Tafseer of The Winnowing Winds · Adh-Dhaariyat · 51:44
But they were insolent toward the command of their Lord, so the thunderbolt seized them while they were looking on.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement Toen overtraden zij het gebod van hun Heer ("Then they defied the command of their Lord"), he said: the transgressor (al-ʿātī) is the disobedient one who abandons the command of Allah.
His statement Toen greep de bliksemslag hen ("Then the thunderbolt seized them") — the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: then the thunderbolt of the punishment seized them suddenly.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement Toen greep de bliksemslag hen terwijl zij toekeken ("Then the thunderbolt seized them while they looked on"): while they were waiting. And that is because Thamūd had been forewarned of the punishment three days before its descent upon them, and signs of its descent upon them had been appointed during those three days. Then the signs appeared that had been appointed for them and that indicated its descent during those days, and so on the fourth day they became convinced that the punishment would descend upon them, waiting for it to overtake them. The reciters of the cities, except for al-Kisāʾī, read Toen greep de bliksemslag hen (al-ṣāʿiqa) with the alif. And it is related from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, that he read it Toen greep de donderslag hen (al-ṣaʿqa) without the alif.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn al-Awdī, that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, read Toen greep de donderslag hen (al-ṣaʿqa), and thus al-Kisāʾī also read. But we read it with the alif, al-ṣāʿiqa, because of the consensus of the authoritative reciters concerning that.
