His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿So they hamstrung the she-camel and were insolent towards the command of their Lord. And they said, 'O Salih, bring us what you promise us if you are among the messengers.'﴾ ﴿So the quake seized them, and they became in their home fallen on their knees.﴾ ﴿Then he turned away from them and said, 'O my people, I certainly conveyed to you the message of my Lord and advised you, but you do not love the advisors.'﴾

His saying - exalted is He - ﴿ 'So they hamstrung' ﴾ implies - by including them all in the pronoun - that the hamstringing of the she-camel was done in collusion among them; and it has been reported that Qidar did not hamstring it until he consulted the men, women, and children; and when they all agreed, he proceeded and hamstrung it.

And 'and were insolent' means: they were afraid; they were hardened; and they did not submit to the command and the law; and they were determined to deny him; and they hastened the punishment by their saying: ﴿Bring us what you promise us﴾; and the promise was good in this context as it was conditioned by the fact that it was punishment.

Abu Hatim said: 'Isa and Asim read: 'Bring us' with a hamzah and a prolonged dammah; and Abu Amr and Al-A'mash read it with a softened hamzah as if it were a ya in pronunciation.

And 'the quake' is what is caused by a loud sound or a calamity that causes a person to tremble; it is that he shakes; and moves; and trembles; and quakes; and from it is the saying of Khadijah - may Allah be pleased with her -: 'The Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - returned with his heart trembling'; and from it is the saying of Al-Akhtal:

'Whether you see me, the gray hair has overtaken me from old age ∗∗∗ like an eagle, I tremble while the man is stretched out.'

And from it is 'the trembling of souls' due to the unpleasant news; meaning it stirs them; and it has been reported that the cry of Thamud contained a sound of every terrifying thing; and it was overwhelming; it shattered their hearts; so they fell on their chests; and 'the fallen' is the one who is lying on the ground on his chest, with his legs tucked in, like a rabbit and a bird; for its lying on its face; and from it is the saying of Jarir:

'I recognized the destination and I recognized from it ∗∗∗ the saddles of the pot like the fallen.'

And some of the interpreters said: Its meaning is: burning embers like the fallen ash.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And where the fallen ash is found in poetry; it is a metaphor for the state of the ash before it cools down; and disperses; and the owner of this saying went to say that the cry was accompanied by burning lightning.

And Allah - Exalted and Majestic - informed of a good deed in His turning away from them at the time of their slaughtering of the she-camel; and their saying: ﴿Bring us what you promise us﴾; and that was before the descent of the punishment; and it has also been narrated that he - blessings and peace be upon him - left from among them before the descent of the punishment; and this is what is necessitated by His addressing them; as for the wording of the verse; it is possible that He addressed them while they were dead; in a manner of lamenting over them; and mentioning their state; or otherwise; just as the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - addressed the people of the Well of Badr; Al-Tabari said: And it was said: No nation perishes while its Prophet is among them; and it has been narrated that he - peace be upon him - departed with those who were with him; until he reached Mecca; and he stayed there until he died; and the wording of turning away implies despair of their good; and certainty in their destruction.

And His saying: ﴿You do not love the advisers﴾; is an expression of their preference for desires over sound reasoning; as the words of the adviser are difficult; opposing the desires of the one who is advised; and for this reason the Arabs say: "A matter that makes you cry; not a matter that makes you laugh."