7:79 Al-A'raaf (The Heights)

{ فَتَوَلَّى عَنْهُمْ } صالح عليه السلام حين أحل اللّه بهم العذاب، { وَقَالَ } مخاطبا لهم توبيخا وعتابا بعدما أهلكهم اللّه: { يَا قَوْمِ لَقَدْ أَبْلَغْتُكُمْ رِسَالَةَ رَبِّي وَنَصَحْتُ لَكُمْ } أي: جميع ما أرسلني اللّه به إليكم، قد أبلغتكم به وحرصت على هدايتكم، واجتهدت في سلوككم الصراط المستقيم والدين القويم. { وَلَكِنْ لَا تُحِبُّونَ النَّاصِحِينَ } بل رددتم قول النصحاء، وأطعتم كل شيطان رجيم. واعلم أن كثيرا من المفسرين يذكرون في هذه القصة أن الناقة قد خرجت من صخرة صماء ملساء اقترحوها على صالح وأنها تمخضت تمخض الحامل فخرجت الناقة وهم ينظرون وأن لها فصيلا حين عقروها رغى ثلاث رغيات وانفلق له الجبل ودخل فيه وأن صالحا عليه السلام قال لهم: آية نزول العذاب بكم، أن تصبحوا في اليوم الأول من الأيام الثلاثة ووجوهكم مصفرة، واليوم الثاني: محمرة، والثالث: مسودة، فكان كما قال. وكل هذا من الإسرائيليات التي لا ينبغي نقلها في تفسير كتاب اللّه، وليس في القرآن ما يدل على شيء منها بوجه من الوجوه، بل لو كانت صحيحة لذكرها اللّه تعالى، لأن فيها من العجائب والعبر والآيات ما لا يهمله تعالى ويدع ذكره، حتى يأتي من طريق من لا يوثق بنقله، بل القرآن يكذب بعض هذه المذكورات، فإن صالحا قال لهم: { تَمَتَّعُوا فِي دَارِكُمْ ثَلَاثَةَ أَيَّامٍ } أي: تنعموا وتلذذوا بهذا الوقت القصير جدا، فإنه ليس لكم من المتاع واللذة سوى هذا، وأي لذة وتمتع لمن وعدهم نبيهم وقوع العذاب، وذكر لهم وقوع مقدماته، فوقعت يوما فيوما، على وجه يعمهم ويشملهم [احمرار وجوههم، واصفرارها واسودادها من العذاب] هل هذا إلا مناقض للقرآن، ومضاد له؟\". فالقرآن فيه الكفاية والهداية عن ما سواه. نعم لو صح شيء عن رسول اللّه صلى اللّه عليه وسلم مما لا يناقض كتاب اللّه، فعلى الرأس والعين، وهو مما أمر القرآن باتباعه { وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا } وقد تقدم أنه لا يجوز تفسير كتاب اللّه بالأخبار الإسرائيلية، ولو على تجويز الرواية عنهم بالأمور التي لا يجزم بكذبها، فإن معاني كتاب اللّه يقينية، وتلك أمور لا تصدق ولا تكذب، فلا يمكن اتفاقهما.

هذا تقريع من صالح عليه السلام لقومه لما أهلكهم الله بمخالفتهم إياه وتمردهم على الله وإبائهم عن قبول الحق وإعراضهم عن الهدى إلى العمى قال لهم صالح ذلك بعد هلاكهم تقريعا وتوبيخا وهم يسمعون ذلك كما ثبت في الصحيحين أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لما ظهر على أهل بدر أقام هناك ثلاثا ثم أمر براحلته فشدت بعد ثلاث من آخر الليل فركبها ثم سار حتى وقف على القليب قليب بدر فجعل يقول "يا أبا جهل بن هشام يا عتبة بن ربيعة يا شيبة بن ربيعة ويا فلان بن فلان هل وجدتم ما وعد ربكم حقا فإني وجدت ما وعدني ربي حقا". فقال له عمر يا رسول الله ما تكلم من أقوام قد جيفوا فقال "والذي نفسي بيده ما أنتم بأسمع لما أقول منهم ولكن لا يجيبون". وفي السيرة أنه "عليه السلام قال لهم "بئس عشيرة النبي كنتم لنبيكم كذبتموني وصدقني الناس وأخرجتموني وآواني الناس وقاتلتموني ونصرني الناس فبئس عشيرة النبي كنتم لنبيكم". وهكذا صالح عليه السلام قال لقومه "لقد أبلغتكم رسالة ربي ونصحت لكم" أي فلم تنتفعوا بذلك لأنكم لا تحبون الحق ولا تتبعون ناصحا ولهذا قال "ولكن لا تحبون الناصحين" وقد ذكر بعض المفسرين أن كل نبي هلكت أمته كان يذهب فيقيم في الحرم حرم مكة والله أعلم وقد قال الإمام أحمد حدثنا وكيع حدثنا زمعة بن صالح عن سلمة بن وهرام عن عكرمة عن ابن عباس قال لما مر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بوادي عسفان حين حج قال "يا أبا بكر أي واد هذا؟ " قال هذا وادي عسفان قال "لقد مر به هود وصالح عليهما السلام على بكرات خطمهن الليف أزرهم العباء وأرديتهم النمار يلبون يحجون البيت العتيق" هذا حديث غريب من هذا الوجه لم يخرجه أحد منهم.

