۞ 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 answered: "O Salih! Great hopes did we place in thee ere this! Wouldst thou forbid us to worship what our forefathers were wont to worship? Because [of this,] behold, we are in grave doubt, amounting to suspicion, about [the meaning of] thy call to us!" 62 He said, "O my people, have you considered: if I should be upon clear evidence from my Lord and He has given me mercy from Himself, who would protect me from Allah if I disobeyed Him? So you would not increase me except in loss. 63 And O my people! yonder is the she-camel of Allah: a sign unto you; so let her alone, feeding in Allah's land, and touch her not with evil, lest there may overtake you a torment nigh. 64 But they hamstrung her. He [Salih] said, "Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three more days. This warning will not prove false." 65 Then when Our command came by Our grace, We saved Salih and those who believed along with him from the disgrace of that day. Surely, your Lord is powerful and mighty. 66 And the (awful) Cry overtook those who did wrong, so that morning found them prostrate in their dwellings, 67 as if they had never dwelt there. The Thamud denied their Lord; cursed are the tribe of Thamud. 68