فَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ ٱلْحَقِّ وَقَالُوا۟ مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً … وَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَهَدَيْنَٰهُمْ فَٱسْتَحَبُّوا۟ ٱلْعَمَىٰ عَلَى ٱلْهُدَىٰ
"As for ʿĀd: they were arrogant in the land without right, and said 'Who is greater than us in power?'… As for Thamūd: We showed them the right way, but they preferred blindness to guidance."
The verse separates the two peoples with the ammā … wa ammā pattern, and makes a separate diagnosis for each:
| People | Defect | Expression |
|---|---|---|
| ʿĀd | The measure of power | Man ashaddu minnā quwwatan |
| Thamūd | Preference | Fa'staḥabbū'l-ʿamā ʿala'l-hudā |
The first is an error of comparison: they suppose themselves the strongest. The answer comes with the same word — a-wa-lam yaraw anna'llāha'lladhī khalaqahum huwa ashaddu minhum quwwatan. The verse does not change the measure; it carries the same measure through to the end.
The second is a matter of preference, and the verb must be recorded: istaḥabbū — Form X, root ح-ب-ب: to love, to prefer. That is, of Thamūd it is not said "they did not know"; it is said hadaynāhum — "We showed them the way." Then the preference comes.
I record this as an observation: in the fifth verse of the sūra the addressee had declared himself closed. Here it is shown, through the example of a people, that closedness can be a preference. A choice is made between ʿamā (blindness) and hudā (guidance) — and what is chosen is not seeing.
فِىٓ أَيَّامٍ نَّحِسَاتٍ — the word naḥisāt in this expression, used in the account of the destruction of ʿĀd, means "ill-omened, calamitous days". The same event occurred with the expression fī yawmi naḥsin mustamirr at al-Qamar 54/19, and was treated there. The two sūras use the same root; one says a single day, the other days.
A note per the method (Method): no ground for a belief in lucky and unlucky days is to be derived from this. The word qualifies particular days that befell that community; it lays down no general ruling about the calendar.