230 – ʿAbdullāh narrated to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Shaqīq narrated to us; he said: Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashʿath narrated to us; he said: A certain shaykh from the people of Ayla related to me, saying: The elders, the scholars of Ayla, told me that on the night when Allah’s punishment descended they had sought shelter in their village.

When the first third of the night had elapsed, a voice called out, “O people of the village!”—a cry heard by young and old alike. Startled and terrified, they sprang from their beds and rushed outside, surging into one another for a while in the darkness, then they returned to their beds.

When the middle third of the night had passed, the same call was heard: “O people of the village!” Again they leapt from their beds, milling about in confusion for part of the night before going back to their beds.

Finally, as the last third of the night was drawing to a close, they were called: “O people of the village: ‘Be apes, despised!’” (al-Aʿrāf 166).