“All we can say” about you “is that some of our gods have afflicted you with evil.” That is, they have stricken you with mental derangement and madness, causing you to rave unintelligibly. Glory be to the One who has sealed the hearts of the wrongdoers! How could they reduce the most truthful of creation—the one who brought the truest truth—to such a rank, one that a rational person would be ashamed even to recount of them, had Allah Himself not related it?
Hūd—peace be upon him—therefore made it clear that he was utterly certain that neither they nor their gods could harm him. He said, “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.” That is, all of you should seek to harm me by every means at your disposal. “Then give me no respite”; that is, grant me no delay.
“Indeed, I have placed my trust in Allah”—that is, I rely upon Allah in all my affairs—“my Lord and your Lord.” That is, He is the Creator of all, the One who governs us and you, and the One who has nurtured us.
“There is no creature whose forelock He does not hold.” Thus, no creature moves or remains still except by His permission. Even if all of you joined forces to attack me, by Allah, you could not do so if He did not grant you power over me. If He does grant you power, it is for a wisdom He wills.
“Indeed, my Lord is upon a straight path.” That is, in His decree and predestination, His law and command, and His recompense of reward and punishment, He proceeds with justice, equity, wisdom, and in a manner worthy of all praise. None of His actions ever departs from the straight path for which He is praised and extolled.
“But if you turn away” from that to which I have called you, “then I have conveyed to you that with which I was sent to you.” Thus, no responsibility concerning you remains upon me.
“My Lord will replace you with another people” who will devote themselves to His worship and associate nothing with Him. “And you will not harm Him in the least.” Your harm only returns upon yourselves, for Allah is neither harmed by the disobedience of sinners nor benefited by the obedience of those who obey. “Whoever does righteousness does so for his own benefit, and whoever does evil does so against himself.” “Indeed, my Lord is Guardian over all things.”
“And when Our command came”—that is, Our punishment, through the sending of the barren wind that “spared nothing it came upon without reducing it to decay”—“We saved Hūd and those who believed with him, by mercy from Us, and We saved them from a terrible punishment.” That is, from the immense and severe punishment that Allah brought upon ʿĀd, so that by morning nothing could be seen but their dwellings.
“Those were ʿĀd,” to whom Allah did what He did because of their wrongdoing, for “they rejected the signs of their Lord.” This is why they said to Hūd, “You have brought us no clear proof.” It thereby becomes clear that they were convinced of the truth of his call but merely opposed and denied it. “And they disobeyed His messengers,” because whoever disobeys one messenger has disobeyed all the messengers, since their call is one.
“They followed the command of every domineering tyrant”—that is, everyone who tyrannically lorded it over Allah’s servants—“obstinately opposed” to Allah’s signs. They disobeyed everyone who sincerely advised them and cared for them, while following every deceiver who sought their destruction. Thus Allah destroyed them.
“They were pursued in this world by a curse.” There is no age or generation in which their vile stories and appalling history are not recounted, keeping their memory alive and causing condemnation to follow them. “And on the Day of Resurrection,” they will likewise bear a curse. “Indeed, ʿĀd denied their Lord”—that is, they denied the One who created, provided for, and nurtured them. “Away, then, with ʿĀd, the people of Hūd!” That is, Allah banished them from every good and drew them near every evil.