«يَا أَبَا جَهْلِ بْنَ هِشَامٍ يَا عُتْبَةَ بْنَ رَبِيعَةَ يَا شَيْبَةَ بْنَ رَبِيعَةَ وَيَا فُلَانَ بْنَ فُلَانٍ هَلْ وَجَدْتُمْ مَا وَعَدَ رَبُّكُمْ حَقًّا،؟ فَإِنِّي وَجَدْتُ مَا وَعَدَنِي رَبِّي حَقًّا»

(O Abu Jahl bin Hisham! O `Utbah bin Rabi`ah! O Shaybah bin Rabi`ah! Did you find what your Lord has promised you (of torment) to be true, for I found what my Lord promised me (of victory) to be true.) `Umar said to him, "O Allah's Messenger! Why do you speak to a people who have rotted" He said,

«وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ مَا أَنْتُمْ بِأَسْمَعَ لِمَا أَقُولُ مِنْهُمْ وَلَكِنْ لَا يُجِيبُون»

(By He in Whose Hand is my soul! You do not hear what I am saying better than they, but they cannot reply.) Similarly, Prophet Salih, peace be upon him, said to his people,

لَقَدْ أَبْلَغْتُكُمْ رِسَالَةَ رَبِّى وَنَصَحْتُ لَكُمْ

("I have indeed conveyed to you the Message of my Lord, and have given you good advice,") but you did not benefit from it because you do not like the Truth and do not follow those who give you sincere advice,

وَلَكِن لاَّ تُحِبُّونَ النَّـصِحِينَ

("but you like not good advisers.")

وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَـحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُمْ بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّن الْعَـلَمِينَ

So he turned his back on them Sālih left them and said ‘O my people I have conveyed to you the Message of my Lord and gave you sincere advice but you do not love sincere advisers’.

Other verses of the Qur'an have also mentioned: فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّيْحَةُ (that is, a Cry or Sound seized them - 15:83). The word: الصَّيْحَةُ (As-Saihah) means a shrill cry or severe sound. From these two verses, we find out that two kinds of punishment had simultaneously converged on the people of Thamud, the earthquake from below and the ` Saihah' from above. The result was: أَصْبَحُوا فِي دَارِ‌هِمْ (and they were [ found dead ] in their homes, fallen on their knees - 77). The word: جَاثِمِين (jathimin) is a derivation from the verbal noun: Juthum, which means to be rendered senseless and motionless at one spot, or remain sitting (Al-Qamus). The sense is that everyone lay dead as and where one was. نَعُوذُ بِاللہِ مِن قَھرِہِ وَ عَذَابِہِ (We seek refuge with Allah from His Wrath and His Punishment).

Important parts of this story of the people of Thamud (علیہ السلام) have been mentioned in the different Surahs of the Qur'an itself. Some parts appear in Hadith narrations. There are some others which commentators have taken from Israelite narratives, but the proof of an event or its reality does not depend on them.

It appears in a Hadith of the Sahih of Al-Bukhari that, during a journey related to the Battle of Tabuk, the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his Sahabah passed by Hijr, the place where the people of Thamud had faced their punishment. At that spot, he gave instructions to the Sahabah that no one should go into the land area of that punishment-stricken habitation, nor should anyone use water from its wells. (Mazhari)

According to some narrations, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: When the punishment overtook the people of Thamud, no one survived except one person, Abu Righal. He was in the Haram of Makkah at that time. Allah Ta` ala spared him of the punishment at that time because of the sanctity of the Haram of Makkah. Finally, when he came out of the Haram, the same punishment which had seized his people visited him as well, and right there he met his death. The Holy Prophet ﷺ also showed people the marks of the grave of Abu Righal on the outskirts of Makkah; and he also said that a walking stick made of gold was also buried with him. When the Sahabah opened the grave, they found the gold stick there which was taken out. Mentioned in the same narration is that Banu Thaqif, the inhabitants of Ta'if are the progeny of this very Abu Righal. (Mazhari)

Allah Ta` ala, in His infinite wisdom, has allowed these habitations of punished peoples to stay as signposts of lesson for coming generations. The Holy Qur'an has repeatedly warned the people of Arabia that these places which come on their travel route to Syria should bring home to them their essential lesson in the rise and fall of peoples: that is, (these are the dwellings of ungrateful people We لَمْ تُسْكَن مِّن بَعْدِهِمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا which) have not been lived in after them, except a little - 28:58).

After the mention of the event of punishment which overtook the people of Sayyidna Salih (علیہ السلام) it was finally said: فَتَوَلَّىٰ عَنْهُمْ وَقَالَ يَا قَوْمِ لَقَدْ أَبْلَغْتُكُمْ رِ‌سَالَةَ رَ‌بِّي وَنَصَحْتُ لَكُمْ وَلَـٰكِن لَّا تُحِبُّونَ النَّاصِحِينَ ﴿79﴾ (So, he turned away from them and said, "0 my people, I have certainly delivered to you the message of my Lord, and wished your betterment, but you people do not like the sincere advisers - 79), that is, after the visit of punishment on his people, Sayyidna S-alih (علیہ السلام) and those who had believed in him left that place and went somewhere else. In some narrations, it appears that there were four thousand believers with Sayyidna Salih (علیہ السلام) . He went along with them to Hadramaut in Yaman. It was there that Sayyidna Salih (علیہ السلام) passed away from this mortal world. However, some narrations report his going to Makkah al-Mu` azzamah and where it was that he passed away.

From the outward arrangement of the text, it appears that Sayyidna Salih (علیہ السلام) addressed his people while departing - 0 my people, I have certainly delivered to you the message of my Lord and have wished the best for you, but you do not seem to like honest advisers.

The question is when his people have been destroyed by the punishment, what is the use of addressing them now. The answer is that one good that may come out of it is that people in general would learn their lesson. This form of address resembles the address of the Holy Prophet ﷺ when he had said a few words addressing dead disbelievers from the tribe of Quraysh in the Battle of Badr. And then, it is also possible that this saying of Sayyidna Salih (علیہ السلام) came to pass before the coming of the punishment and the destruction of his people - though, in the textual arrangement, it has been mentioned later.