“He said, ‘O my people, consider: if I stand upon clear proof from my Lord’”—that is, if I possess proof and certainty—“and He has granted me mercy from Himself”; that is, He has favored me with His message and revelation, would it then be right for me to follow you in your present ways and in what you call me to?
“Who then could protect me from Allah if I disobeyed Him? You would only increase me in loss”; that is, in ruin and harm.
“O my people, this is Allah’s she-camel—a sign for you.” She was to drink from the well on one day, after which they would all drink from her udder; and they had an appointed day on which to drink.
“So leave her to graze in Allah’s land”; that is, you bear none of the expense of maintaining or feeding her. “And do not harm her”—that is, by hamstringing her—“lest an imminent punishment seize you. But they hamstrung her, so he”—Sālih—“said to them, ‘Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days. This is a promise that will not prove false.’” Rather, it must inevitably come to pass.
“When Our command came”—for the punishment to fall—“We saved Sālih and those who believed with him through mercy from Us, and from the disgrace of that Day.” That is, We saved them from the punishment, humiliation, and disgrace.
“Indeed, your Lord is the All-Powerful, the Almighty.” One manifestation of His power and might is that He destroyed the transgressing nations and saved the messengers and their followers.
“And the mighty blast seized those who had done wrong,” rending their hearts, “and by morning they lay lifeless in their homes”; that is, extinguished and motionless.
“As though they had never dwelt there.” That is, when the punishment came upon them, it was as though they had never enjoyed their homes, found comfort in them, or lived there in ease for even a single day. Their bliss had departed from them, and everlasting punishment had overtaken them—a punishment that never ceases, as though it had always been there.
“Indeed, Thamūd disbelieved in their Lord”; that is, they denied Him after the manifest sign had come to them. “Away with Thamūd!” How wretched and abased they were! We seek refuge in Allah from the punishment and disgrace of this world.