(61–68) “And to Thamūd, their brother Sālih.”
This continues through the end of their story (1). That is: “And” We sent “to Thamūd”—the second ʿĀd, the well-known people who inhabited al-Hijr and Wādī al-Qurā—“their brother” by lineage, “Sālih,” Allah’s servant and messenger—peace and blessings be upon him—who called them to worship Allah alone. “He said, ‘O my people, worship Allah.’” That is, affirm His oneness and devote the religion sincerely to Him. “You have no god other than Him,” whether among the inhabitants of heaven or earth.
“He brought you forth from the earth”; that is, He created you upon it. “And settled you in it”; that is, He appointed you as successors upon it, bestowed upon you blessings both outward and inward, and established you firmly on earth. You build, plant, sow, and cultivate whatever you wish; you benefit from its resources and make use of all that serves your interests. Just as He has no partner in any of this, you must not associate any partner with Him in worship.
“So seek His forgiveness” for the disbelief, polytheism, and sins you have committed, and renounce them. “Then repent to Him”; that is, return to Him with sincere repentance and devoted submission. “Indeed, my Lord is near and responsive.” That is, He is near to anyone who calls upon Him, whether through a supplication of request or a supplication of worship. He responds by granting the person’s request, accepting his worship, and rewarding him for it with the greatest reward.
Know that His nearness, exalted is He, is of two kinds: general and special. His general nearness is His being near to all creation through His knowledge. This is mentioned in the words of Allah Most High: “We are closer to him than his jugular vein.” ⦗385⦘ His special nearness is His nearness to those who worship Him, petition Him, and love Him. It is mentioned in the words of Allah Most High: “Prostrate and draw near.”
This nearness is referred to in the present verse and in the words of Allah Most High: “When My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near. I answer the call of the supplicant.” This kind of nearness entails His gracious care for them, His response to their supplications, and His fulfillment of their desires. For this reason, His name “the Near” is paired with His name “the Responsive.”
When their prophet Sālih—peace be upon him—commanded them and encouraged them to devote their worship sincerely to Allah alone, they rejected his call and responded to him in the most reprehensible manner.
“They said, ‘O Sālih, you had been among us a man of promise before this.’” That is, we had placed our hopes in you and expected sound judgment and benefit from you. This was their own testimony concerning their prophet Sālih: he had always been known for noble character and excellent qualities and was among the finest of his people.
Yet when he brought them this command, which did not accord with their corrupt desires, they made a statement whose import was: You had [indeed] been a man of excellence, but now you have disappointed our expectations and reached a state in which no good can be expected of you.
The fault they found in him was expressed in their words: “Do you forbid us to worship what our forefathers worshipped?” In their estimation, this was among the gravest grounds for censuring Sālih: how could he impugn their judgment and that of their misguided forefathers? How could he forbid them from worshipping stones, trees, and the like, which can neither benefit nor harm and are of no avail whatsoever?
Instead, he commanded them to devote the religion sincerely to Allah, their Lord, whose blessings had continually come upon them and whose kindness had always descended upon them. Every blessing they possessed was from Him, and none but He could ward evil away from them.
“Indeed, we are in disquieting doubt about that to which you call us.” That is, we remain doubtful about that to which you have called us—a doubt that instills misgiving in our hearts. They alleged that, had they known his call to be true, they would have followed him. But they were lying about this, and therefore Allah exposed their lie when He said: