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See {7:65-72}, and particularly the second half of note [48] on 7:65 . Iram, mentioned in the next verse, seems to have been the name of their legendary capital, now covered by the sands of the desert of Al-Ahqaf.
For the 'Ad see n. 1040 to vii. 65. They seem to have possessed an ancient civilisation, which succumbed when they persistently broke Allah's law.
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Iram would seem to have been an ancient 'Ad capital, in southern Arabia. It boasted of lofty architecture ("lofty pillars"). Some Commentators understand Iram to be the name of an eponymous hero of the 'Ad, in which case the following line, "with lofty pillars", should be construed "of lofty stature". The 'Ad were a tall race.
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This tract of southern Arabia was once very prosperous (Arabia Felix) and contains ruins and inscriptions. It has always been an object of great interest to the Arabia. In the time of Muawiya some precious stones were found among the ruins in this locality. Quite recently, a bronze lion's head and a bronze piece of gutter with a Sabaean inscription, found in Najran, have been described in the British Museum Quarterly, vol, XI, No. 4, Sept. 1937.
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See surah {7}, notes [56] and [59]. The "valley" referred to in the sequence is the Wadi 'l-Qura, situated north of Medina on the ancient caravan route from South Arabia to Syria.
For the Thamud see n. 1043 to vi. 73. Their civilisation shows traces of Egyptian, Syrian, and (later) Greek and Roman influences. They built fine temples, tombs, and buildings cut out of the solid rock. The cult of the goddess Lat flourished among them.
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For an explanation of this epithet, see surah {38}, note [17].
i.e., pyramids and obelisks.
For "Lord of Stakes", see xxxviii. 12, n 4160. For Pharaoh's arrogance and his fall see xx. 43, 78-79. The three examples given, the 'Ad, the Thamud, and Pharaoh, show that neither nations nor individuals, however mighty, prosperous, or firmly established they may be, can live if they transgress the Law of Allah. The Law of Allah, which is also the law of the higher nature which He has bestowed on us, made them in the first place great and glorious: when they fell from it and "heaped mischief on mischief", they were swept away.
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lit., so your Lord poured on them a whip of punishment.
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Even though Allah's punishment is delayed, it is not to be supposed that He does not see all things. Allah's providence is ever vigilant: His punishment of evil doers is a form of justice to the weak and the righteous whom they oppress. It is part of the signification of His title as Rabb (Cherisher).
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The above phrase, introduced by the particle fa-amma ("But as for..."), obviously connects with the reference to the "solemn evidence of the truth" in verse {5} - implying that man does not, as a rule, bethink himself of the hereafter, being concerned only with this world and what promises to be of immediate advantage to him (Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi).
I.e., he regards God's bounty as something due to him (Razi).
Contrast with Allah's justice and watchful care, man's selfishness and pettiness. Allah tries us both by prosperity and adversity: in the one we should show humility and kindness; and in the other patience and faith. On the contrary, we get puffed up in prosperity and depressed in adversity, putting false values on this world's goods.
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I.e., he regards the absence or loss of affluence not as a trial, but as an evidence of divine "injustice" - which, in its turn, may lead to a denial of God's existence.
Subsistence, in both the literal and the figurative sense. Allah provides for all, but people complain if the provision is measured and restricted to their needs, circumstances, and antecedents, and does not come up to their desires or expectations, or is different from that given to people in quite different circumstances.
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Even at our own valuation, if we are favoured with superfluities, do we think of the fatherless children, or the stuggling poor? On the contrary, too many men are but ready to embezzle the helpless orphan's inheritance, and to waste their own substance in worthless riot instead of supplying the people's real needs.
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I.e., "you feel no urge to feed the needy" (cf. 107:3 ).
Kindness and generosity set up standards which even worldly men feel bound to follow out of social considerations even if they are not moved by higher motives. But the wicked find plausible excuses for their own hard-heartedness, and by their evil example choke up the springs of charity and kindness in others.
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They take over the inheritance of orphans and women.
Inheritance is abused in two ways. (1) Guardians and trustees for the inheritance of minors or women or persons unable to look after their own interests should fulfil their trusts with even more care than they devote to their own interests. Instead of that they selfishly "devour" the property. (2) Persons who inherit property in their own rights should remember that in that case, too, it is a sacred trust. They must use it for the purposes, objects, and duties which they also inherit. It gives them no licence to live in idleness or waste their days in riotous show.
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