51:46 Adh-Dhaariyat (The Winnowing Winds)

أي: وكذلك ما فعل الله بقوم نوح، حين كذبوا نوحًا عليه السلام وفسقوا عن أمر الله، فأرسل الله عليهم السماء والأرض بالماء المنهمر، فأغرقهم الله تعالى [عن آخرهم]، ولم يبق من الكافرين ديارًا، وهذه عادة الله وسنته، فيمن عصاه.

وقوله عز وجل "وقوم نوح من قبل" أي وأهلكنا قوم نوح من قبل هؤلاء "إنهم كانوا قوما فاسقين" وكل هذه القصص قد تقدمت مبسوطة في أماكن كثيرة من سور متعددة والله تعالى أعلم.

Lessons from the Destruction of Fir`awn, `Ad, Thamud, and the People of Nuh

Allah the Exalted said,

وَفِى مُوسَى إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَـهُ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ بِسُلْطَـنٍ مُّبِينٍ

(And in Musa, when We sent him to Fir`awn with a manifest authority.) meaning, with clear proof and plain evidence,

فَتَوَلَّى بِرُكْنِهِ

(But he turned away along with his hosts,) meaning, in rebellion and arrogance, Fir`awn turned away from the plain truth that Musa was sent with,

ثَانِىَ عِطْفِهِ لِيُضِلَّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

(Bending his neck in pride, and leading (others) too (far) astray from the path of Allah.)(22:9 ), meaning turning away from truth in arrogance,

وَقَالَ سَـحِرٌ أَوْ مَجْنُونٌ

(and said: "A sorcerer, or a madman.") meaning Fir`awn said to Musa, "With regards to the message that you brought me, you are either a magician or a madman." Allah the Exalted replied,

فَأَخَذْنَـهُ وَجُنُودَهُ فَنَبَذْنَـهُمْ

(So We took him and his armies, and dumped them), meaning `We threw them,'

فِى الْيَمِّ

(into the Yamm), into the sea,

وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ

(for he was blameworthy.) meaning, Fir`awn was a denying sinner and a stubborn disbeliever worthy of blame. Allah the Exalted and Most Honored said,

وَفِى عَادٍ إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الرِّيحَ الْعَقِيمَ

(And in `Ad when We sent against them the barren wind) that destroys everything and produces nothing. This was said by Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah and others. Allah's statement,

مَا تَذَرُ مِن شَىْءٍ أَتَتْ عَلَيْهِ

(It spared nothing that it reached,) meaning, everything that the wind could destroy,

إِلاَّ جَعَلَتْهُ كَالرَّمِيمِ

(but blew it into broken spreads of rotten ruins.) meaning, made it just like a rotten and destroyed. Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib and others commented on:

إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الرِّيحَ الْعَقِيمَ

(when We sent against them the barren wind),"Southerly winds." However, there is a Hadith in the Sahih from Shu`bah bin Al-Hakam, from Mujahid, from Ibn `Abbas, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«نُصِرْتُ بِالصَّبَا وَأُهْلِكَتْ عَادٌ بِالدَّبُور»

(I have been made victorious with the Saba (easterly wind), and the people of `Ad were destroyed with the Dabur (westerly wind).) Allah saying,

وَفِى ثَمُودَ إِذْ قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَمَتَّعُواْ حَتَّى حِينٍ

(And in Thamud, when they were told: "Enjoy yourselves for a while!") is just as He said in another Ayah,

وَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَهَدَيْنَـهُمْ فَاسْتَحَبُّواْ الْعَمَى عَلَى الْهُدَى فَأَخَذَتْهُمْ صَـعِقَةُ الْعَذَابِ الْهُونِ

(And as for Thamud, We guided them to the path of truth, but they preferred blindness to guidance; so the Sa`iqah of disgracing torment seized them.) (41:17) Allah said here,

وَفِى ثَمُودَ إِذْ قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَمَتَّعُواْ حَتَّى حِينٍ - فَعَتَوْاْ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّاعِقَةُ وَهُمْ يَنظُرُونَ

(And in Thamud, when they were told: "Enjoy yourselves for a while!" But they insolently defied the command of their Lord, so the Sa`iqah overtook them while they were looking.) Thamud were given a respite for three days, during which they await the torment. In the early morning of the fourth day, the torment overtook them,

فَمَا اسْتَطَـعُواْ مِن قِيَامٍ

(Then they were unable to rise up,) they were unable to escape and run away from it,

وَمَا كَانُواْ مُنتَصِرِينَ

(nor could they help themselves.) nor could they save themselves from the torment that befell them. Allah the Exalted and Most Honored said,

وَقَوْمَ نُوحٍ مِّن قَبْلُ

((So were) the people of Nuh before them.) meaning, `We destroyed the people of Nuh before these people (Fir`awn, `Ad and Thamud).'

إِنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ قَوْماً فَـسِقِينَ

(Verily, they were a people who were revellious.) We mentioned these stories in details before in the Tafsir of several other Surahs.

And the people of Noah read wa qawmi Nūhin as a supplement to Thamūda in other words ‘in the destruction of these two peoples by what destructive power exists in the heavens and the earth there is also a sign’; or read wa qawma Nūhin in other words ‘We also destroyed the people of Noah’ aforetime that is before the destruction of those mentioned. Indeed they were an immoral lot.

After the mention of the people of Lut (علیہ السلام) ، the people of Musa (علیہ السلام) ، Fir'aun and others are taken up briefly. When Musa (علیہ السلام) delivered the message of truth to Fir'aun, the latter reacted thus: فَتَوَلَّىٰ بِرُ‌كْنِهِ (So he turned away along with his chiefs,...51:39) The original word used for 'his chiefs' is rukn which means power. Here it is used to refer to his army and chiefs of his government. In the story of Lut (علیہ السلام) he has been mentioned saying, أَوْ آوِي إِلَىٰ رُ‌كْنٍ شَدِيدٍ (or that I had the backing of a strong group' The word rukn is used there in the same sense. (See Ma’ ariful Qur’ an, Vol. 4/p. 658, 661: '...or that I had the backing of some strong group...' )

After this, the stories of the people of ` Ad, Thamud and Nuh (علیہم السلام) are told. These stories were narrated many times before.