Noah & the Ancient Nations
Civilizations that rejected their messengers — the recurring pattern of denial and its consequences
105 verse references across 42 surahs
And He imparted unto Adam the names of all things; then He brought them within the ken of the angels and said: "Declare unto Me the names of these [things], if what you say is true."
And when We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam!" - they all prostrated themselves, save Iblis, who refused and gloried in his arrogance: and thus he became one of those who deny the truth.
And We said: "O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in this garden, and eat freely thereof, both of you, whatever you may wish; but do not approach this one tree, lest you become wrongdoers."
But Satan caused them both to stumble therein, and thus brought about the loss of their erstwhile state. And so We said: "Down with you, [and be henceforth] enemies unto one another; and on earth you shall have your abode and your livelihood for a while!"
Thereupon Adam received words [of guidance] from his Sustainer, and He accepted his repentance: for, verily, He alone is the Acceptor of Repentance, the Dispenser of Grace.
BEHOLD, God raised Adam, and Noah, and the House of Abraham, and the House of 'Imran above all mankind,
Verily, in the sight of God, the nature of Jesus is as the nature of Adam, whom He created out of dust and then said unto him, "Be" - and he is.
O MANKIND! Be conscious of your Sustainer, who has created you out of one living entity, and out of it created its mate, and out of the two spread abroad a multitude of men and women. And remain conscious of God, in whose name you demand [your rights] from one another, and of these ties of kinship. Verily, God is ever watchful over you!
And convey unto them, setting forth the truth, the story of the two sons of Adam 35- how each offered a sacrifice, and it was accepted from one of them whereas it was not accepted from the other. [And Cain] said: "I will surely slay thee!" [Abel] replied: "Behold, God accepts only from those who are conscious of Him.
And We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob; and We guided each of them as We had guided Noah aforetime. And out of his offspring, [We bestowed prophethood upon] David, and Solomon, and Job, and Joseph, and Moses, and Aaron: for thus do We reward the doers of good;
And He it is who has brought you [all] into being out of one living entity, and [has appointed for each of you] a time-limit [on earth] and a restingplace [after death]:83 clearly, indeed, have We spelled out these messages unto people who can grasp the truth!
Yea, indeed, We have created you, and then formed you; and then We said unto the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam!" - whereupon they [all] prostrated themselves, save Iblis: he was not among those who prostrated themselves.
And [as for thee], O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in this garden, and eat, both of you, whatever you may wish; but do not approach this one tree, lest you become evildoers!"
The two replied: "O our Sustainer! We have sinned against ourselves - and unless Thou grant us forgiveness and bestow Thy mercy upon us, we shall most certainly be lost!"
Said He: "Down with you, [and be henceforth] enemies unto one another, having on earth your abode and livelihood for a while:
INDEED, We sent forth Noah unto his people, and he said: "O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Verily, I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome Day!"
AND UNTO [the tribe of] 'Ad [We sent] their brother Hud. He said: "O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Will you not, then, be conscious of Him?"
Why, do you deem it strange that a tiding from your Sustainer should have come unto you through a man from among yourselves, so that he might warn you? Do but remember how He made you heirs to Noah's people, and endowed you abundantly with power:51 remember, then, God's blessings, so that you might attain to a happy state!"
AND UNTO [the tribe of] Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih He said: "O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear evidence of the truth has now come unto you from your Sustainer. "This she-camel belonging to God shall be a token for you: so leave her alone to pasture on God's earth, and do her no harm, lest grievous chastisement befall you.
