قَالَ إِنَّمَا الْعِلْمُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَأُبَلِّغُكُمْ مَا أُرْسِلْتُ بِهِ وَلَكِنِّي أَرَاكُمْ قَوْمًا تَجْهَلُونَ ﴿۲۳﴾ فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ عَارِضًا مُسْتَقْبِلَ أَوْدِيَتِهِمْ قَالُوا هَذَا عَارِضٌ مُمْطِرُنَا بَلْ هُوَ مَا اسْتَعْجَلْتُمْ بِهِ رِيحٌ فِيهَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴿۲۴﴾ تُدَمِّرُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ بِأَمْرِ رَبِّهَا فَأَصْبَحُوا لَا يُرَى إِلَّا مَسَاكِنُهُمْ كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْقَوْمَ الْمُجْرِمِينَ ﴿۲۵﴾ وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَّاهُمْ فِيمَا إِنْ مَكَّنَّاكُمْ فِيهِ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُمْ سَمْعًا وَأَبْصَارًا وَأَفْئِدَةً فَمَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَلَا أَبْصَارُهُمْ وَلَا أَفْئِدَتُهُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِذْ كَانُوا يَجْحَدُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ ﴿۲۶﴾

﴾23﴿ Qaala innamal 'ilmu indal laahi wa uballighukum maaa ursiltu bihee wa laakinneee araakum qawman tajhaloon
﴾24﴿ Falammaa ra awhu 'aaridam mustaqbila awdiyatihim qaaloo haazaa 'aaridum mumtirunaa; bal huwa masta'jaltum bihee reehun feehaa 'azaabun aleem
﴾25﴿ Tudammiru kulla shai'im bi-amri Rabbihaa fa asbahoo laa yuraaa illaa masaakinuhum; kazaalika najzil qawmal mujrimeen
﴾26﴿ Wa laqad makkannaahum feemaaa im makkannaakum feehi waj'alnaa lahum sam'anw wa absaaranw wa af'idatan famaaa aghnaa 'anhum sam'uhum wa laaa absaaruhum wa laaa af'idatuhum min shai'in iz kaanoo yajhadoona bi Aayaatil laahi wa haaqa bihim maa kaanoo bihee yastahzi'oon

﴾23﴿ He said, The knowledge (of punishment) is only with Allah, and I convey to you the message with which I have been sent, but I see that you are a people who act ignorantly. Then, when they saw a dense cloud approaching their fields, they said, This is a dense cloud that will bring us rain. (It was said,) Rather, this is what you were impatient for—it is a wind in which there is a painful punishment
﴾24﴿ Then, when they saw a dense cloud approaching their fields, they said, This is a dense cloud that will bring us rain. (It was said,) "Rather, this is what you were impatient for—it is a wind in which there is a painful punishment
﴾25﴿ It destroys everything by the command of its Lord. So by morning, nothing was seen except their dwellings. Thus do We recompense the sinful people
﴾26﴿ And indeed, We had given them power in that which We did not give to you, and We had granted them hearing, sight, and hearts. But neither their hearing, nor their sight, nor their hearts availed them in anything, because they used to deny the signs of Allah. And what they used to ridicule encompassed them

[23] (Qāla innamā al-‘ilm)—This is the response to their statement “Then bring upon us (the punishment)”.
This reply goes even further—he says: Bringing the punishment is a distant matter; I don’t even have the knowledge of when or how it will come.
The purpose is to clarify the Prophet’s role: he is not one who possesses knowledge of the unseen. Rather, his duty is (Wa uballighukum mā ursiltu bih)—to convey what I have been sent with, which is the message of monotheism and the warning of punishment.
(Tajhalūn)—To associate partners with Allah, to hasten the punishment, and to believe that the punishment is within the Prophet’s control or knowledge—these are all acts of ignorance.
[24,25] This is the detailed mention of their punishment.
(Qālū hādhā)—The commentators have written that their rainfall had been withheld for a period. So when they saw a cloud, they reacted joyfully, assuming that rain was coming—according to their limited reasoning. They gave no thought to whether it might be the consequence of their evil deeds.
(Bal huwa mā ista‘jaltum bih)—This is either the speech of Allah the Exalted through Hūd (peace be upon him), or it expresses the reality of the situation.
Their hastening of the punishment had been expressed earlier with the words: “Then bring us what you have promised.”
(Bi-amri Rabbihā)—This points out that no cause can have any effect except by the command of Allah the Exalted.
(Kathālik)—This is a warning for the criminals who come after them, that they too should take heed.
[26] In this verse, the address is to the present-day criminals, and two strengths of the people of ‘Ād are mentioned, along with the reason for their punishment. The indication is that none of their strengths could repel the punishment.
The first strength is tamkīn (establishment), meaning well-built dwellings, large bodies, and abundant wealth.
The second strength (wa ja‘alnā lahum sam‘an) refers to internal faculties like understanding, perception, and alertness in worldly matters. These faculties were also meant to recognize the truth.
(Famā aghnā)—Since they did not use these senses for the sake of truth, but only for worldly knowledge and experiments, they were of no benefit in protecting them from Allah’s punishment.
And since intellectual strength is greater than material strength, and even their intellectual strength did not benefit them, then material strength—by greater reason—was even less capable of repelling the punishment.
That is why the verse explicitly mentions the failure of hearing, sight, and other faculties to benefit them, but does not directly mention the failure of their material establishment—leaving that to be understood by comparison.
The cause of their punishment is mentioned with (idh kānū yajḥadūna)—“because they used to reject”—making it clear that against the divine means and power of Allah, no strength can offer any benefit.