۞ And remember the fellowman of the tribe of A’ad; when he warned his nation in the Ahqaf* – and indeed Heralds of warning passed away before and after him – that, “Do not worship anyone except Allah; indeed I fear the punishment of a Great Day upon you. (* A country among sand dunes.) 21 They answered: "Hast thou come to seduce us away from our gods? Bring, then, upon us that [doom] with which thou threaten us, if thou art a man of truth!" 22 He said: The knowledge is only with Allah, and I deliver to you the message with which I am sent, but I see you are a people who are ignorant. 23 So, when they saw it in the shape of a dense cloud approaching their valleys, they exclaimed, "This is only a heavy cloud which will bring us [welcome] rain!" [But Hud said]: "By no means! It is the very thing which you sought to hasten -- a wind bearing grievous suffering 24 Destroying all things by commandment of its Lord. And morning found them so that naught could be seen save their dwellings. Thus do We reward the guilty folk. 25 And We had established them in that which We have not established you, and We made for them hearing, sight, and hearts, but their hearing, sight, and hearts did not help them a thing, because they disbelieved the signs of Allah. And what they mocked encompassed them. 26