"And remember how He made you heirs to [the tribe of] 'Ad and settled you firmly on earth, so that you [are able to] build for yourselves castles on its plains and hew out mountains [to serve you] as dwellings:59 remember, then, God's blessings, and do not act wickedly on earth by spreading corruption." 55 As is shown in 69:6-8, this destruction came about through a violent sandstorm raging without a break for seven nights and eight days. 56 The Nabataean tribe of Thamud descended from the tribe of 'Ad mentioned in the preceding passage, and is, therefore, often referred to in pre-Islamic poetry as the "Second 'Ad". Apart from Arabian sources, "a series of older references, not of Arabian origin, confirm the historical existence of the name and people of Thamud. Thus the inscription of Sargon of the year 715 B.C. mentions the Thamud among the people of eastern and central Arabia subjected by the Assyrians. We also find the Thamudaei, Thamudenes mentioned in Aristo, Ptolemy, and Pliny" (Encyclopaedia of Islam IV, 736). At the time of which the Qur'an speaks, the Thamud were settled in the northernmost Hijaz, near the confines of Syria. Rock-inscriptions attributed to them are still extant in the region of Al-Hijr - As in the case of the 'Adite prophet Hud - and the prophet Shu'ayb spoken of in verses 85- of this surah - Salih is called the "brother" of the tribe because he belonged to it. 57 The commentators cite various legends to the effect that this she-camel was of miraculous origin. Since neither the Qur'an nor any authentic Tradition provides the least support for these legends, we must assume that they are based on the expression naqat Allah ("God's she-camel"), which has led some pious Muslims to fantastic conjectures. However, as Rashid Riza' points out (Manar VIII, 502), this expression denotes merely the fact that the animal in question was not owned by any one person, and was therefore to be protected by the whole tribe; a further, analogous expression is found in the words "God's earth" in the same verse: an illustration of the fact that everything belongs to God. The particular stress placed by Salih on good treatment of this ownerless animal - referred to in several places in the Qur'an - was obviously due to the cruel high-handedness displayed by the tribe, who, as the next two verses show, were wont to "act wickedly on earth by spreading corruption" and "gloried in their arrogance towards all who were deemed weak": in other words, their treatment of the defenceless animal was to be a "token" of their change of heart or (as is made clear in 54:27) "a test for them". 58 Cf. the parallel expression in verse 69 above - "heirs to Noah's people" - and the corresponding note. From all the historical references to the Thamud it is apparent that they were one of the greatest and most powerful Arab tribes of their time. 59 A reference to the elaborate rock-dwellings or tombs - to be seen to this day - which the Thamud carved out of the cliffs west of Al-Hijr, in northern Hijaz, and embellished with sculptures of animals as well as many inscriptions attesting to the comparatively high degree of their civilization and power. In popular Arabian parlance, these rock-dwellings are nowadays called Mada'in Salih ("The Towns of Salih").
AND UNTO [the people of] Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu'ayb. He said: "O my people! Worship God alone: you have no deity other than Him. Clear evidence of the truth has now come unto you from your Sustainer. Give, therefore, full measure and weight [in all your dealings], and do not deprive people of what is rightfully theirs; and do not spread corruption on earth after it has been so well ordered: [all] this is for your own good, if you would but believe.
Have, then, the stories of those who preceded them never come within the ken of these [hypocrites and deniers of the truth]? - [the stories] of Noah's people, and of [the tribes of] 'Ad and Thamud, and of Abraham's people, and of the folk of Madyan, and of the cities that were overthrown? To [all of] them their apostles had come with all evidence of the truth. [but they rejected them:] and so it was not God who wronged them [by His punishment], but it was they who wronged themselves.
AND CONVEY unto them the story of Noah - when he said unto his people: "O my people! If my presence [among you] and my announcement of God's messages are repugnant to you - well, in God have I placed my trust. Decide, then, upon what you are going to do [against me], and [call to your aid] those beings to whom you ascribe a share in God's divinity; and once you have chosen your course of action, let no hesitation deflect you from it; and then carry out against me [whatever you may have decided], and give me no respite!
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AND THIS was revealed unto Noah: "Never will any of thy people believe except those who have already attained to faith. Be not, then, distressed by anything that they may do,
AND UNTO [the tribe of] 'Ad [We sent] their brother Hud. He said: "O my people! Worship God [alone]: you have no deity other than Him. [As it is,] you are but inventors of falsehood!
