The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 147
PT. 12 HUD CH. 11 يُقَوْمِ لَا أَسْتَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِنْ O my people, "I do not ask. 52 of you any reward therefor. My أَجْرِى إِلَّا عَلَى الَّذِي فَطَرَنِي reward is not due except from أفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ Him Who created me. Will you not then understand?1432 وَيُقَوْمِ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ And O my people, ask. 53 forgiveness of your Lord, then يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِدْرَارًا turn to Him, He will send over you clouds pouring down وَ يَزِدْكُمُ قُوَّةً إِلَى قُوَّتِكُمْ abundant rain, and will add "26:128. 11:4, 62; 71:11. history of these people has now become wrapped in obscurity and only some remains of their buildings are to be seen. 5. The territory in which these people lived is called Aḥqaf (46:22). Ahqaf, which literally means meandering and zigzag sandhills, is the name given to two parts of Arabia, one in the south, known as the Southern Aḥqāf, the other in the north, called the Northern Aḥqāf These tracts are fertile, but as they lie near the desert, sandhills are caused there by the sand of the desert having been heaped up by the wind. These sand-hills may not have existed in the time when these people lived there and may have come into being when ‘Ād were punished by a sandstorm. 6. From 69:7 it appears that the destruction of the ‘Ādites was caused by the blowing of a violent wind which continued to rage over their territory for seven days, burying their chief cities under heaps of sand and dust. This disaster broke the power of 1355 these peoples and brought about their fall. The words, so that thou mightest have seen the people therein lying overthrown (69:8), show that their habitations lie buried under mounds of sand and their ruins may still be brought to light if the ground is cleared of the sandhills. This verse also shows that the territory received the name Aḥqāf only when after the Divine visitation they became buried under sandhills. 1432. Commentary: This verse reveals on the one hand an independence of spirit and an absence of any selfish motive on the part of the Prophet Hūd and, on the other, represents him as helplessly crying for God's mercy. Such, indeed, is the true nature of all holy men. In their attitude towards the men of this world they display complete independence of spirit, but before God they exhibit such humility and lowliness as if they are virtually nothing.