سورة الحاقة

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): بِرِیحٍ صَرْصَرٍ — what is meant is a cold [wind]; عَاتِیَةٍ means a wind that was more than what it had been commanded to be.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): As for the barren wind, indeed it is a wind of punishment which fertilises no womb and no plant or vegetation, and it is a wind that comes out from beneath the seven earths. This wind never came out from there for any people except for the people of Ad, when Allah became angry with that people. At that time Allah the Mighty and Majestic ordered the keepers to release from that wind the measure of the ring of a finger; but that wind disobeyed the keepers and, on account of its rage against the people of Ad, came out of its place in the measure of the nostril of a bull. The keepers cried out and complained to Allah the Mighty and Majestic and said: "Our Lord! This wind has disobeyed our command, and we fear that it will completely destroy those of Your creatures who did not disobey You and who have made Your lands prosperous." So Allah the Mighty and Majestic sent Jibra'il to that wind, and he hastened to meet that wind with his two wings and returned that wind to its place and said to that wind: "Come out only in the measure you have been commanded." So it came out in that measure and destroyed the people of Ad and everyone who was with them.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): No wind has ever come out without a measure, except at the time of Ad, for it disobeyed its keepers and came out in the measure of the eye of a needle and destroyed the people of Ad.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) that he said: "I was aided by the Saba (east wind), and the people of Ad were destroyed by the Dabur (west wind)." And he said: "The keepers were not permitted to send upon Ad more than the amount of a ring's setting of wind, but it rebelled against the keepers and burst forth from the sides of the doors. And this is the word of Allah, who said: بِریحٍ صَرْصَرٍ عاتِیَةٍ [with a roaring, violent blast]. At first it began by destroying the desert-dwellers among them, and carried them with all their flocks and tents into the city. When they saw it, they said: 'This wind that has blown upon us is a rain-bringer.' When its shadow overtook them, the people and the flocks rushed forward and hurled themselves in among the people of the city, and it crushed them all together and they all perished."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Allah has never sent down any wind or water except by measure, save on the day of Nuh (peace be upon him) and the day of Ad. As for the day of Nuh (peace be upon him): the water rebelled against its keeper and they had no way to hold it back. Then he recited: إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَی الْماءُ [Indeed, when the water overflowed]. And as for the day of Ad: indeed the wind escaped from the hands of its keepers and they had no way over it. Then he recited: بِرِیحٍ صَرْصَرٍ عاتِیَةٍ [with a roaring, violent blast].

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The land of the people of Ad was in the desert, and they had abundant crops, cultivation and many date-palms, and they had long lives and tall bodies, and they used to worship idols, until Allah sent Hud (peace be upon him) to them and he called them to tawhid (monotheism) and the true religion. But they refused and did not believe, and they harmed him. Then the sky did not rain upon them for seven years, until they were struck by famine. Hud (peace be upon him) was a farmer and used to irrigate his crops. A group of people came to his house to meet him. His wife, who was a white-haired, blind woman, came out and said: "Who are you?" They said: "We are the people of such and such a city; we have come to ask Hud to pray that it may rain." The wife of Hud (peace be upon him) said: "If Hud's prayer were answered, he would have prayed so that his own crops would not burn from lack of water." They said: "Where is he now?" His wife said: "He is in such and such a place." So they went to Hud (peace be upon him) and said: "O Prophet of Allah! Our cities have been struck by famine; ask Allah to send rain upon us." He performed the prayer and prayed for them and said: "Return, for indeed rain will surely fall upon you." At that point they said: "O Prophet of Allah, we saw something strange in your house — a white-haired, one-eyed woman who said such and such about you." Hud (peace be upon him) said: "She is my wife, and I ask Allah for a long life for her." They said: "How can such a thing be?" Hud (peace be upon him) said: "Allah has created for every believer an enemy who harms him, and this woman is my enemy, and certainly an enemy who is in one's own power is better than an enemy in whose power one is placed." Then Hud (peace be upon him) continued to invite them and prayed for them and forbade them from worshipping idols, until their lands once again became green and lush and the rain fell ... And when they did not believe, Allah sent upon them a violent, cold wind, which He describes in Surah al-Qamar thus: "The people of Ad [also] denied [their prophet], so [see] how were My punishment and My warnings! Indeed We sent upon them a furious, cold wind on a day of continuous ill fortune." (Al-Qamar 54:18-19) And in Surah al-Haqqa He says: وَ أَمَّا عادٌ فَأُهْلِکُوا بِرِیحٍ صَرْصَرٍ عاتِیَةٍ سَخَّرَها عَلَیْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَیالٍ وَ ثَمانِیَةَ أَیَّامٍ حُسُوماً [And as for Ad, they were destroyed by a roaring, violent wind, which He imposed upon them for seven nights and eight days in succession]. It has been said that during those eight days and seven nights the moon was in the constellation of Zuhal (Saturn), and this is a sign of ill omen.