Surah al-Ahqaf (Sand Dunes) 46 : 24

Explanatory Note

The surah gives no further details of the long argument that took place between Hud and his people, moving straight to report on the fate they suffered. This is intended here as a reply to their challenge and hastening of punishment.

Reports suggest that the 'Ad suffered a period of intense heat, coupled with absence of rain. They endured this unbearable climate for some time. Then God sent them clouds, and they were delighted. They went into the surrounding valleys hoping that rain would quickly ensue. Yet the truth of what the clouds brought signified their ultimate demise: "No, indeed. It is the very thing you wanted to hasten: a stormwind bearing painful suffering which will destroy everything by the command of its Lord." Elsewhere in the Qur'an, this stormwind is described as "furiously raging." (69: 6) Another description of it states that it "spared nothing of what it came upon, but caused it all to become like bones dead and decayed." (51: 42)

The Qur'anic text depicts the wind as if it was alive, aware of what it was doing, fulfilling its orders to destroy everything in its wake: "which will destroy everything by the command of its Lord." This is a universal fact which the Qur'an is wont to impress on people. This universe is alive, and every force in it is aware of what God wants of it, proceeding to fulfil it. Man is one of these forces. When he is a true believer, his heart becomes open to greater knowledge and he becomes able to understand more of the universal forces around him and respond to them. This opens the way to a mutual response that differs from what people generally know of life and understanding. Everything around us has life, but we do not appreciate this because shapes and forms limit our understanding. The universe around us is full of secrets which are appreciated by faculties of understanding, even though they cannot be seen by our eyes.