سورة هود

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): Allah sent a [heavenly] cry and shout upon them, and they died, and this is the meaning of the word of Allah: وَ لَمَا جاءَ أَمْرُنا نَجَّیْنا شُعَیْباً وَ الَّذِینَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ بِرَحْمَةٍ مِنَّا وَ أَخَذَتِ الَّذِینَ ظَلَمُوا الصَّیْحَةُ فَأَصْبَحُوا فِی دِیارِهِمْ جاثِمِینَ کَأَنْ لَمْ یَغْنَوْا فِیها أَلا بُعْداً لِمَدْیَنَ کَما بَعِدَتْ ثَمُودُ [And when Our decree came to pass We delivered Shu'aib, and those who believed with him by mercy from Us, and the cry overtook those who were unjust so they became motionless bodies in their abodes, as if they had never dwelt there; now surely away with Madyan, as Thamud was cast away].

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): The first to use the balance and the measure was the Prophet Shu'ayb (peace be upon him), who made it with his own hand, and the people used to conduct their transactions by means of the balance. But the people gradually [through Satan's whispering] began to give short measure and to diminish the balance. [When they ignored Shu'ayb's admonitions,] an earthquake seized their land and all of them were punished, فَأَصْبَحُوا فِی دِیارِهِمْ جاثِمِینَ [so they became motionless bodies in their abodes].

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): As for this word: عَذَابُ یَوْمِ الظُّلَّةِ إِنَّهُ کَانَ عَذَابَ یَوْمٍ عَظِیمٍ [the punishment of the day of the shade (a shade from a thunder-bearing cloud); indeed it was the punishment of a great day!] (Shu'ara/189), reports have reached us — and Allah knows best — that they were in their houses when they were struck by severe heat; so they came out, seeking comfort and relief from the shade of a cloud in which Allah had sent the punishment. When [the shade of] that cloud enveloped them, the [heavenly] cry seized them, فَأَصْبَحُوا فِی دِیارِهِمْ جاثِمِینَ [so they became motionless bodies in their abodes], and they were the people of Shu'ayb (peace be upon him).