AND UNTO [the tribe of] Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih. He said: "O my people! Worship God [alone]: you have no deity other than Him. He brought you into being out of the earth," and made you thrive thereon. Ask Him, therefore, to forgive you your sins, and then turn towards Him in repentance - for, verily, my Sustainer is ever-near, responding [to the call of whoever calls unto Him]!"
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"And, O my people, let not [your] dissent from me drive you into sin, lest there befall you the like of what befell the people of Noah, or the people of Hud. or the people of Salih: and [remember that] the people of Lot lived not very far from you!"
as though they had never lived there. Oh, away with [the people of] Madyan, even as the Thamud have been done away with!
HAVE THE STORIES of those [deniers of the truth] who lived before you never yet come within your ken [the stories of] the people of Noah, and of [the tribes of] 'Ad and Thamud, and of those who came after them? None knows them [now] save God. There came unto them their apostles with all evidence of the truth - but they covered their mouths with their hands and answered: "Behold, we refuse to regard as true the message with which you [claim to] have been entrusted; and, behold, we are in grave doubt, amounting to suspicion, about [the meaning of] your call to us!"
(26) AND, INDEED, We have created man out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted 24 -
and when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration!"
[Whereupon Iblis] said: "O my Sustainer! Since Thou hast thwarted me, I shall indeed make [all that is evil] on earth seem goodly to them, and shall most certainly beguile them - into grievous error -
AND THE DWELLERS of the wooded dales [of Madyan, too,] were inveterate evildoers,
AND, [likewise,] indeed, the people of Al-Hijr gave the lie to [Our] message-bearers:
O you descendants of those whom We caused to be borne (in the ark] with Noah! Behold, he was a most grateful servant (of Ours]!"
And how many a generation have We [thus] destroyed after [the time of] Noah! For, none has the like of thy Sustainer's awareness and insight into His creatures' sins.
And nothing has prevented Us from sending [this message, like the earlier ones,] with miraculous signs [in its wake], save [Our knowledge] that the people of olden times [only too often] gave the lie to them:71 thus, We provided for [the tribe of] Thamud the she-camel as a light-giving portent, and they sinned against it. And never did We send those signs for any other purpose than to convey a warning.
AND LO! We said unto the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam" - whereupon they all prostrated themselves, save Iblis. Said he: "Shall I prostrate myself before one whom Thou hast created out of clay?"
[And] he added: "Tell me, is this [foolish being] the one whom Thou hast exalted above me? Indeed, if Thou wilt but allow me a respite till the Day of Resurrection, I shall most certainly cause his descendants - all but a few - to obey me blindly!"
NOW, INDEED, We have conferred dignity on the children of Adam, and borne them over land and sea, and provided for them sustenance out of the good things of life, and favoured them far above most of Our creation:
AND [remember that] when We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam," they all prostrated themselves, save Iblis: he [too] was one of those invisible beings, but then he turned away from his Sustainer's command. Will you, then, take him and his cohorts for (your], masters instead of Me, although they are your foe? How vile an exchange on the evildoers' part!
THESE WERE some of the prophets upon whom God bestowed His blessings - [prophets] of the seed of Adam and of those whom We caused to be borne [in the ark] with Noah, and of the seed of Abraham and Israel43: and [all of them were] among those whom We had guided and elected; [and] whenever the messages of the Most Gracious were conveyed unto them, they would fall down [before Him], prostrating themselves and weeping.
"[And thou wert under Mine eye] when thy sister went forth and said [to Pharaoh's people], 'Shall I guide you unto [a woman] who might take charge of him? And so We returned thee unto thy mother, so that her eye be gladdened, and that she might not sorrow [any longer]. "And [when thou camest of age,25] thou didst slay a man: but We did save thee from all grief, although We tried thee with various trials. "And then thou didst sojourn for years among the people of Madyan; and now thou hast come [here] as ordained [by Me], O Moses:
AND, INDEED, long ago did We impose Our commandment on Adam; but he forgot it, and We found no firmness of purpose in him.
