كَذَّبَت ثَمودُ وَعادٌ بِالقارِعَةِ

Thamūd and ʿĀd denied the catastrophe.

EXEGESIS

Al-qāriʿah (the catastrophe) literally means the striker from al-qarʿ, which is to strike one thing with another, like striking a door with its knocker. Though al-qāriʿah is often quoted as one of the many names that the Quran employs for the Day of Resurrection, it more aptly refers to the hour of doom that precedes the resurrection because it will strike (taqraʿ) suddenly, hitting the heavens and the earth when they are lifted and levelled with a single levelling (verse 14) to change them to another form (14:48). The sky will be opened and become gates, and the mountains will be set moving and become a mirage (78:19-20), and the sun will be wound up and the stars scattered (81:1-2). The event that brings about the collision of all things leading to their collapse and dissolution is therefore aptly named the striker or the catastrophe.

The ʿĀd and Thamūd – the peoples of the Prophets Hūd (a) and Ṣāliḥ (a) respectively – were pre-Islamic Arabian civilisations. The account of their might and glory, their wealth and architecture, and their armies were told in Arabia from one generation to another. Hence, their stories and what befell them were well known to the Meccans. They are therefore mentioned frequently in the Quran, along with other rebellious past civilisations such as the Pharaoh and his people: Have you not regarded how your Lord dealt with [the people of] ʿĀd, [and] Iram, [the city] of the pillars, the like of which was not created among cities, and [the people of] Thamūd, who hollowed out the rocks in the valley, and Pharaoh, the impaler, those who rebelled in their cities and caused much corruption in them, so your Lord poured on them lashes of punishment (89:6-13).

The story of ʿĀd and Thamūd are told in detail in chapters 7, 11, and 26 of the Quran. For the story of ʿĀd, see 7:65-72, 11:50-60, and 41:15-6; and for the story of Thamūd, see 7:73-79, 11:61-8, 26:141-58, and 54:23-31.

EXPOSITION

Though the rest of the verses in this section speak of past rebellious nations that were destroyed by God, in reality, the conversation has not moved from al-ḥāqqah, the inevitable reality. That is why the nations that were wiped out are mentioned in passing only – the purpose is only to emphasise that they were destroyed as a result of their denial of the Day of Judgement. It is as if these verses on the past nations are a response to the question in the previous verse: And what will show you what is the inevitable reality?! Their destruction was of course not because of a mere verbal denial of Judgement Day, but rather in how that denial reflected in their lives. Verse 13 onwards, where the events of al-ḥāqqah are described, can also be read as a reply to the question in verse 3.