al-Najm

وَأنَّهُ أهْلَكَ عَادًا الاُولَی

وَثَمُودَ فَمَا أبْقَی

وَقَوْمَ نُوحٍ مِّن قَبْلُ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا هُمْ أظْلَمَ وَأطْغَی

وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَةَ أهْوَی

فَغَشَّاهَا مَا غَشَّی

50. And that it is He Who destroyed the former ‘Ad [people]

51. And Thamud [people]. He spared none of them.

52. And the people of Noah (as) aforetime. Indeed, they were more unjust and more rebellious.

53. And He destroyed the cities of the people of Lot (as).

54. Therefore, He covered them out of His Wrath with that which he covered.

All chastisements will not be in the Hereafter. Some peoples have been destroyed by God Almighty in this world and we should take a lesson. Alluding to the preceding Verses, the blessed Verses in question refer to Divine Omnipotence saying that in the same manner that your Lord created beings and their states, He causes the destruction of tyrants and rebels. In terms of Grace and Mercy God Almighty is the Most Beneficent and in terms of Wrath, He is Severe of Recompense. He caused the destruction of earlier ‘Ad and Thamud peoples without sparing any of them and the people of Noah (as) had been destroyed because they were more tyrant and rebellious.

The earlier ‘Ad were Prophet Hod's (as) people and a group of them, called Banu Laqim and later ‘Ad, resided in Mecca and were spared. It is also said that they were called earlier ‘Ad since they were the first people who were destroyed following the disobedient people of Prophet Noah (as). The second Verse is saying that your Lord caused the destruction of the people of Thamud who were the people of Prophet Salih such that none of them were spared. The second and the fourth Verses say that Your Lord had caused the destruction of the people of Prophet Noah (as) as the recompense of their tyranny and disobedience before that of ‘Ad and Thamud.

The fourth Verse says that the city of Mu’tafaka inhabited by the People of Prophet Lot (as) was levitated by Gabriel and was cast down and some many hard pieces of clay rained upon them that the earth was covered with them. It is also said that Mu’tafaka was applied to four cities: Sawa’im, Adima, ‘Amura, and Sodom, and Gomorrah.