“Indeed, ‘Ad disbelieved in their Lord”: that is, they disbelieved in their Lord. In Arabic, the verb may be used either directly with its object or with the preposition “in,” just as one may say, “I thanked him” or “I gave thanks to him,” and “I advised him” or “I offered him advice.” (1)

“Away with ‘Ad, the people of Hud!” It was said: far removed from the mercy of Allah. It was also said: destruction. The term has two meanings: one is the opposite of nearness, namely distance; the other means destruction. (2)

“And to Thamud We sent their brother Salih. He said, ‘O my people, worship Allah; you have no god other than Him. He brought you forth from the earth and settled you in it. So seek His forgiveness, then turn to Him in repentance. Indeed, my Lord is near, responsive.’ (61) They said, ‘O Salih, before this you were one in whom we placed hope. Do you forbid us to worship what our fathers worshipped? Indeed, we are in disquieting doubt concerning that to which you call us.’ (62)”

Concerning His saying, “And to Thamud We sent their brother Salih”: that is, We sent to Thamud their brother Salih in lineage, not in religion. (3) “He said, ‘O my people, worship Allah’”: affirm the oneness of Allah. (4) “You have no god other than Him. He brought you forth from the earth”: He originated your creation from the earth, for they were descendants of Adam, and Adam was created from the earth. “And settled you in it”: that is, He made you its inhabitants and dwellers.

Al-Dahhak said: He granted you long lives in it, such that an individual among them would live from three hundred to one thousand years. Likewise were the people of ‘Ad. ⦗176/A⦘

Mujahid said: He gave it to you as a life-grant; that is, He made it yours for as long as you live. Qatadah said: He settled you in it.

“So seek His forgiveness, then turn to Him in repentance. Indeed, my Lord is near” to the believers, “responsive” to their supplication.

“They said”—meaning Thamud—“O Salih, before this you were one in whom we placed hope”: before this statement, we used to hope (5) that you would become a leader among us. It was also said: We had hoped that you would return to our religion. They had hoped that he would return to the religion of his clan; but when he openly called them to Allah and abandoned the idols, they claimed that their hope in him had been cut off. Thus they said, “Do you forbid us to worship what our fathers formerly (6) worshipped among the gods? Indeed, we are in disquieting doubt concerning that to which you call us”: that is, doubt that gives rise to suspicion and accusation. One says, “I caused him to doubt,” when one does something to him that gives him cause for doubt.