Tafseer Ibn Kathir of ASY SYU'ARAA' [136]

136. They said: ”It is the same to us whether you preach or be not of those who preach.'' 137. ”This is no other than Khuluq of the ancients,'' 138. ”And we are not going to be punished.'' 139. So they denied him, and We destroyed them. Verily, in this is indeed a sign, yet most of them are not believers. 140. And verily your Lord, He is indeed the Almighty, the Most Merciful.   Allah tells us how the people of Hud responded to him after he had warned them, encouraged them, and clearly explained the truth to them.

(They said: ”It is the same to us whether you preach or be not of those who preach.'') meaning, `we will not give up our ways.'

(And we shall not leave our gods for your (mere) saying! And we are not believers in you) (11:53). This is how it was, as Allah says:

(Verily, those who disbelieve, it is the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe) (2:6).

(Truly, those, against whom the Word of your Lord has been justified, will not believe) (10:96-97). And they said:

(This is no other than Khuluq of the ancients.) Some scholars read this: ”Khalq''. According to Ibn Mas`ud and according to `Abdullah bin `Abbas -- as reported from Al-`Awfi -- and `Alqamah and Mujahid, they meant, ”What you have brought to us is nothing but the tales (Akhlaq) of the ancients.'' This is like what the idolators of Quraysh said:

(And they say: ”Tales of the ancients, which he has written down, and they are dictated to him morning and afternoon.'') (25:5) And Allah said:

(Those who disbelieve say: ”This is nothing but a lie that he has invented, and others have helped him in it. In fact, they have produced an injustice and a lie.'' And they say: ”Tales of the ancients...'') (25:4-5)

(And when it is said to them: ”What is it that your Lord has sent down'' They say: ”Tales of the ancient!'') (16:24). Some other scholars recited it,

(This is no other than Khuluq of the ancients,) ”as Khuluq,'' meaning their religion. What they were following was the religion of the ancients, their fathers and grandfathers, as if they were saying: ”We are following them, we will live as they lived and die as they died, and there will be no resurrection and no judgement.'' Hence they said:

(And we are not going to be punished.) Allah's saying;

(So they denied him, and We destroyed them.) meaning, they continued to disbelieve and stubbornly oppose Allah's Prophet Hud, so Allah destroyed them. The means of their destruction has been described in more than one place in the Qur'an: Allah sent against them a strong and furious wind, i.e., a fiercely blowing wind that was intensely cold. Thus the means of their destruction was suited to their nature, for they were the strongest and fiercest of people, so Allah overpowered them with something that was even stronger and fiercer than them, as Allah says:

(Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with `Ad of Iram Possesors of the pillars) (89:6-7). This refers to the former `Ad, as Allah says:

(And that it is He Who destroyed the former `Ad) (53:50). They were descendents of Iram bin Sam bin Nuh,

(Possesors of the pillars) They used to live among pillars. Those who claim that Iram was a city take this idea from Isra'iliyyat narrations, from the words of Ka`b and Wahb, but there is no real basis for that. Allah says:

(The like of which were not created in the land) (89:8). meaning, nothing like this tribe was created in terms of might, power and tyranny. If what was meant was a city, it would have said, ”The like of which was not built in the land.'' And Allah says:

(As for `Ad, they were arrogant in the land without right, and they said: ”Who is mightier than us in strength'' See they not that Allah Who created them was mightier in strength than them. And they used to deny Our Ayat!) (41:15) And Allah says:

(And as for `Ad, they were destroyed by a furious violent wind!) until His saying:

(in succession) (69:6-7) meaning, consecutively (i.e., seven nights and eight days).

(so that you could see men lying overthrown (destroyed), as if they were hollow trunks of date palms!) (69:7) means, they were left as headless bodies, because the wind would come and carry one of them, then drop him on his head, so that his brains were spilled out, his head was broken and he was thrown aside, as if they were uprooted stems of date-palms. They used to build fortresses in the mountains and caves, and they dug ditches half as deep as a man is tall, but that did not help them against the command of Allah at all.

(Verily, the term given by Allah, when it comes, cannot be delayed) (71:4). Allah says here:

(So they denied him, and We destroyed them.)