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Ayah
Word by Word
فَكَذَّبُوهُ
But they denied him
فَعَقَرُوهَا
and they hamstrung her
فَدَمۡدَمَ
So destroyed
عَلَيۡهِمۡ
them
رَبُّهُم
their Lord
بِذَنۢبِهِمۡ
for their sin
فَسَوَّىٰهَا
and leveled them
فَكَذَّبُوهُ
But they denied him
فَعَقَرُوهَا
and they hamstrung her
فَدَمۡدَمَ
So destroyed
عَلَيۡهِمۡ
them
رَبُّهُم
their Lord
بِذَنۢبِهِمۡ
for their sin
فَسَوَّىٰهَا
and leveled them
Translation
But they denied him and hamstrung1 her. So their Lord brought down upon them destruction for their sin and made it equal [upon all of them].
Footnotes
1 - And then killed.
Tafsir
But they denied him, with regard to his saying this [as being a command] from God - which if they contravened would immediately result in chastisement being sent down on them - then hamstrung her, they slew it in order to appropriate her [share of the] drinking water. So their Lord closed in on them, the chastisement, because of their sin, and meted it equally [among them], that is, the closing in on them, in other words, He subsumed them all by it, so that not one of them escaped.
The Rejection of Thamud and Allah's Destruction of Them
Allah informs:
كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَاهَا
Thamud denied through their transgression.
Allah informs that Thamud rejected their Messenger because of the injustice and transgression they practiced.
This was said by Mujahid, Qatadah and others.
Therefore, this resulted in a rejection in their hearts for the guidance and conviction their Messenger came to them with.
إِذِ انبَعَثَ أَشْقَـهَا
When their most wicked went forth.
meaning, the most wicked person of the tribe, and he was Qudar bin Salif, the one who killed the she-camel. He was leader of the tribe of Thamud, and he is the one whom Allah refers to in His saying,
فَنَادَوْاْ صَـحِبَهُمْ فَتَعَاطَى فَعَقَرَ
But they called their comrade and he took (a sword) and killed (her). (54:29)
This man was mighty and respected among his people. He was of noble lineage and a leader who was obeyed.
This is just as Imam Ahmad recorded from `Abdullah bin Zam`ah. He said that the Messenger of Allah gave a sermon in which he mentioned the she-camel and he mentioned the man who killed her. Then he said,
إِذِ انبَعَثَ أَشْقَـهَا
(When their most wicked went forth.)
انْبَعَثَ لَهَا رَجُلٌ عَارِمٌ عَزِيزٌ مَنِيعٌ فَي رَهْطِهِ مِثْلُ أَبِي زَمْعَة
A strong and mighty man who was invincible among his tribe, like Abu Zam`ah, went forth to her.
This Hadith was recorded by Al-Bukhari in his Book of Tafsir, and Muslim in his Book of the Description of the Hellfire.
At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i both recorded it in their Sunans in their Books of Tafsir.
The Story of Salih's She-Camel
Allah then says
فَقَالَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ
But the Messenger of Allah said to them (referring to Salih).
نَاقَةَ اللَّهِ
That is the she-camel of Allah!
meaning, `beware of touching the she-camel of Allah with any harm.'
.
وَسُقْيَاهَا
and its drink!
meaning, `do not transgress against her in her drinking, for she has been allocated a day to drink and you have been allocated a day to drink, as is known to you.'
Then Allah says
فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَعَقَرُوهَا
Then they denied him and they killed it.
which means they rejected what he came with. This resulted in them killing the she-camel that Allah had brought out of the rock as a sign for them and a proof against them.
فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُم بِذَنبِهِمْ
So their Lord destroyed them because of their sin,
meaning, He became angry with them and He annihilated them.
فَسَوَّاهَا
Faﷺwaha!
meaning, He made the punishment descend upon them all equally.
Qatadah said,
It has reached us that the leader of tribe of Thamud did not kill the she-camel until their youth, their elderly, their males and their females all pledged allegiance to him. So when the people cooperated in killing her, Allah destroyed them all with the same punishment due to their sin.
Allah said
وَلَا يَخَافُ
And He feared not,
it has also been recited as (فَلَا يَخَافُ)(So He feared not)
عُقْبَاهَا
the consequences thereof.
Ibn `Abbas said,
Allah does not fear any consequences from anyone else.
Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Bakr bin `Abdullah Al-Muzani and others all said the same.
This is the end of the Tafsir of Surah Al-Shams, and all praise and thanks are due to Allah.
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