Prophets Hūd, Ṣāliḥ and Ibrāhīm: The Ruins of the Mighty
Section 5 of 25 · Lives of the Prophets
Do You See Any Remnants of Them?
What was the result? When the dust settled down, and you walk in to the nation of ʿĀd, what do you see? Allah (swt) says: fa-tarā al-qawma fīhā ṣarʿā ka-annahum aʿjāzu nakhlin khāwiyah. Allah (swt) says: so that you could see men lying overthrown, as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees. These were very tall men. So Allah (swt) said they are like palm trees that are knocked down, upside down, lying dead.
فَهَلْ تَرَىٰ لَهُم مِّنۢ بَاقِيَةٍ
“Now, do you see any remnant of them?” (69:8)
And then Allah (swt) asks us this question. And this would go back to what I said before: if Allah did not tell us about the people of ʿĀd, and where the people of ʿĀd lived, we wouldn't have known. Allah (swt) says: fa-hal tarā lahum min bāqiyah — do you see any remnants of the people of ʿĀd?
We have remnants from the people of Firʿawn: al-Ahrām, al-Awtād, the pyramids. We have remnants from Thamūd: Diyār Thamūd, the dwellings of Thamūd. We have remnants from the Greek Empire. We have remnants from the Roman Empire. But from the empire of ʿĀd, we have nothing. Allah (swt) completely destroyed them, because they were the most powerful. So Allah (swt) completely erased them from the face of the earth. And now it is a land called al-Aḥqāf: sand dunes. You don't even see anything; nobody even lives there. It's a desert now, in Ḥaḍramawt, known as al-Aḥqāf. It's a desert, empty.
إِرَمَ ذَاتِ ٱلْعِمَادِ ٱلَّتِى لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِى ٱلْبِلَـٰدِ
“of Iram , the men of tall pillars, the like of whom were never created in the lands,” (89:7–8)
This is the nation of which Allah (swt) said: Irama dhāti al-ʿimād, allatī lam yukhlaq mithluhā fī al-bilād — Iram, the land of pillars, which no other land was similar to. Nothing remained. They were destroyed completely.
وَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا نَجَّيْنَا هُودًا وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ بِرَحْمَةٍ مِّنَّا وَنَجَّيْنَـٰهُم مِّنْ عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٍ وَتِلْكَ عَادٌ ۖ جَحَدُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ رَبِّهِمْ وَعَصَوْا۟ رُسُلَهُۥ وَٱتَّبَعُوٓا۟ أَمْرَ كُلِّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ وَأُتْبِعُوا۟ فِى هَـٰذِهِ ٱلدُّنْيَا لَعْنَةً وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ ۗ أَلَآ إِنَّ عَادًا كَفَرُوا۟ رَبَّهُمْ ۗ أَلَا بُعْدًا لِّعَادٍ قَوْمِ هُودٍ
“So, when came Our command, We saved Hūd and those who believed along with him, out of mercy from Us, and We did save them from a heavy punishment. Such was the tribe of ‘Ād who rejected the signs of their Lord, disobeyed their Messengers and followed the dictates of every obstinate tyrant! A curse was made to pursue them in this world and on the Day of Judgment. Lo! The people of ‘Ād disbelieved their Lord. Lo! Ruined were ‘Ād, the people of Hūd.” (11:58–60)
Allah (swt) saved Hūd. Wa lammā jāʾa amrunā najjaynā Hūdan wa-lladhīna āmanū maʿahu bi-raḥmatin minnā. Allah says: and when Our commandment came, We saved Hūd and those who believed with him by a mercy from Us, and We saved them from a severe torment. Such were ʿĀd: they rejected the signs of Allah (swt), and disobeyed His messengers, and followed the command of every proud, obstinate one. And they were pursued by a curse in this world, and on the Day of Resurrection. No doubt, verily ʿĀd disbelieved in their Lord; so away with ʿĀd, the people of Hūd.
Their wealth didn't help them. Their power didn't do them any good. Allah (swt) completely destroyed them — destroyed them completely. And whoever follows the tracks of ʿĀd, the same thing will happen to them.