The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 560
CH. 7 AL-A'RĀF PT. 8 وَمَا كَانُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ ®. وإلى ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صُلِحًا قَالَ يُقَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللهَ مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ الهِ غَيْرُهُ قَدْ جَاءَتْكُمْ بَيْنَةٌ مِنْ رَّبِّكُمْ هَذِهِ نَاقَهُ Our Signs. And they were not believers. 971 R. 10. 74. And to Thamūd We sent their brother Ṣāliḥ. He said, ‘O my people, worship Allah; you have no other deity but Him. Verily there has come to you a clear evidence from Lord this she-camel of Allah, اللهِ لَكُمُ ايَةً فَذَرُوهَا تَأْكُلْ فِي أَرْضِ اللَّهِ your وَلَا تَمَسُّوهَا بِسُوءٍ فَيَأْخُذَكُمْ عَذَابٌ a Sign for you. So leave her that she may feed in Allah's earth, and do her no harm, lest a painful you. 972 punishment seize a11:62; 27:46. b7:78; 11:65; 17:60; 26:156; 54:28; 91:14. 971. Commentary: The word (last remnant) also means "root" (see 6:46), in which case it may be taken to signify leaders of a community, i. e. those who lead and organize opposition to a Prophet and devise plans to compass his ruin. The tribe of ‘Ād was destroyed by a furious wind, (see 69:7). 972. Important Words: (Thamūd) was the name of a tribe that lived after ‘Ād. The name may have been derived from the Arabic root. They say i. e. he dug out a hole in the earth so that water might collect in it (Aqrab). The tribe Thamud lived in the western part of Arabia, having spread from Aden northward to Syria. They lived shortly before the time of Ishmael. Their territory was adjacent to that of ‘Ād, but they lived mostly in the hills. For a fuller note on the subject see 11:62. or (Ṣāliḥ) is an Arabic word being derived from i. e. he was became good or righteous. ¿t means, a righteous person. See 2:12, 161. The Prophet Ṣāliḥ lived after Hūd and was probably a contemporary of Abraham. Commentary: The camel formed the chief means of conveyance in Arabia, and it was on his she-camel that the Prophet Ṣāliḥ used to travel from place to place to preach his message. So he told his people that placing obstruction in the way of the free movements of the she-camel or doing harm to it would be tantamount to obstructing the work with which God 1000