۞ And to Thamud We sent their brother Sali'h. He said: 'My people! Serve Allah; you have no god other than Him. He brought you into being out of the earth, and has made you dwell in it. So ask Him to forgive you, and do turn towards Him in repentance. Indeed My Lord is near, responsive to prayers. 61 They said: 'Salih, before this you were a source of hope to us. What, would you now forbid us to worship what our fathers worshipped? Indeed, we are disquieted, and doubt that to which you invite' 62 He said: O my people! Bethink you: if I am (acting) on clear proof from my Lord and there hath come unto me a mercy from Him, who will save me from Allah if I disobey Him? Ye would add to me naught save perdition. 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; and he said, 'Take your joy in your habitation three days -- that is a promise not to be belied.' 65 Then when Our decree came to pass We delivered Saleh and those who believed with Him by a mercy from Us, and from the humiliation of that day. Verily thy Lord! He is the Strong, the Mighty. 66 And the (awful) Cry overtook those who did wrong, so that morning found them prostrate in their dwellings, 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