أصعب دعوة أن تدعو من يعرفك منذ كنتَ صغيرًا. قوم صالح كانوا يعرفونه، وكانوا يرجون أن يكون منهم رجلًا عظيمًا، حتى قالوا له يومًا: كنتَ رجاءنا قبل أن تقول هذا الكلام.
ثمود قومٌ جاءوا بعد عاد، سكنوا أرضًا تُسمّى الحِجر، وكانوا ينحتون بيوتهم في الجبال نحتًا. فأرسل الله إليهم صالحًا عليه السلام، وهو منهم: ﴿وَإِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَالِحًا﴾. أخاهم — أي واحدًا منهم، يعرفونه ويعرفون صدقه وأمانته. بل كانوا يعلّقون عليه آمالهم، حتى قالوا له بعد أن دعاهم: ﴿قَدْ كُنتَ فِينَا مَرْجُوًّا قَبْلَ هَٰذَا﴾.
قال لهم: ﴿يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُ﴾، وذكّرهم بما هم فيه من نعمة: ﴿وَتَنْحِتُونَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا فَارِهِينَ﴾. فطلبوا منه آية تدلّ على صدقه، فجاءتهم الناقة — ويذكر المفسّرون أنها خرجت لهم من صخرة، وليس ذلك في القرآن. وقال لهم: ﴿هَٰذِهِ نَاقَةُ اللَّهِ لَكُمْ آيَةً فَذَرُوهَا تَأْكُلْ فِي أَرْضِ اللَّهِ وَلَا تَمَسُّوهَا بِسُوءٍ﴾. فانقسم القوم: آمن ضعفاؤهم، واستكبر كبراؤهم وقالوا للمؤمنين: ﴿إِنَّا بِالَّذِي آمَنتُم بِهِ كَافِرُونَ﴾.
ثم عقروا الناقة. وبعد أن فعلوا، رجعوا إلى صالح يتحدّونه: ﴿يَا صَالِحُ ائْتِنَا بِمَا تَعِدُنَا إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ﴾. فأمهلهم الله ثلاثة أيام. ثلاثة أيام يرون فيها الشمس تطلع وتغرب وهم يعلمون ما ينتظرهم، ولم يرجع منهم أحد. ثم أخذتهم الرجفة ﴿فَأَصْبَحُوا فِي دَارِهِمْ جَاثِمِينَ﴾. والتحدّي لم يقدّم الأمر ولم يؤخّره.
وهنا أعجب ما في القصة كلها. لم يفرح صالح بأن الله انتقم له ممّن كذّبوه وآذَوه وسخروا منه. بل قال الله عنه: ﴿فَتَوَلَّىٰ عَنْهُمْ وَقَالَ يَا قَوْمِ لَقَدْ أَبْلَغْتُكُمْ رِسَالَةَ رَبِّي وَنَصَحْتُ لَكُمْ وَلَٰكِن لَّا تُحِبُّونَ النَّاصِحِينَ﴾. قالها وهو حزين عليهم، وناداهم «يا قوم» بعد أن هلكوا. فالنبيّ لا يشمت بمن خالفه؛ إنما يحزن عليه.
يقول الله تعالى: {فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الرَّجْفَةُ فَأَصْبَحُوا فِي دَارِهِمْ جَاثِمِينَ}، أي سقطوا في بيوتهم بلا حراك.
من نصحك فقد أحبّك، وإن كان كلامه ثقيلًا على أذنك.
قال صالح: «ولكن لا تحبّون الناصحين». متى آخر مرّة نصحك أحد فضايقك كلامه؟ وهل تبيّن لك بعد ذلك أنه كان على حقّ؟
اشكر اليوم شخصًا نصحك يومًا بشيء لم يعجبك وقتها، ثم ظهر لك أنه كان صوابًا.
القرآن الكريم، الأعراف: 73-79 وهود: 61-68 والشمس: 11-15
الناقة وعقرها وإمهالهم ثلاثًا وعاقبة ثمود، كله بنص الآيات. أما خروجها من صخرة فقول للمفسرين ليس في القرآن، ولذلك نُسب إليهم في نص القصة.
The hardest people to call are the ones who have known you since you were small. The people of Salih knew him, and had hoped he would become a great man among them — until they said to him one day: you were our hope before you started saying this.
Thamud were a people who came after Aad. They lived in a land called Al-Hijr and carved their houses into the mountains. Allah sent them Salih, peace be upon him, one of their own: {And to Thamud, their brother Salih.} Their brother — one of them, whose honesty and trustworthiness they knew. They had even pinned their hopes on him, until they said to him after he called them: {You were among us one in whom hope was placed before this.}
He said to them: {O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him}, and reminded them of the blessing they were in: {And you carve out of the mountains, homes, with skill.} They asked him for a sign that he was truthful, and the she-camel came — the commentators say she came out of a rock for them, which is not in the Quran. He said: {This is the she-camel of Allah, a sign for you. So leave her to eat in Allah's earth and do not touch her with harm.} The people split: the weak among them believed, and their chiefs grew arrogant and said to the believers: {Indeed we, in that which you have believed, are disbelievers.}
Then they hamstrung the camel. And having done it, they came back to Salih to challenge him: {O Salih, bring us what you promise us, if you are of the messengers.} Allah gave them three days. Three days watching the sun rise and set knowing what was waiting for them, and not one of them turned back. Then the earthquake seized them {and they became within their home corpses fallen prone}. The challenge neither hurried Allah's decree nor delayed it.
And here is the most remarkable thing in the whole story. Salih did not rejoice that Allah had avenged him on the people who denied him, hurt him and mocked him. Allah says of him: {And he turned away from them and said, O my people, I had certainly conveyed to you the message of my Lord and advised you, but you do not like advisers.} He said it grieving for them, calling them "my people" after they were gone. A prophet does not gloat over whoever opposed him; he grieves for them.
Whoever advises you cares about you, even when their words sit heavily on your ear.
Salih said: "but you do not like advisers." When did someone last advise you in a way that stung? Did it later turn out they were right?
Thank someone today who once gave you advice you did not like at the time, and that turned out to be right.
The Quran, Al-A'raf: 73-79, Hud: 61-68, Ash-Shams: 11-15
The she-camel, its hamstringing, the three days' respite and the end of Thamud are all in the verses. Her coming out of a rock is a commentators' account, not in the Quran, which is why the story attributes it to them.