Reading guide: the English passages below are plain-language summaries of narrations reported from the Prophet ﷺ. They are not direct quotations or translations. The Arabic is quoted from the Sunnah.com page named beneath each one, and the full source entry with its chain is one click away. Connections to the verses are editorial.
Core reading
Passing al-Ḥijr: do not enter unless weeping
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْجُعْفِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّزَّاقِ، أَخْبَرَنَا مَعْمَرٌ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ سَالِمٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ لَمَّا مَرَّ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِالْحِجْرِ قَالَ " لاَ تَدْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ، أَنْ يُصِيبَكُمْ مَا أَصَابَهُمْ إِلاَّ أَنْ تَكُونُوا بَاكِينَ " . ثُمَّ قَنَّعَ رَأْسَهُ وَأَسْرَعَ السَّيْرَ حَتَّى أَجَازَ الْوَادِيَ.
Summary: When the Prophet ﷺ passed al-Ḥijr, the old dwellings of Thamud, he told his Companions not to enter the homes of people who had wronged themselves unless they entered weeping, so that what struck the people of Thamud would not strike the Companions too. Then he covered his head and rode quickly until he had crossed the valley.
Narrated by Ibn ʿUmar.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4419 · Book 64, Hadith 441 · also Sahih al-Bukhari 3380 and 4702, and Sahih Muslim 2980a · Full narration on Sunnah.com ↗
Connection to the verses · editorial reflection: Ibn Kathir and al-Tabari both bring this narration at ayah 73; Ibn Kathir says “The basis of this Hadith is mentioned in Two Sahihs”. Ayah 84 says, “Then see how was the end.” The Prophet ﷺ did not treat the ruins as a sight to look around. He warned the Companions about entering them at all, then covered his head and hurried through the valley. The narration gives his instruction and what he did; whether he himself wept, it does not say. See the tafsir unit →
Core reading
“May Allah have mercy on Lut”
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَسْمَاءَ ابْنِ أَخِي جُوَيْرِيَةَ حَدَّثَنَا جُوَيْرِيَةُ بْنُ أَسْمَاءَ، عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، أَنَّ سَعِيدَ بْنَ الْمُسَيَّبِ، وَأَبَا، عُبَيْدٍ أَخْبَرَاهُ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " يَرْحَمُ اللَّهُ لُوطًا، لَقَدْ كَانَ يَأْوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ
Summary: The Prophet ﷺ said: may Allah have mercy on Lut; he was indeed taking refuge with a strong support. The narration goes on to speak of Yusuf; the summary and the Arabic stop here.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah.
Sahih al-Bukhari 3387 · Book 60, Hadith 61 · also Sahih al-Bukhari 3372 and 4694, and Sahih Muslim 151a · Full narration on Sunnah.com ↗
Connection to the verses · editorial reflection: The words point to Surah Hud, where Lut says, “If only I had against you some power or could take refuge in a strong support” (11:80). In his tafsir of that ayah, Ibn Kathir quotes this narration with the words “meaning Allah, the Mighty and Sublime”: the strong support Lut had was Allah. Sunnah.com’s English says Lut “wanted to have a powerful support”; the Arabic says he was taking refuge with one, and the summary follows the Arabic. In ayah 82 his people’s only answer was to drive him out. None of the four commentators brings this narration at ayat 80–84; the link is ours. See the tafsir unit →
Optional reading
Water from the she-camel’s well
حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ الْمُنْذِرِ، حَدَّثَنَا أَنَسُ بْنُ عِيَاضٍ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، أَنَّ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ أَخْبَرَهُ أَنَّ النَّاسَ نَزَلُوا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَرْضَ ثَمُودَ الْحِجْرَ، فَاسْتَقَوْا مِنْ بِئْرِهَا، وَاعْتَجَنُوا بِهِ، فَأَمَرَهُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنْ يُهَرِيقُوا مَا اسْتَقَوْا مِنْ بِئْرِهَا، وَأَنْ يَعْلِفُوا الإِبِلَ الْعَجِينَ، وَأَمَرَهُمْ أَنْ يَسْتَقُوا مِنَ الْبِئْرِ الَّتِي كَانَ تَرِدُهَا النَّاقَةُ . تَابَعَهُ أُسَامَةُ عَنْ نَافِعٍ.
Summary: When the Companions camped with the Prophet ﷺ at al-Ḥijr, the land of Thamud, they drew water from its wells and made dough with it. He told them to pour the water away and feed the dough to the camels, and to take their water instead from the well the she-camel used to drink from.
Connection to the verses · editorial reflection: Ibn Kathir brings this narration at ayah 73, and al-Bukhari places it under a chapter named with ayah 73 itself. Of all the wells there, the one the Prophet ﷺ chose was the she-camel’s. See the tafsir unit →
Optional reading
“The most wretched of them”
حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، حَدَّثَنَا وُهَيْبٌ، حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامٌ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، أَنَّهُ أَخْبَرَهُ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ زَمْعَةَ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَخْطُبُ وَذَكَرَ النَّاقَةَ وَالَّذِي عَقَرَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " {إِذِ انْبَعَثَ أَشْقَاهَا} انْبَعَثَ لَهَا رَجُلٌ عَزِيزٌ عَارِمٌ، مَنِيعٌ فِي رَهْطِهِ، مِثْلُ أَبِي زَمْعَةَ
Summary: In a sermon, the Prophet ﷺ spoke of the she-camel and the man who hamstrung her, and recited 91:12, “when the most wretched of them was sent forth”. He said the man who went for her was powerful and fierce, and protected by his clan, like Abu Zamʿah in his own day. The sermon goes on to other subjects; the summary and the Arabic stop here.
Narrated by ʿAbdullah ibn Zamʿah.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4942 · Book 65, Hadith 463 · also Sahih al-Bukhari 3377 and Sahih Muslim 2855 · Full narration on Sunnah.com ↗
Connection to the verses · editorial reflection: Al-Qurtubi brings this narration at ayah 77, from Sahih Muslim, as the soundest account of who did it. One man struck, and he could, because his people stood behind him. See the tafsir unit →
Summary: The Prophet ﷺ gave an example of those who keep within Allah’s limits and those who break them. People drew lots for places on a ship, some on the upper deck and some below. Those below had to go up for water, and said: let us make a hole in our part of the ship, and not trouble the people above. If the people above let them do it, everyone on the ship would be lost. If they stopped them, all of them would be saved.
Connection to the verses · editorial reflection: This is the Prophet’s ﷺ example for his own community, not a comment on Thamud. We place it here because Ibn Kathir says the whole tribe shared in agreeing to what one man did at ayah 77. None of the four brings it at this ayah; the link is ours. See the tafsir unit →
For the facilitator: Use the linked source text when quoting a narration verbatim.
