فَأَمّا ثَمودُ فَأُهلِكوا بِالطّاغِيَةِ

As for Thamūd, they were destroyed by the cry.

EXEGESIS

Here onward begins a more detailed explanation of the previous verse, showing the result of ʿĀd and Thamūd’s rebellion and how they were destroyed.

Al-ṭāghiyah (translated here as the cry) comes from ṭaghā, which is to overstep and exceed all limits^{‎[1]Raghib, ṭ-gh-y.} (53:17, 69:11). It shares the same root as ṭāghūt (rebels) (see Exegesis of 39:17) and ṭughyān, which means rebellion or exceeding God’s boundaries, as used in verses such as 79:17 and 96:6, and for the rebellion of the people of Thamūd in 91:11. Therefore, al-ṭāghiyah here suggests an intense torment of the utmost severity and one that surpasses all limits.

Some have translated al-ṭāghiyah in this verse as the cry^{‎[2]Qarai, 69:5.} or deafening blast,^{‎[3]Abdel Haleem, 69:5.} perhaps because in 11:67 and 54:31 the punishment of Thamūd is described as a deafening cry (al-ṣayḥah). However, in 7:78 we are told about the Thamūd, So the earthquake (al-rajfah) seized them, and they lay lifeless prostrate in their homes; and in 41:13, 41:17, and 51:44 their punishment and destruction are caused by a thunderbolt (ṣāʿiqah). This suggests they were punished with a mix of all these: with thunderbolts so loud and forceful that they caused deafening cries and massive earthquakes, as they looked on (51:44), leaving the town’s inhabitants helpless, So they were neither able to rise up nor to come to one another’s aid (51:45) as they all fell lifeless.

Others have, therefore, more accurately translated al-ṭāghiyah as simply the overwhelming, to mean ‘something that reaches the utmost severity and can be taken to indicate one of the (many) calamities that afflicted Thamūd’.^{‎[4]Nasr, 69:5.}

Al-ṭāghiyah in this verse may also be a reference to the unjust rebels amongst them, derived from the meaning of rebellion (ṭughyān). This would be the minority elite or one individual amongst them, who persuaded them to hamstring the she-camel of God (11:65, 26:157, 54:29, 91:14). With such an interpretation, the verse would read: As for Thamūd, they were destroyed by the rebel^{‎[5]Even as a singular noun, al-ṭāghiyah could still act as a collective noun and refer to many as ‘the rebellious group’.} (al-ṭāghiyah).

EXPOSITION

Al-ṭāghiyah, as a torment that exceeds all limits, also alludes to ʿĀd and Thamūd’s own exceeding (ṭughyān) of God’s limits. Thus, al-ṭāghiyah here not only tells us how they were destroyed but also why.

The violent, unruly people of ʿĀd, for example, are destroyed with a violent and fierce icy gale (verse 6). See also the Exposition of verse 7 on the use of sakhkhara. Such allusions are found between the behaviour and the chastisement of other transgressing nations as well, confirming the close relationship between one’s actions and recompense.

In the hereafter as well, what one reaps of good or evil is but a manifestation of what one sows through actions and deeds in this world (see the Exposition of verses 31-32). It is only one’s actions that are given back to their owner in their real form. See, for example, the relationship between the beliefs and actions of the faithless in this world and their punishment in the hereafter as explained under the Expositions of verses 31-32 and 36.

[1] Raghib, ṭ-gh-y.
[2] Qarai, 69:5.
[3] Abdel Haleem, 69:5.
[4] Nasr, 69:5.
[5] Even as a singular noun, al-ṭāghiyah could still act as a collective noun and refer to many as ‘the rebellious group’.