۞ AND UNTO [the tribe of] Thamud [We sent] their brother Salih. He said: "O my people! Worship God [alone]: you have no deity other than Him. He brought you into being out of the earth, and made you thrive thereon. Ask Him, therefore, to forgive you your sins, and then turn towards Him in repentance - for, verily, my Sustainer is ever-near, responding [to the call of whoever calls unto Him]!" 61 They said, "O Salih, you were among us a man of promise before this. Do you forbid us to worship what our fathers worshipped? And indeed we are, about that to which you invite us, in disquieting doubt." 62 He said: "O my people! Tell me, if I have a clear proof from my Lord, and there has come to me a Mercy (Prophethood, etc.) from Him, who then can help me against Allah, if I were to disobey Him? Then you increase me not but in loss. 63 “And O my people! This is the she-camel of Allah – a sign for you – so let her graze in Allah’s earth, and do not touch her with an evil intention for an imminent punishment will reach you.” 64 In response they hamstrung her, he therefore said, “Enjoy a further three days in your homes; this is a promise that will not be untrue.” 65 So when Our decree came to pass, We delivered Salih and those who believed with him by mercy from Us, and (We saved them) from the disgrace of that day; surely your Lord is the Strong, the Mighty. 66 And the terrible scream seized the unjust – so at morning they remained lying flattened in their homes. 67 as though they had never existed. The people of Thamud denied the existence of their Lord. How distant from the mercy of God had the people of Thamud gone! 68