(50–60) “And to ʿĀd We sent their brother Hūd.”

To the end of the account (1). That is: “And” We sent “to ʿĀd”—the well-known tribe in al-Ahqāf, in the land of Yemen—“their brother” by lineage, “Hūd,” so that they could readily learn from him and recognize his truthfulness.

He “said” to them, “O my people, worship Allah; you have no god other than Him. You are nothing but fabricators.” That is, he commanded them to worship Allah alone, forbade them from worshiping anyone besides Allah, and informed them that they had fabricated lies against Allah by worshiping others and deeming this permissible. He made clear to them the obligation of worshiping Allah and the falsity of worshiping anything besides Him.

He then explained that nothing prevented them from complying, saying, “O my people, I ask you for no reward for this”—that is, no payment from your wealth for that to which I call you, lest you say, “He only wants to take our wealth.” Rather, I call and teach you freely.

“My reward is only from the One who created me. Will you not then use reason?” Will you not reason about that to which I call you, which ought to be accepted, when there is no impediment warranting its rejection?

“O my people, seek your Lord’s forgiveness” for what you have done in the past, “then turn to Him in repentance” regarding what lies ahead, with sincere repentance and by turning back to Allah Most High.

If you do so, “He will send abundant rain from the sky upon you,” with plentiful rainfall that makes the earth fertile and increases its bounty.

“And He will add strength to your strength.” They were among the strongest of people, which is why they said, “Who is greater than us in strength?” He therefore promised that if they believed, He would add strength to their strength.

“And do not turn away from Him”—that is, from your Lord—“as evildoers,” meaning arrogantly refusing to worship Him and boldly violating His sacred limits.

Rejecting his words, they “said, ‘O Hūd, you have brought us no clear proof.’” If by a clear proof they meant one of their own proposing, such a proof is not required to establish the truth. What is required, rather, is that a prophet bring a sign demonstrating the truth of what he has brought. But if they meant that he had brought them no clear proof attesting to the truth of his words, they were lying. No prophet ever came to his people without Allah bringing forth at his hands signs on account of which human beings would believe.

Even if his only sign had been his call for them to devote their religion sincerely to Allah alone, who has no partner; his command to perform every righteous deed and adopt every noble trait; his prohibition of every reprehensible trait—including associating partners with Allah, shameful deeds, injustice, and every form of evil; and the qualities embodied by Hūd—peace be upon him—which are found only in the best and most truthful of creation, all of that would have sufficed as signs and proofs of his truthfulness.

Indeed, people of reason and sound understanding recognize that this sign is greater than the mere extraordinary phenomena which some people regard as the only miracles. Among his signs and the clear proofs of his truthfulness was that he stood alone, with neither supporters nor helpers, calling out among his people, summoning and challenging them, and saying to them, “Indeed, I have placed my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord.”

“Indeed, I call Allah to witness, and bear witness yourselves, that I am free of whatever you associate with Him * besides Him. So scheme against me all together, then give me no respite.” Yet they were enemies who possessed power and dominance and sought by every possible means to extinguish the light he bore. He was neither concerned by them nor paid them any heed, while they were powerless to inflict the slightest harm upon him. Surely in that are signs for people who reason.

As for their statement, “We will not abandon our gods because of what you say” ⦗384⦘, it means: We will not abandon the worship of our gods merely because of your words, for which—as they alleged—you have presented no proof. “Nor will we believe in you.” By this they sought to make their prophet Hūd—peace be upon him—despair of their ever believing, declaring that they would continue wandering blindly in their disbelief.