وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْ جَعَلَكُمْ خُلَفَاءَ مِنْ بَعْدِ عَادٍ وَبَوَّأَكُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْ سُهُولِهَا قُصُورًا وَتَنْحِتُونَ الْجِبَالَ بُيُوتًا فَاذْكُرُوا آلَاءَ اللَّهِ وَلَا تَعْثَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ ﴿۷۴﴾ قَالَ الْمَلَأُ الَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُوا مِنْ قَوْمِهِ لِلَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا لِمَنْ آمَنَ مِنْهُمْ أَتَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ صَالِحًا مُرْسَلٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ قَالُوا إِنَّا بِمَا أُرْسِلَ بِهِ مُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿۷۵﴾ قَالَ الَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُوا إِنَّا بِالَّذِي آمَنْتُمْ بِهِ كَافِرُونَ ﴿۷۶﴾ فَعَقَرُوا النَّاقَةَ وَعَتَوْا عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِمْ وَقَالُوا يَا صَالِحُ ائْتِنَا بِمَا تَعِدُنَا إِنْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ ﴿۷۷﴾

﴾74﴿ Wazkuroo iz ja'alakum khulafaaa'a mim ba'di 'Aadinw wa bawwa akum fil ardi tattakhizoona min suhoolihaa qusooranw wa tanhitoonal jibaala buyootan fazkurooo aalaaa'al laahi wa laa ta'saw fil ardi mufsideen
﴾75﴿ Qaalal mala ul lazeenas takbaroo min qawmihee lillazeenas tud'ifoo liman aamana minhum ata'lamoona anna Saaliham mursalum mir Rabbih; qaalooo innaa bimaaa ursila bihee mu'minoon
﴾76﴿ Qaalal lazeenas takbarooo innaa billazeee aamanntum bihee kaafiroon
﴾77﴿ Fa'aqarun naaqata wa'ataw 'an amri Rabbihim wa qaaloo yaa Saalihu' tinaa bimaa ta'idunaaa in kunta minal mursaleen

﴾74﴿ And remember the time when He made you the settler of the earth after the Aad and placed you on the earth You build palaces from their fields and carve houses from the mountains, so remember the blessings of Allah the Exalted and do not be corrupters in the land
﴾75﴿ They said that those nobles who had rebelled (due to wealth) from his people, those who considered them weak (due to poverty) Those who believed from them Do you think that Saleh (peace be upon him) is a messenger from his Lord They said, Surely, we have believed in what he is sent
﴾76﴿ They said, Arrogant people, surely we are disbelievers in what you believe in
﴾77﴿ So they killed that she-camel and violated the command of their Lord And they said, O Saleh, peace be upon him, bring us the punishment that you are scaring us with if you are one of the prophets

[74] In this verse, there is a reminder of blessings so that you may accept monotheism. The blessings given to the people of ‘Ad were related to personal and physical strength, while the blessings given to the people of Thamud involved building homes and craftsmanship.
"(Its plains)" refers to how they built tall palaces on open lands without necessity, and they also carved homes from the mountains.
The people of Thamud were very skilled in architecture and stone carving, and because of this, they were wealthy.
"(Corrupting)" — their great corruption was that they were not righteous people and would prevent others from believing and following Salih (peace be upon him), as mentioned in verse 48 of Surah An-Naml.
[75] Among this people, there were many wealthy individuals, and the reason for their disbelief was their sense of superiority. That is why the word “they were arrogant” (استكبروا) is used here.
“They were deemed weak” (استُضعِفوا) refers to the believers who were considered weak, either due to being foreigners or due to their lineage.
In the hadith of Heraclius (narrated by Bukhari), it is mentioned that the followers of the prophets are usually the weak members of society. However, the use of the passive verb form here implies that they were not truly weak, but rather, their opponents considered them to be weak.
The phrase “those who believed” (لِمَنْ آمَنَ) indicates that not all the weak ones had believed.
“Do you know...” (أَتَعْلَمُونَ) — this was said in a pressuring, mocking tone toward the believers.
But the believers replied with firmness, saying their belief was not just in Salih (peace be upon him), but in the principles of monotheism as well.
Thus, the opposition became very clear.
[76] This also expresses arrogance and opposition toward them, and it indicates that “we do not believe because of you,” meaning, “there is a great difference between us and you,” so they used this as a reason for rejecting faith.
[77] "(So they hamstrung her) (فَعَقَرُوا)" — The word ‘aqara originally means to cut the legs, but here it refers to the act of slaughtering. The she-camel was slaughtered by one man, as mentioned in verse 29 of Surah Al-Qamar. His name is mentioned as Qidar ibn Salif, and in a hadith from Muslim, he is described as: “A powerful, violent, wicked man, influential among his people — like Abu Zam‘ah.” Or, it may mean that he first cut her legs and then killed her. Eight others were his accomplices.
"(Against the command of their Lord) (عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِمْ)" — The command was mentioned in verse 27.
"(Of the messengers) (مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ)" — This is evidence that they were deeply corrupt, as they rejected the prophethood.
The people of ‘Ad had referred to their prophet as one of the “truthful ones (الصَّادِقِينَ)”, meaning they only denied the news of punishment, not necessarily the whole message.