Transliteration:( Qaala haazihee naaqatul lahaa shirbunw walakum shirbu yawmim ma'loom )
155. This she-camel was created from a stone, as a miracle of Hazrat Saleh (On whom be peace). The size of its breast was sixty yards. Time was fixed for using the water of the well; that one day these people would drink its water and the following day would be the turn of this she-camel. On her day, the she-camel would drink all the water.
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The tafsir of Surah Ash-Shura verse 155 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Shura ayat 153 which provides the complete commentary from verse 153 through 159.
103. From the context it appears that it was not a common she-camel, but it was brought about in a supernatural manner because it was presented in response to the demand for a miracle. Prophet Salih (peace be upon him) could not have produced before the people an ordinary she-camel as a proof of his Prophethood because that would not have satisfied them. At other places in the Quran it has been clearly referred to as a miracle. In Surahs Al-Aaraf and Houd it has been said: Here is Allah’s she camel, a sign for you. (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 73). In Surah Bani Israil the same thing has been stated more emphatically: And nothing has hindered Us from sending signs except that the former people refused to acknowledge them as such. (For example) We sent the she-camel as an open sign to Thamud but they treated her with cruelty; whereas We send signs only by way of warning. (Surah Bani Israil, ayat 59). Moreover, the challenge given to the wicked people of Thamud, after presenting the she-camel before them, was such that it could only be given after presenting a miracle.
104. That is, one day the she-camel will drink water all alone at your wells and springs, and one day you and your animals will take water, and this arrangement will not be violated in any way. There could hardly be a greater challenge for the people of Arabia, for taking of water had been the foremost cause of feuds and fights among them, which mostly resulted in bloodshed, even loss of life. As such, the challenge given by Prophet Salih (peace be upon him) was indeed a challenge to the whole nation, which could not be acceptable unless the people were sure that the challenger had a great power at his back. But Prophet Salih (peace be upon him) threw this challenge all by himself without any worldly power behind him, and the whole nation not only received it quietly, but also abided by it submissively for quite some days.
In Surahs Al-Aaraf and Houd there is an addition to this: Here is Allah’s she-camel, a sign for you. So let her graze at will in Allah’s land, and do not touch her with an evil intention. (Surah Houd, Ayat 64). That is, the challenge was not only this that the she-camel would drink water all alone every alternate day, but, in addition, she would freely move about and graze at will in their fields and gardens and palm groves and pastures and was not to be touched with an evil intention.
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