Marvel ye that a Warning should come to you from your Lord through one of yourselves, that he may warn you, and that ye may fear for yourselves, and that haply ye may find mercy?”

But they treated him as a liar:  so we delivered him and those who were with him in the ark, and we drowned those who charged our signs with falsehood; for they were a blind people.

And to Ad16 we sent their brother Houd.17 “O my people!” said he, “worship God:  ye have no other god than Him:  Will ye not then fear Him?”

Said the unbelieving chiefs among his people, “We certainly perceive that thou art unsound of mind; and we surely deem thee an impostor.”

He said, “O my people! it is not unsoundness of mind in me, but I am an Apostle from the Lord of the Worlds.

The messages of my Lord do I announce to you, and I am your faithful18 counsellor.

Marvel ye that a warning hath come to you from your Lord through one of yourselves that He may warn you?  Remember how he hath made you the successors of the people of Noah, and increased you in tallness of stature.  Remember then the favours of God, that it may haply be well with you.”

They said, “Art thou come to us in order that we may worship one God alone, and leave what our fathers worshipped?  Then bring that upon us with which thou threatenest us, if thou be a man of truth.”

He said, “Vengeance and wrath shall suddenly light on you from your Lord.  Do ye dispute with me about names that you and your fathers have given your idols, and for which God hath sent you down no warranty?  Wait ye then, and I too will wait with you.”

And we delivered him, and those who were on his side, by our mercy, and we cut off, to the last man, those who had treated our signs as lies, and who were not believers.

And to Themoud we sent their brother Saleh.19 He said, O my people! worship God:  ye have no other god than Him:  now hath a clear proof of my mission come to you from your Lord, this she-camel of God being a sign to you:  therefore let her go at large to pasture on God’s earth:  and touch her not to harm her, lest a grievous chastisement seize you.

And remember how he hath made you successors to the Adites, and given you dwellings on the earth, so that on its plains ye build castles, and hew out houses in the hills.  And bear in mind the benefits of God, and lay not the earth waste with deeds of licence.

Said the chiefs of his people puffed up with pride, to those who were esteemed weak, even to those of them who believed, “What! know ye for certain that Saleh is sent by his Lord?” They said, “Truly we believe in that with which he hath been sent.”

Then said those proud men, “Verily, we reject that in which ye believe.”

And they ham-strung the she-camel, and rebelled against their Lord’s command, and said, “O Saleh, let thy menaces be accomplished upon us if thou art one of the Sent Ones.”