Remember [Hūd][8] the brother of ‘Ād, when he warned his people in the [land of] sand dunes[9] – and indeed there came warners before him and after him – [saying], “Worship none but Allah. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a horrible day.”
[8] i.e., Prophet Hūd. [9] The people of ‘Ād were the inhabitants of the sand dunes (sand hills) in the southern part of Arabia.
He said, “The knowledge [of its coming] is with Allah alone. I only convey to you the message that I have been sent with, but I see that you are an ignorant people.”
When they saw it as a cloud approaching their valleys, they said, “This is a cloud bringing us rain.” [Hūd said,] No, it is what you sought to hasten[10] – a wind bearing a painful punishment.
[10] When you challenged me by saying, “Then bring us what you are threatening us with”. (See 46:22 of this chapter).
It will destroy everything by the command of its Lord. And they became such that there was nothing left visible except [ruins of] their dwellings. This is how We recompense the wicked people.
We had given them the power to an extent that We have not given you [O Makkans], and We gave them[11] hearing, sight, and hearts. But neither their hearing, nor their sight, nor their hearts availed them in the least, for they used to reject the signs of Allah. And they were overwhelmed by what they used to ridicule.
Why is it that they were not helped by those [idols] whom they took as gods besides Allah so that they might bring them closer to Him[12]? Rather, they were lost from them. Such was [the outcome of] their falsehood and the lies they used to fabricate.