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Towards Understanding the Quran
With kind permission: Islamic Foundation UK
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 Surah Al-Ahqaf 46:21-22 [3/4]
  
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Verse Summary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
۞ وَٱذْكُرْAnd mention
أَخَا(the) brother
عَادٍ(of) Aad,
إِذْwhen
أَنذَرَhe warned
قَوْمَهُۥhis people
بِٱلْأَحْقَافِin the Al-Ahqaf -
وَقَدْ خَلَتِand had already passed away
ٱلنُّذُرُ[the] warners
مِنۢ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِbefore him
وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِۦٓand after him,
أَلَّا`That not
تَعْبُدُوٓاْyou worship
إِلَّاexcept
ٱللَّهَAllah.
إِنِّىٓIndeed, I
أَخَافُ[I] fear
عَلَيْكُمْfor you
عَذَابَa punishment
يَوْمٍ(of) a Day
عَظِيمٍGreat.`
﴿٢١﴾
قَالُوٓاْThey said,
أَجِئْتَنَا`Have you come to us
لِتَأْفِكَنَاto turn us away
عَنْfrom
ءَالِهَتِنَاour gods?
فَأْتِنَاThen bring us
بِمَاwhat
تَعِدُنَآyou threaten us,
إِنif
كُنتَyou are
مِنَof
ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَthe truthful.`
﴿٢٢﴾


وَاذۡكُرۡ اَخَا عَادٍؕ اِذۡ اَنۡذَرَ قَوۡمَهٗ بِالۡاَحۡقَافِ وَقَدۡ خَلَتِ النُّذُرُ مِنۡۢ بَيۡنِ يَدَيۡهِ وَمِنۡ خَلۡفِهٖۤ اَلَّا تَعۡبُدُوۡۤا اِلَّا اللّٰهَ ؕ اِنِّىۡۤ اَخَافُ عَلَيۡكُمۡ عَذَابَ يَوۡمٍ عَظِيۡمٍ‏  قَالُـوۡۤا اَجِئۡتَـنَا لِتَاۡفِكَنَا عَنۡ اٰلِهَـتِنَا​ ۚ فَاۡتِنَا بِمَا تَعِدُنَاۤ اِنۡ كُنۡتَ مِنَ الصّٰدِقِيۡنَ‏ 

Translation
(46:21) Recount to them the story of (Hud), the brother of (the tribe of) 'Ad. Hud warned his people beside the sand-dunes25 � and there have been other warners before him and since his time � saying: “Serve none but Allah. Verily I fear that the chastisement of an awesome day shall come upon you.” (46:22) They said: “Have you come to us to turn us away from our gods? Then, bring upon us the scourge that you threaten us with. Do so if you are truthful.”

Commentary

25. As the chiefs of the Quraish had a false pride of their superiority and exulted in their wealth and prosperity, the story of Aad is being related to them about whom it was well known that they had been the mightiest people in Arabia.

Literally, Ahqaf (pl. of hiqf) are long dunes of sand less in height than mountains, but technically it is a name given to the southern-western part of the Arabian desert (Ar- Rubul-khali) which is wholly un-inhabited.

Ibn Ishaq says that the territory of Aad extended from Oman to Yaman, and the Quran tells us that they actually belonged to Al- Ahqaf from where they spread to the adjoining lands and subdued weak nations. 125 miles to the north of the present-day city of Makkah there is a place in Hadramaut, where the people have built a tomb to the Prophet Houd, and the place is well known as the grave of Houd. A religious festival is held there on the 15th of Shaban and thousands of people from different parts of Arabia gather there annually. Although it is not historically established, the grave’s being built there and the southern Arabs’ visiting it in large numbers is at least a proof that local tradition regards this very territory as the land of Aad. Besides, there are several ruins in Hadramaut which the natives still call by the name of Dar-Aad (Abode of Aad).

From the present condition of Al-Ahqaf, no one can even imagine that this land might have been the home of a mighty people boasting of magnificent civilization. Probably it was a green and fertile land thousands of years ago, and then the change of climate might have turned it into a sandy desert. Today it is a vast, wind-swept desert, and no one can dare go into its interior. In 1843 A.D. a Bavarian soldier was able to reach its southern edge. He says that if one looks down from the northern plateau of Hadramaut one can see this desert about a thousand feet in the depression. Here and there in it there are white areas where if a thing falls it goes on sinking into the sand and decays. The Arab Beduins fear this land and are never willing to step into it at any cost. Once when the Bedouins were not ready to take him there, he went by himself. He says that the sand there is very fine powder, and when he threw a plummet into it from a distance, it sank into it within five minutes and the end of the line to which it was attached, also decayed.

For detailed information, see:

Arabia and The Isles, Harold Ingrams, London, 1946.

The Unveiling of Arabia, R H. Kirnan, London, 1937.

The Empty Quarter. Philby. London, 1933.