A Living Camel Out of This Rock

They said they wanted a sign. What sign do you want? They were given the option. Thamūd — the people of Thamūd — were given an option that was not given to the other nations: they got to choose their miracle. Ṣāliḥ told them: what do you want? They said: we want you to produce — do you see this rock over here? We want you to produce out of it a living camel. This solid rock: produce for us a camel.

Sayyidunā Ṣāliḥ asked Allah (swt), and the miracle was performed: muʿjizah. Allah (swt) gives life to the dead. I mean, for Allah (swt), what's the difference between creating from a cell, or creating from dirt, or creating from a rock? They're all dead things. It's not a difference — no difference for Allah (swt). It looks different to us, but for Allah (swt) it's kun fa-yakūn: be, and it becomes.

Suddenly, out of this rock — and the people of Thamūd are watching — a huge she-camel came out. Huge! Bigger than the regular camels. Sayyidunā Ṣāliḥ told them: this is the agreement. This camel that you asked for: you can drink from your water one day, but then the next day you have to allow the water for the camel. You don't touch it. You can take from the wells today, but tomorrow — the next day — it's only for the camel. You don't drink any water. If you want to drink, you can drink from the milk of the camel, but no water.

Qāla hādhihi nāqatun lahā shirbun wa lakum shirbu yawmin maʿlūm: he said, here is a she-camel; it has a right to drink water, and you have a right to drink water, each on a day known. This is the schedule. And then he told them: wa lā tamassūhā bi-sūʾin fa-yaʾkhudhakum ʿadhābu yawmin ʿaẓīm — and don't touch it with any harm, otherwise you will be punished. So this was a sacred camel. You cannot touch it; you cannot harm it. So the camel was drinking from the well one day, and they would drink one day.