سورة الأحقاف

Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him): Al-Ahqaf is the name of the land of Ad, which extends from al-Shuquq to al-Ajfar, and its length is four stages. Al-Mu'tasim ordered that a well be dug in the region of al-Bataniya. His subordinates dug a well to a depth equal to the height of three hundred men. But no water appeared. They left the well as it was. When al-Mutawakkil came to power, he ordered that the digging of that well be continued until they reached water. So they continued digging it, and after every hundred qamat [man-heights] they placed a marker, until they reached a rock. With a pickaxe and lever, they broke that stone. A cold wind came out from beneath it. All those who were working there were killed by that wind. The matter was reported to al-Mutawakkil. He expressed ignorance of its cause. They said: Ask the grandson of Imam Rida (peace be upon him) about this. So they came to Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him). The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "That region was al-Ahqaf, the land of the people of Ad, whom Allah destroyed by means of a cold wind."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Yaqtin narrated: Once Abu Ja'far al-Dawaniqi ordered Yaqtin to dig a well at Qasr al-Ibadi. While Yaqtin was still digging the well, Abu Ja'far passed away and did not make use of its water. This matter was reported to al-Mahdi, the Abbasid caliph. Al-Mahdi ordered Yaqtin to continue digging the well until he reached water, even if this required spending everything in the Bayt al-Mal (public treasury). Yaqtin summoned his brother Abu Musa to help with the digging of the well, and they continued to dig until they made a hole at the bottom of the well. Suddenly a wind came out of that opening. This wind was so cold and violent that he was greatly seized with fear and terror. This was reported to Abu Musa. He said: "Send me down to the bottom of the well." The mouth of the well was forty cubits by forty cubits wide. They placed him on one side of a howdah and lowered him to the bottom of the well. When he reached there, he looked around in fear and heard the sound of the wind from the bottom of the well. He ordered that the hole be enlarged and made like a great doorway. Then two men were placed on the two sides of a camel's howdah and lowered by rope through the hole at the bottom of the well so that they might uncover the truth of the matter. They went into the well, and after a while they shook the rope. Those present at the bottom of the well pulled them up. Abu Musa asked them: "What did you see?" They replied: "We saw an exceedingly great and momentous thing. There we saw men, women, houses, vessels and goods, all turned to stone. The men and women, while wearing their clothes, were some sitting, some standing, and some reclining. When we touched them, we saw that their clothes had completely decayed and become soft like wool, and their houses were still standing." Abu Musa reported the matter in writing to al-Mahdi. Al-Mahdi then wrote to Imam Musa Kazim (peace be upon him) in Medina and asked him to come to Baghdad. The Imam came to Baghdad. Al-Mahdi related the matter to that eminence. The Imam wept greatly, then said: "O Amir al-Mu'minin! They are the remnants of the people of Ad, upon whom Allah became wrathful. As a result, their houses swallowed them up. They are the companions of al-Ahqaf." Al-Mahdi asked the Imam (peace be upon him): "O Abu al-Hasan (peace be upon him)! What is al-Ahqaf?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Sand."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): It is narrated that Mahdi, the Abbasid caliph, ordered that a well be dug near the grave of al-Ibadi so that the pilgrims could use its water. They dug more than a hundred fathoms deep. While digging, suddenly a large opening was uncovered from which air was coming out; it was very deep and dark, and the wind coming out made a sound. They lowered two men into it, and when they came out their color had changed. They said: "Inside there was open air, and houses in which there were men and women, and animals such as camels, cows and sheep; whenever we touched any of them, they crumbled to pieces." They asked the scholars, but none of them could give an answer. One day Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) went to Mahdi, who asked him about it. He said: "They are the people of al-Ahqaf, the remnant of the people of Ad, whose dwellings the earth swallowed up along with them." And the Imam (peace be upon him) also explained what those two men had seen.

Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: My father narrated to me that al-Mu'tasim al-Abbasi ordered that a well be dug at al-Bataniyah. They dug down three hundred fathoms but did not reach water, so they abandoned digging it, until al-Mutawakkil came to the caliphate and ordered that the well be dug however deep necessary until they reached water. So they continued digging the well, and every hundred fathoms they installed a pulley and rope, until they reached a hard rock. They struck it with a pickaxe and broke it, and suddenly from within that stone a cold wind blew out, and everyone who was nearby perished. They reported this matter to al-Mutawakkil, and he did not know its cause. The advisers said: This matter must be asked of Ibn al-Rida (Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him)). They asked, and that noble one said: "That is the land of al-Ahqaf (the sands), meaning the land of the people of Ad, whom Allah destroyed by means of the raging wind (rih sarsar). Their prophet was Hud (peace be upon him), and they had prosperous and blessed cities, but because of their disobedience, Allah withheld rain from them for seven years, and they were struck by famine. However much Hud invited them, they did not respond to him, until Allah revealed to Hud that the punishment would descend at a certain time, and it was a cold and severe wind that brought with it a painful punishment. When that time came, a black cloud appeared over the city, and the people thought that cloud was the harbinger of rain. They rejoiced and gave one another the good news of rain. But Hud (peace be upon him) said to them: 'No, rather this is the punishment that you were hastening to come.' Then they arose in the morning while only their houses remained, and all these reports of the destruction of past nations are for the warning and admonition of the ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)." And that noble one said: "The winds are of five kinds, one of which is the barren wind (rih 'aqim), meaning a wind after whose blowing no plant grows, and we seek refuge with Allah from its evil." And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "No wind blows except in a fixed and limited measure, except the wind which blew by Allah's command in the time of the people of Ad, which was like the point of a stinging needle and blew through countless openings and destroyed the people of Ad."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Remember [the story of] the brother of the people of Ad, that is, Hud (peace be upon him), when he warned his people, meaning he made them fear Allah the Exalted, and he invited them to obedience to Allah in the land of al-Ahqaf, which is a region between Oman and Muhayrah.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): al-Ahqaf is the name of the land of Ad, which extends from al-Shuquq to al-Ajfar, and its length is four stages (manzil).