The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 454
CH. 26 ASH-SHU'ARĀ' 141. And verily thy Lord-He is the Mighty, the Merciful. R. 8. >a= 142. The tribe of Thamūd rejected the Messengers, 2778 PT. 19 وَاِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ A إِذْ قَالَ لَهُمْ أَخُوهُمْ صلح الا تَتَّقُونَ & When their brother Salih. 143 said to them, 'Will you not be righteous? 144. Surely, I am unto you a Messenger, faithful to my trust. 145. So fear Allah, and obey me. b 146. And I ask of you no reward for it. My reward is only with the Lord of the worlds. إِنِّي لَكُمْ رَسُولُ آمِينٌ فَاتَّقُوا اللهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ وَمَا اسْلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۚ إِنْ أَجْرِى إِلَّا عَلَى رَبِّ الْعَلَمِينَ a7:74; 11:62-63; 27:46. '11:52. 2778. Commentary: Tabük, and the valley in which it is This and the following several situated is called Wādī Qura. The verses deal with the tribe of Thamud. According to Abū Ismail, the author of Futūḥush-Shām, they were a very powerful people. Their rule and dominion had extended from Buṣrā, a town in Syria to Aden. They had made great progress in agriculture and architecture. They were a highly civilized and cultured people. The tribe has been mentioned by Greek historians. They place it in a period not long before the Christian era. Ḥijr or Agra, as they call it, is given as the home of these people. Al-Hijr which has also been known as Mada'ini Ṣāliḥ (the Cities of Ṣāliḥ) and which seems to have been the capital of these people lies between Medina and Quran represents them as the immediate successors of ‘Ād (7:75). From 40:31-32, it appears that they lived before the time of Moses. It is worthy of note that the accounts of the Prophets Noah, Hūd and Ṣāliḥ have been given at various places in the Quran and everywhere the order observed is the same, viz. the account of Noah precedes that of Hūd and the which is the true chronological order. account of Hūd precedes that of Ṣāliḥ, This shows that the Quran gives accurately and in their true historical order the facts of history long consigned to oblivion and quite wrapped in obscurity. For a fuller 2368 note on Thamūd see 11:62.