting to be superior over them and to lead them and dominate their obedience. So Allah, the Most High, said to Salih, peace be upon him: "They will know tomorrow who is the lying, arrogant one." And this is with the 'ya' from below, the reading of Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and the majority of the people. Ibn Amer, Hamzah, Asim, Ibn Wathab, Talhah, and Al-A'mash read: "You will know" with the 'ta' meaning: Say to them, O Salih. And His saying, the Most High: "tomorrow" is an approximation by which He means the future time, not a specific day, similar to the saying: "With today, there is tomorrow." The majority of the people read: "the arrogant one" with a kasrah on the sheen like Hadr with a kasrah on the dhal. Mujahid, as mentioned about him, read: "the arrogant one" with a dammah on the sheen like Hadr with a dammah on the dhal. Both are forms of the active participle. Abu Haywah read: "the arrogant one" with a fathah on the sheen as if he was described by the source. Abu Qilabah read: "the arrogant one" with a fathah on the sheen and a shaddah on the ra, and it is the comparative form, and it is not used except with the definite article, and it was the original form but was rejected for ease and frequent usage.