Adh-Dhaariyat (The Winnowing Winds)

43. And in [the story of] Thamud [there are Signs and lessons], when they were told: “Enjoy yourselves for a while [in your lifetime]!”

44. But they insolently defied the Command of their Lord, so the Sa‘iqa [awe inspiring cry] overtook them while they were beholding.

45. Then they were unable to rise up, nor could they ask for help.

Prophet Salih (as), the Prophet of the people of Thamud, brought out a camel at the request of his people and ordered them to refrain from harming the camel, but they killed it and denied his Prophetic Call.

The Arabic phrase hata hin indicates the three day respite granted them so that they may regret their evil deed and repent, but they kept on committing sins and succumbed to Divine Chastisement after three days, as it is reflected elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an¹ :

“So he said: ‘enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days.’”

Thus, recounting the story of the people of ‘Ad and their affliction with Divine torment and the icy gale (sarsar) owing to their denial of the Prophetic Call is followed by an allusion to the torment inflicted upon the people of Thamud who, having killed Salih’s (as) she-camel, were granted a three day respite so that they may compensate for their past evil deeds, but they disobeyed Divine Command and returned to their vicious deeds. As a consequence, the destructive torment was sent down upon them and caused their perdition.

It is said that the torment was Gabriel’s awe-inspiring shout as a consequence of which they lost consciousness and perished

“while they were beholding.”

It is also said that a group of them, Amalekites (‘amaliqa), were out of town on those three days and were able to hear the awe-inspiring shout and the inhabitants’ loss of consciousness; however, the following blessed Verse:

(“Then they were unable to rise up, nor could they ask for help”)

reveals that the people of Thamud did not die right after the awe-inspiring shout, but lost consciousness and lost their lives later on.