Did you come to us to worship Allah alone? They denied and rejected Allah's exclusive right to worship, and they abandoned the religion of their forefathers in taking idols as partners with Him, out of love for what they were raised upon, and familiarity with what they found their fathers practicing. If you say: What is the meaning of coming in the saying 'Did you come to us?' I say: There are several interpretations. One is that it is for Hud, peace be upon him, to have a place isolated from his people where he would engage in worship, as the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, would do in Hira before the Prophethood. When revelation came to him, he came to his people to call them. Another interpretation is that they intended mockery, for they believed that Allah, the Exalted, does not send except angels. So it is as if they said: Did you come to us from the sky as the angel comes? They did not mean the reality of coming, but rather to expose themselves to that and intend it, as one might say: He went to insult me, without meaning the actual going, as if they said: Did you come to us so that we may worship Allah alone, and you exposed us to the obligation of that?

Bring us what you promise us. This is an eagerness from them for the punishment that has certainly befallen you, meaning it has become due upon you and is obligatory, or it has descended upon you. They made the expected punishment, which must descend, equivalent to what has already occurred. This is similar to saying to someone who has requested something from you: That has already happened. And from Al-Hassan, that his son Abdul-Rahman was stung by a wasp while he was a child, so he came crying. He said to him: O my son, what is wrong with you? He said: A wasp stung me, as if it were wrapped in my robe. He embraced him to his chest and said: O my son, you have composed poetry. And the filth is the punishment from the shaking, which is the disturbance in names you have named them with, in things that are nothing but names without meanings, for you call them gods. The meaning of divinity in them is nonexistent and impossible to exist. This is like His saying, 'What you call upon besides Him is nothing.' And the meaning of 'you have named them' is that you have named them, like saying: I named him Zaid. And cutting off their root means uprooting them and destroying them completely.

Their story is that 'Aad' had spread out in the lands between Oman and Hadramaut. They had idols that they worshipped.

Sada, and Samud, and the dust, so Allah sent to them Hud, a prophet, who was among the best of them in lineage and status. They denied him and increased in arrogance and tyranny. So Allah withheld rain from them for three years until they were in dire straits. When calamity befell people, they would seek relief from Allah at His sacred house, both the Muslims and the polytheists. The people of Mecca at that time were the giants, the children of 'Amliq bin Lawdh bin Sam bin Nuh, and their leader was Muawiyah bin Bakr. 'Aad sent to Mecca from among their best seventy men, including Qail bin Anz and Murthad bin Sa'd, who was concealing his Islam. When they arrived, they stayed with Muawiyah bin Bakr, who was outside of Mecca, beyond the sanctuary. He welcomed them and honored them, for they were his maternal uncles and in-laws. They stayed with him for a month, drinking wine and being entertained by the two female singers.

Two female singers who belonged to Muawiyah. When he saw their prolonged stay and their distraction with amusement from what they had come for, he was troubled by that and said: My maternal uncles and in-laws are perishing while these people are in their current state. He was shy to speak to them for fear they would think he was burdened by their presence. So he mentioned that to the two singers. They said: Recite poetry that we may sing to them without them knowing who said it. So Muawiyah recited:

O Qail, woe to you, rise and sing... Perhaps Allah will send us clouds.

And He will water the land of 'Aad, for 'Aad has become unable to articulate words due to severe thirst, so we do not hope... for the old man nor the boy.

And their women were in good condition... for their women have become widows.

And the wild animals come to them openly... and do not fear arrows from 'Aad.

And you are here in whatever you desire... your days and nights are complete.

So wretched is your delegation among the people... and they did not receive greetings or peace.

