۞ Tell of the brother of 'Ad; when he warned his people in the sand dunes -- and indeed warners came and went before him and after him -- saying, "Worship none but God; surely I fear for you the punishment of an awful Day," 21 They said: “Have you come to us to turn us away from our gods? Then, bring upon us the scourge that you threaten us with. Do so if you are truthful.” 22 'Allah alone has the knowledge' he said, 'I am sent to deliver to you the Message. But I can see that you are ignorant people' 23 So when they saw the punishment coming towards their valleys, spread like a cloud on the horizon, they said, “That is a cloud which will shower rain upon us”; said Hud “In fact this is what you were being impatient for; a windstorm carrying a painful punishment.” 24 bound to destroy everything at its Sustainer's behest!" And then they were so utterly wiped out that nothing could be seen save their [empty] dwellings: thus do We requite people lost in sin. 25 And yet, We had established them securely in a manner in which We have never established you, [O people of later times;] and We had endowed them with hearing, and sight, and [knowledgeable] hearts: but neither their hearing, nor their sight, nor their hearts were of the least avail to them, seeing that they went on rejecting God's messages; and [in the end] they were overwhelmed by the very thing which they had been wont to deride. 26