“so you would see the people there lying lifeless, as though they were hollow trunks of palm-trees” [al-Ḥāqqah 69:7] (7),

“and do you see any remnant of them left?” [al-Ḥāqqah 69:8],

and likewise the people of Thamūd. Ṣāliḥ said to them,

“My people, here is Allah’s she-camel as a sign for you. Let her graze in Allah’s land and do not touch her with harm, lest an imminent punishment seize you.” [Hūd 11:64] (64),

But they hamstrung her, so he said, “Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days; that is a promise that will not be belied.” [Hūd 11:65] (65),

Then, when Our command came, We rescued Ṣāliḥ and those who believed with him, by a mercy from Us, and from the disgrace of that day. Truly your Lord is the Strong, the Mighty. [Hūd 11:66] (66),

And the Blast seized the wrongdoers, and they were left lying lifeless in their homes [Hūd 11:67] (67),

as though they had never lived there. Indeed, Thamūd denied their Lord—away with Thamūd! [Hūd 11:68].

Every extraordinary phenomenon ever witnessed in the world—whether a prophetic sign or anything else—has come about only after preceding causes were put in place. Take the signs granted to Moses: his staff’s turning into a serpent occurred only after he cast it down—either when Allah commanded him to do so after calling to him from the tree and he beheld the fire that itself broke the ordinary pattern, or when Pharaoh later demanded a sign from him