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wa-la-qad ʾataw ʿalā l-qaryati llatī ʾumṭirat maṭara s-sawʾi ʾa-fa-lam yakūnū yarawnahā bal kānū lā yarjūna nushūran
Certainly they must have passed the town on which an evil shower was rained. Have they not seen it? Rather, they did not expect resurrection [to happen].
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Furqan - Verse 40
40. “And indeed they have passed by the town on which was rained an evil rain, did they not then see it? Nay! They did not hope to be raised again.”
The purpose of ‘the township whereon was rained the evil rain’ is the town of the people of Lūt on which stone rained. As Imam Baqir (as) says, it was an area that was called Sadūm3. Therefore, ancient places can provide people lesson (and narration of history and retelling the story of misled; persons can be a ground for propagation, training and prohibition of doing evil). Finally ruins of cities of Lūt nation that have been on the way of people going from Hijaz to Damascus are mentioned in this verse. It is a live tableau that describes the painful destiny of these misled persons and polytheists.
It says:
They count death as the end of this life. If even they believe in the life after death, their belief will be so weak and baseless that it has no effect on their soul, and also, no effect on their life programs. Therefore, they belittle everything and think about nothing but passing their low desires.
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