To Muawiyah ibn Bakr. It is narrated that 'Aad sent from among their people: Qail ibn 'Anaz, Nu'aym ibn Hazaalah, Murthad ibn Sa'd ibn 'Ufair, Jalhamah ibn al-Halis, the maternal uncle of Muawiyah ibn Bakr, and Luqman ibn 'Aad, each with a group of their kin to call upon Allah for rain at the Ka'bah. They settled near Muawiyah ibn Bakr, who honored them and sent for the two singers to sing for them - they were two female singers who were the first to sing among the women of the Arabs - so they forgot their people due to the abundance of amusement and joy. Muawiyah said: My maternal uncles are doomed, and if I said something to them, they would think I was stingy. He initiated this and commanded the two singers to sing for them. The 'haneema' is a soft sound that is not understood. It refers to calling upon Allah for rain. 'And He gives us clouds' means the water of clouds. They do not articulate the speech, due to their weakness from thirst. 'So we do not hope' means we do not hope for it, i.e., for 'Aad. It is narrated 'by it' meaning due to thirst. The correct narration is 'by it' meaning in the land of 'Aad. The old man and the boy. 'Al-'aymah' refers to a strong desire for milk. It refers to general poverty. 'Al-'iyami' is the plural of 'aym with emphasis, meaning of poor condition. Its origin is 'ayaim, which was changed to 'iyami, as it is narrated 'ayami, which is the plural of 'aym, and its origin is 'ayaim, meaning those who have lost their husbands. The meaning is by analogy. It may also refer to your women whom you left as if they were without husbands there. The repetition of women is for the sake of compassion towards them. 'Al-'adi' refers to the people of 'Aad, who were tough and strong. 'Al-wahsh' is a generic name, its singular is 'wahshi, like 'ins and 'turki. It is mentioned according to its wording and is feminine according to its plurality. It is narrated 'by both' and 'your day' is in the accusative as a circumstance, and 'from and the people' is a distinguishing phrase associated with 'from', and 'peace' is an addition to the greeting, and it contains a hint because it refers to the interruption of speech, just as those gathered say it when parting. When the people heard that, they went to the Ka'bah, and Murthad ibn Sa'd, who was a believer, caught up with them, but they delayed him, so he called upon Allah for himself, not for the people. And Qail said: O Allah, if Hud is truthful, then give us drink. Then a white cloud, a red cloud, and a black cloud appeared. Then it was called: O Qail, choose whichever you wish. He said: As for the white one, it fled, and as for the red one, it was an obstruction. And as for the black one, it poured down, so he chose it, and it was called. You have chosen a cloud that will not leave anyone from 'Aad, neither a parent nor a child. The black cloud moved towards 'Aad and destroyed them, and Luqman ibn 'Aad came after they had finished their supplications and said: O Allah, I have come to You alone, so grant me my request. He asked for seven eagles, and the age of the eagle was eighty years. He would take the eagle from its nest and keep it with him until it died, and the last of his eagles was named Labid, and when it died, he died. Then this was before the existence of Mecca and Zamzam, for they were only found in the time of Ibrahim and Isma'il. Perhaps Muawiyah ibn Bakr lived near the place of Mecca, not in its exact location, because at that time there was neither pasture nor water there. When they sang with it, they said: Your people are calling for help from the calamity that has befallen them, and you have delayed them, so enter the sanctuary and ask for rain for your people. Murthad ibn Sa'd said to them: By Allah, you will not be given drink by your supplication, but if you obey your Prophet and repent to Allah, you will be given drink, and he declared his Islam. They said to Muawiyah: Keep Murthad away from us, lest he comes with us to Mecca, for he has followed the religion of Hud and left our religion. Then they entered Mecca, and Qail said: O Allah, give 'Aad what You used to give them. Then Allah created three clouds: white, red, and black. Then a caller from the heavens called to him. O Qail, choose for yourself and your people. He said: I chose the black one because it has the most water. It came upon 'Aad from a valley called al-Mughith, and they rejoiced in it and said: This is a cloud that will rain upon us. Then a barren wind came to them from it and destroyed them, while Hud and the believers with him were saved. They came to Mecca and worshipped Allah there until they died. If you say: What is the benefit of denying faith from them in His saying وَما كانُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ while affirming the denial of the signs of Allah? I say:

It is an allusion to those among them who believed, like Murtad bin Sa'd, and to those who were saved with Hud, peace be upon him. It is as if he said: And We cut off the end of those who denied among them, and they were not like those who believed among them, to indicate that destruction is specific to the deniers, and Allah saved the believers.