Transliteration:( Fa akhazahumul 'azaab; inna fee zaalika la Aayah; wa maa kaana aksaruhum mu'mineen )
157. It should be remembered that in the Religion of Hazrat Saleh (On whom be peace), the camel was a lawful animal. It was permissible to slaughter it. However, the slaughtering of this particular she-camel! and eating its meat was declared unlawful because it was a means of harm for them.
Even today, the prey from the fields of some holy sages have proven to be harmful, and have been avoided. The proof for it is this she-camel.
158. This means even after the highest propagational effort of Hazrat Saleh (On whom be peace) very few people had accepted faith. Therefore My beloved Prophet even if all the people of Arabia do not accept faith, you should not be despondent about it. This would not mean that there is any weakness in your effort of propagation, but that it is these people who are such wretches.
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The tafsir of Surah Ash-Shura verse 158 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Shura ayat 153 which provides the complete commentary from verse 153 through 159.
106. As stated at other places in the Quran, when the shecamel was killed, Prophet Salih (peace be upon him) declared: You have only three more days to enjoy yourselves in your houses. (Surah Houd, Ayat 65). When this time limit came to an end, a shocking explosion took place in the night at about dawn, followed by a violent earthquake, which destroyed the whole nation completely. In the morning their dead bodies lay scattered here and there like dry pieces of bush trampled down by animals around an enclosure. Neither their stony castles nor their rock-hewn caves could protect them against the calamity. We sent against them a single blast and they became as the trampled twigs of the fence of a fold-builder. (Surah Al-Qamar, Ayat 31). Consequently a shocking catastrophe overtook them and they lay lifeless in their dwellings. (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 78). At last a violent blast overtook them with the approach of the morning, and all that they had achieved proved of no avail to them. (Surah Al-Hijr, Ayat 83-84).
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