Taysir al-Latif al-Mannan fi Khulasat Tafsir al-Quran - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (الكتاب/232)

Taysir al-Latif al-Mannan fi Khulasat Tafsir al-QuranAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

What sign could be more compelling than this fearless challenge issued to adversaries who were doing everything in their power to extinguish his message?

When their tyranny finally reached its limit, Hud turned away from them and forewarned them of the impending punishment. The chastisement then loomed on the horizon. It was a time of desperate hardship and severe need for rain. So when they looked at the approaching cloud and rejoiced, saying, “This is a cloud that will bring us rain” [46:24], Allah said, “Rather, it is what you were impatient for” — for you had said, “Bring us what you promise us, if you are truly one of the truthful” [46:22]. It was “a wind carrying a painful punishment, destroying everything by the command of its Lord” [46:24-25] over which it passed. Allah “unleashed it upon them for seven nights and eight days without break; you could then see the people lying fallen, as though they were hollow trunks of palm-trees” [69:7], until “nothing could be seen except their dwellings. Thus do We recompense a criminal people” [46:25].

The world had once smiled upon them: they enjoyed undisputed might, abundant provisions, and the submission of the surrounding lands and tribes. Then Allah sent against them “a piercing, icy wind on ill-fated days, so that We might make them taste the punishment of disgrace in the life of this world; but the punishment of the Hereafter is even more degrading, and they will not be helped” [41:16]. “They were followed in this world by a curse, and on the Day of Resurrection as well. Unquestionably, ʿĀd denied their Lord. Away with ʿĀd, the people of Hud!” [11:60]. Yet Allah saved Hud and those who believed with him.

“Indeed in that is a sign” [26:139] of the perfection of Allah’s power, of His honoring and supporting the messengers and their followers in the present life and on the Day when witnesses will stand forth; a sign that demolishes polytheism, whose outcomes are the worst and most dreadful of all, and a sign pointing to resurrection and revival after death.

Benefits derived from this story:
• It contains the same lessons already mentioned in the story of Noah that are common to all the messengers.

فأيُّ آيةٍ أعظمُ من هذا التحدِّي لهؤلاءِ الأعداءِ الحريصينَ على إبطالِ دعوتهِ بكلِّ طريقٍ! فلما انتهَى طغيانُهم تولَّى عنهم وحذَّرَهم نزولَ العذابِ، فجاءَهم العذابُ معترِضًا في الأفقِ، وكان الوقتُ وقتَ شدةٍ عظيمةٍ وحاجةٍ شديدةٍ إلى المطرِ، فلما استبشرُوا وقالوا: ﴿هَذَا عَارِضٌ مُمْطِرُنَا﴾ [الأحقاف: ٢٤]، قالَ اللهُ: ﴿بَلْ هُوَ مَا اسْتَعْجَلْتُمْ بِهِ﴾، بقولِكم: ﴿فَأْتِنَا بِمَا تَعِدُنَا إِنْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ﴾ [الأحقاف: ٢٢]، ﴿رِيحٌ فِيهَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (٢٤) تُدَمِّرُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ﴾ [الأحقاف: ٢٤ - ٢٥] تمرُّ عليه: ف ﴿سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًا فَتَرَى الْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَى كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ﴾ [الحاقة: ٧]، ﴿فَأَصْبَحُوا لَا يُرَى إِلَّا مَسَاكِنُهُمْ كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْقَوْمَ الْمُجْرِمِينَ﴾ [الأحقاف: ٢٥] فبعدَما كانتِ الدنيا لهم ضاحكةً، والعزُّ بليغٌ، ومطالبُ الحياةِ متوفرةٌ، وقدْ خضَعَ لهم مَنْ حولَهم مِنْ الأقطارِ والقبائلِ؛ إذْ أرسلَ اللهُ إليهم ﴿رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا فِي أَيَّامٍ نَحِسَاتٍ لِنُذِيقَهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَخْزَى وَهُمْ لَا يُنْصَرُونَ﴾ [فصلت: ١٦]، ﴿وَأُتْبِعُوا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا لَعْنَةً وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَلَا إِنَّ عَادًا كَفَرُوا رَبَّهُمْ أَلَا بُعْدًا لِعَادٍ قَوْمِ هُودٍ﴾ [هود: ٦٠]، ونجَّى اللهُ هودًا ومَن معَهُ من المؤمنينَ. ﴿إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَةً﴾ [الشعراء: ١٣٩] على كمالِ قدرةِ اللهِ، وإكرامهِ الرسلَ وأتباعَهم، ونصرِهم في الحياةِ الدنيا ويومَ يقومُ الأشهادُ، وآيةً على إبطالِ الشركِ، وأنَّ عواقبَهُ شرُّ العواقبِ وأشنعُها، وآيةً على البعثِ والنشورِ. * فوائدُ من هذهِ القصةِ: * فيها ما تقدَّمَ في قصةِ نوحٍ من الفوائدِ المشتركةِ بينَ الرسلِ.