For [thus it was:] when We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam!" - they all prostrated themselves, save Iblis, who refused [to do it];
But Satan whispered unto him, saying: "O Adam! Shall I lead thee to the tree of life eternal; and [thus] to a kingdom that will never decay?"
Thereafter, [however,) his Sustainer elected him [for His grace], and accepted his repentance, and bestowed His guidance upon him,
AND [remember] Noah - [how,] when He called out [unto Us], long before [the time of Abraham and Lot], We responded to him and saved him and his household from that awesome calamity;
AND IF THEY [who are bent on denying the truth] give thee the lie, [O Muhammad, remember that, long] before their time, the people of Noah and [the tribes of] 'Ad and Thamud gave the lie [to their prophets],
and the dwellers of Madyan; and [so, too,] Moses was given the lie [by Pharaoh] . And [in every case] I gave rein, for a while, to the deniers of the truth: but then I took them to task - and how awesome was My denial [of them]!
AND, INDEED, We sent forth Noah unto his people, and he said: "O my people! Worship God [alone]: you have no deity other than Him. Will you not, then, become conscious of Him?"
And [think of] the people of Noah: when they gave the lie to [one of] the apostles, We caused them to drown, and made them a symbol for all mankind: for, grievous suffering have We readied for all who [knowingly] do wrong!
And [remember how We punished the tribes of] 'Ad and Thamud, and the people of Ar-Rass, and many generations [of sinners] in-between:
THE PEOPLE of Noah [too] gave the lie to [one of God's] message-bearers
[AND the tribe of] 'Ad gave the lie to [one of God's] message-bearers
when their brother Hud said unto them: "Will you not be conscious of God?
[AND the tribe of) Thamud gave the lie to [one of God's) message-bearers
when their brother Salih said unto them: "Will you not be conscious of God?
[AND] the people of Lot gave the lie to [one of God's] message-bearers
[AND] the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan] gave the lie to [one of God's] message-bearers
AND [likewise], indeed, We sent unto [the tribe of] Thamud their brother $alih [with this message]: "Worship God alone!" - and behold, they were [split into) two factions contending with one another.
AND [thus, too, did We save] Lot, when he said unto his people:49 "Would you commit this abomination with your eyes open [to its being against all nature50]?
And as he turned his face towards Madyan, he said [to himself]: "It may well be that my Sustainer will [thus] guide me onto the right path!"
nay, but [between them and thee] We brought into being [many] generations, and long was their span of life. And neither didst thou dwell among the people of Madyan, conveying Our messages unto them:45 nay, but We have [always] been sending [Our message-bearers unto man].
AND, INDEED, [in times long past] We sent forth Noah unto his people, and he dwelt among them a thousand years bar fifty; and then the floods overwhelmed them while they were still lost in evildoing:
AND UNTO [the people of] Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu'ayb, who thereupon said: "O my peopie! Worship God [alone], and look forward to the Last Day, and do not act wickedly on earth by spreading corruption!"
AND [the tribes of] 'Ad and Thamud, [too, did We destroy -] as should have become obvious to you from [whatever there remains of] their dwellings. (They perished] because Satan had made their [sinful] doings seem goodly to them, and thus had barred them from the path (of God] despite their having been endowed with the ability to perceive the truth.
And, indeed, [it was for this reason that] Noah cried unto Us - and how excellent was Our response:
To the truth gave the lie aforetime Noah's people, and (the tribe of] 'Ad, and Pharaoh of the [many] tent-poles,
and [the tribe of] Thamud, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan]: they all were leagued together, [as it were, in their unbelief:]
to the truth gave the lie, before their time, the people of Noah and, after them, all those [others] who were leagued together [against God's messagebearers]; and each of those cornmunities schemed against the apostle sent unto them, aiming to lay hands on him; and they contended [against his message) with fallacious arguments, so as to render void the truth thereby: but then I took them to task - and how awesome was My retribution!
the like of what happened to Noah's people, and to [the tribes of] 'Ad and Thamud and those who came after them! And, withal, God does not will any wrong for His creatures.
