ABSTRACT
And we sent unto the former [tribe of] Á.d 200 their brother Hood. 201 He said, O my people, worship God: assert His unity. Ye have no other deity than Him. Will ye hot then fear Him, and ’believe ?–The chiefs who disbelieved among his people answered, Verily we see thee to be in a foolish way, and verily we esteem thee one of the liars with respect to the apostolic commission. He replied, O my people, there is no folly in me; but I am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds. I bring unto you the messages of my Lord, and I am unto you a counsellor, intrusted with the apostolic office. Do ye wonder that an admonition hath come unto you from your Lord by the tongue of a man from among you, that he may warn you ? And remember how He hath appointed you vicegerents in the earth after the people of Noah, and increased you in tallness of stature. (For the tall among them was a hundred cubits, and the short among them sixty) Remember, then, the benefits of God, that ye may prosper. They said, Art thou come unto us that we may worship God alone, and relinquish what our fathers worshipped ? Then bring upon us that punishment with which thou threatenest us, if thou be of those who speak truth.–He replied, Punishment and indignation from your Lord have become necessary for you. Do ye dispute with me concerning names which ye and your fathers have given to idols which ye worship, concerning which (that is, the worship of which) God hath not set down any convincing proof ? Then await ye the punishment. I am with you, of those who await that, for your accusing me of falsehood. And the unprofitable wind was sent upon them. But We delivered him (namely, Rood) and them who were with him (of the believers) by Our mercy; and We cut off the uppermost part of those who charged Our signs with falsehood and who were not believers. (vii. 63–70.)
