وَفِي ثَمُودَ إِذْ قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَمَتَّعُوا حَتَّى حِينٍ (43) فَعَتَوْا عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّاعِقَةُ وَهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ
“And in Thamud (there is a sign or lesson) when it was said to them: “Enjoy yourselves for a while”. But they were insolent toward the command of their Lord, so the thunderbolt seized them while they were looking on.
A highly concise warning culminating in a sudden, overwhelming punishment that they witnessed but could not avert.
Explained by: فَقَالَ تَمَتَّعُوا فِي دَارِكُمْ ثَلَاثَةَ أَيَّامٍ — “So, he (Saalih (as)) said: ‘Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days’” (Hud: 65). Here it implies it’s too late for them; what they do then does not change the decree.
عَتَوْا (from عُتُوّ) denotes tyrannical arrogance and stubborn resistance, not mere neglect. With عَنْ it adds distancing: “They arrogantly rebelled away from the command of their Lord.”
The wording emphasizes sudden capture; a decisive grasp that ends their defiance.
An expression of being stunned and paralysed with fear — a condition of “stunned hopelessness.”
Further explained by (Hud: 65): فَقَالَ تَمَتَّعُوا فِي دَارِكُمْ ثَلَاثَةَ أَيَّامٍ — a notice of an unavoidable punishment after three days, making their enjoyment meaningless in altering the outcome.
From عُتُوّ: arrogance, overstepping limits, tyrannical conduct, rejecting advice.
الصَّاعِقَةُ (from صَعِقَ) associates a loud, resonant shock with collapse or death, and also striking with lightning.
To be taken by the Saa’iqah implies a sudden, loud, annihilating punishment.
The explanation notes an alternation:
A deliberate rhetorical sequence: “Unleash, grab, unleash, grab.”
Tyrannical arrogance; transgressing limits; insolence.
One deeply engaged in corruption, rejecting advice or exhortation.
Thunderbolt; a loud strike causing collapse, death, or unconsciousness.
فَقَالَ تَمَتَّعُوا فِي دَارِكُمْ ثَلَاثَةَ أَيَّامٍ
“So, he (Saalih (as)) said: ‘Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days’.”
وَنُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ فَصَعِقَ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَن فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا مَن شَاءَ اللَّهُ
“And the Horn will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead except whom Allah wills.”
وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقًا
“And Musa fell down unconscious (Sa’iqan).”
“Enjoy yourselves…” here conveys inevitability: once the decree is announced, their actions no longer avert it.
With عَنْ, their arrogance becomes a turning away from obedience — distancing from the command itself.
The Saa’iqah embodies a loud, devastating blow that seizes and collapses — not a gradual decline.
وَهُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ marks a frozen, stunned state, seeing but unable to respond.