BUT IF they turn away, say: "I warn you of [the coming of] a thunderbolt of punishment like the thunderbolt [that fell upon the tribes] of 'Ad and Thamud!"
Now as for [the tribe of) 'Ad, they walked arrogantly on earth, [offending] against all right, and saying, "Who could have a power greater than ours?" Why - were they, then, not aware that God, who created them, had a power greater than theirs? But they went on rejecting Our messages;
And as for [the tribe of] Thamud, We offered them guidance, but they chose blindness in preference to guidance: and so the thunderbolt of shameful suffering fell upon them as an outcome of all [the evil] that they had wrought;
In matters of faith, He has ordained for you that which He had enjoined upon Noah - and into which We gave thee [O Muhammad] insight through revelation - as well as that which We had enjoined upon Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus: Steadfastly uphold the [true] faith, and do not break up your unity therein. [And even though] that [unity of faith] to which thou callest them appears oppressive to those who are wont to ascnbe to other beings or forces a share in His divinity, God draws unto Himself everyone who is willing, and guides unto Himself everyone who turns unto Him.
AND REMEMBER that brother of [the tribe of] 'Ad, how - seeing that [other] warnings had already come and gone within his own knowledge as well as in times beyond his ken - he warned his people [who lived] among those sand-dunes: "Worship none but God! Verily, I fear lest suffering befall you on an awesome day!"
O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.
[Long] before those [who now deny resurrection) did Noah's people give the lie to this truth, and [so did] the folk of Ar-Rass, and [the tribes of] Thamud
and 'Ad, and Pharaoh, and Lot's brethren,
and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan], and the people of Tubba':8 they all gave the lie to the apostles - and thereupon that whereof I had warned [them] came true.
And [you have the same message] in [what happened to the tribe of] 'Ad, when We let loose against them that life-destroying wind
And in [the story of the tribe of] Thamud, too, when they were told, "You shall enjoy your life for [but] a little while,"
And [thus, too, We destroyed] Noah's people aforetime: for they were iniquitous folk.
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by the lote-tree of the farthest limit,
with the lote-tree veiled in a veil of nameless splendour....
and that it is He who destroyed the ancient [tribes of] 'Ad
and Thamud, leaving no trace [of them],
as well as the people of Noah before them - [since,] verily, they all had been most wilful in their evildoing and most overweening -
[LONG] BEFORE those [who now deny resurrection] did Noah's people call it a lie; and they gave the lie to Our servant and said, "Mad is he!" - and he was repulsed.
TO THE TRUTH gave the lie [the tribe of] 'Ad: and how severe was the suffering which I inflicted when My warnings were disregarded!
[AND the tribe of] Thamud gave the lie to all [Our] warnings;
[They, too, will find themselves] amidst fruit-laden lote-trees,
And, indeed, [to the same end45] We sent forth Noah and Abraham [as Our message-bearers], and established prophethood and revelation among their descendants; and some of them were on the right way, but many were iniquitous.
For those who are bent on denying the truth God has propounded a parable in [the stories of] Noah's wife and Lot's wife: they were wedded to two of Our righteous servants, and each one betrayed her husband; and neither of the two [husbands] will be of any avail to these two women when they are told [on Judgment Day], "Enter the fire with all those [other sinners] who enter it!"
THE LIE gave [the tribes of] Thamud and 'Ad to [all tidings of] that sudden calamity!
Now as for the Thamud - they were destroyed by a violent upheaval [of the earth];
and as for the 'Ad - they were destroyed by a storm wind furiously raging,
of Pharaoh, and of [the tribe of] Thamud?
well-pleased with [the fruit of] their striving,
ART THOU NOT aware of how thy Sustainer has dealt with [the tribe of] 'Ad,
TO [THIS] TRUTH gave the lie, in their overweening arrogance, [the tribe of] Thamud,