ماذا يحدث لقومٍ أعطاهم الله كل شيء: القوّة، والمال، والبناء، والأرض الواسعة؟ في قصة اليوم قومٌ كانوا أقوى أهل زمانهم، وقالوا كلمة واحدة أنهت أمرهم: ﴿مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً﴾.
قوم عاد قبيلة سكنت الأحقاف، وهي أرض فيها جبال من الرمل. وكانوا قد أُعطوا من القوّة في أجسادهم وفي بنائهم ما لم يُعطَ غيرهم، حتى قال الله عن مدينتهم: ﴿إِرَمَ ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ * الَّتِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلَادِ﴾. وكانوا يبنون في كل مكان مرتفع بناءً يلعبون فيه، ويتّخذون المصانع كأنهم يخلدون. فأرسل الله إليهم أخاهم هودًا.
وقف فيهم هودٌ عليه السلام يقول: ﴿يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُ﴾، ثم ذكّرهم بما هم فيه: ﴿وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْ جَعَلَكُمْ خُلَفَاءَ مِن بَعْدِ قَوْمِ نُوحٍ وَزَادَكُمْ فِي الْخَلْقِ بَسْطَةً﴾. ولم يطلب منهم أجرًا: ﴿إِنْ أَجْرِيَ إِلَّا عَلَى الَّذِي فَطَرَنِي﴾. فماذا أجابوه؟ ﴿قَالُوا يَا هُودُ مَا جِئْتَنَا بِبَيِّنَةٍ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِتَارِكِي آلِهَتِنَا عَن قَوْلِكَ وَمَا نَحْنُ لَكَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾. واتّهموه بالسفه، وقالوا: ﴿إِنَّا لَنَرَاكَ فِي سَفَاهَةٍ وَإِنَّا لَنَظُنُّكَ مِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ﴾.
وهنا قالوا الكلمة التي تدور عليها القصة: ﴿فَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَاسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَقَالُوا مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً﴾. من أشدّ منّا قوّة؟ فردّ الله عليهم في الآية نفسها بأقصر جواب ممكن: ﴿أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً﴾. سؤالهم كان فخرًا، وجوابه كان في السطر نفسه.
ثم رأوا سحابةً مقبلة نحو أوديتهم، ففرحوا وقالوا: ﴿هَٰذَا عَارِضٌ مُّمْطِرُنَا﴾ — هذا مطر سيأتينا. فقال الله: ﴿بَلْ هُوَ مَا اسْتَعْجَلْتُم بِهِ رِيحٌ فِيهَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ﴾. ريح ﴿صَرْصَرٍ عَاتِيَةٍ﴾ سخّرها الله عليهم ﴿سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًا﴾. القوم الذين قالوا «من أشدّ منّا قوّة» أهلكهم الهواء — وهو الشيء الذي لا يُرى ولا يُمسك.
يقول الله تعالى: {وَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَأُهْلِكُوا بِرِيحٍ صَرْصَرٍ عَاتِيَةٍ * سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًا}.
القوّة لا تحمي صاحبها من الله؛ إنما يحميه أن يعرف من أعطاه إيّاها.
فرح قوم عاد بالسحابة لأنهم ظنّوها مطرًا. هل فرحتَ يومًا بشيء ثم تبيّن أنه لم يكن كما ظننت؟ ماذا تعلّمتَ منه؟
اذكر اليوم ثلاث نعم عندك، وقل عند كل واحدة: هذه من الله لا منّي.
القرآن الكريم، الأعراف: 65-72 وهود: 50-60 والحاقة: 6-8
قوم عاد وإرم وعاقبتهم بالريح، كله بنص الآيات.
What happens to a people Allah gave everything: strength, wealth, building, wide land? In today's story, a people who were the strongest of their age said one sentence that finished them: {Who is greater than us in strength?}
The people of Aad were a tribe who lived in Al-Ahqaf, a land of sand mountains. They had been given strength in their bodies and in their building that no one else had been given, until Allah said of their city: {Iram, who had lofty pillars, the like of whom had never been created in the land.} They would build a monument on every high place to amuse themselves, and take fortresses as if they would live forever. So Allah sent them their brother Hud.
Hud stood among them saying: {O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him}, then reminded them of what they had: {And remember when He made you successors after the people of Nuh and increased you in stature extensively.} And he asked them for no payment: {My reward is only from the One who created me.} And what did they answer? {They said, O Hud, you have not brought us clear evidence, and we are not ones to leave our gods on your say-so, nor are we believers in you.} They accused him of foolishness: {Indeed, we see you in foolishness, and indeed, we think you are of the liars.}
And here they said the sentence the story turns on: {As for Aad, they were arrogant upon the earth without right and said, Who is greater than us in strength?} Who is greater than us in strength? And Allah answered them in the same verse, in the shortest possible reply: {Did they not consider that Allah who created them was greater than them in strength?} Their question was a boast, and its answer was on the same line.
Then they saw a cloud coming towards their valleys, and rejoiced: {This is a cloud bringing us rain.} Allah said: {Rather, it is that for which you were impatient: a wind containing a painful punishment.} A {screaming, violent wind} which Allah imposed upon them {for seven nights and eight days in succession}. The people who said "who is greater than us in strength" were destroyed by air — the thing no one can see or hold.
Strength does not protect the one who has it from Allah; what protects him is knowing who gave it to him.
The people of Aad rejoiced at the cloud because they thought it was rain. Have you ever been glad about something that turned out not to be what you thought? What did you learn from it?
Name three blessings you have today, and with each one say: this is from Allah, not from me.
The Quran, Al-A'raf: 65-72, Hud: 50-60, Al-Haqqah: 6-8
Ad, Iram and their end by the wind are all in the verses.