71 Preface قالَ قَد وَقَعَ عَلَيكُم مِن رَبِّكُم رِجسٌ وَغَضَبٌ ۖ أَتُجادِلونَني في أَسماءٍ سَمَّيتُموها أَنتُم وَآباؤُكُم ما نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ بِها مِن سُلطانٍ ۚ فَانتَظِروا إِنّي مَعَكُم مِنَ المُنتَظِرينَYusuf AliHe said: “Punishment and wrath have already1 come upon you from your Lord: dispute ye with me over names which ye2 have devised - ye and your fathers,- without authority from God. then wait: I am amongst you, also waiting.”The past tense may be understood in three ways. (1) A terrible famine had already afflicted the ‘Ād as a warning before they were overwhelmed in the final blast of hot wind (see the last note). (2) The terrible insolence and sin into which they had fallen was itself a punishment. (3) The prophetic past is used, as much as to say: “Behold! I see a dreadful calamity: it is already on you!”Why dispute over names and imaginary gods, the inventions of your minds? Come to realities. If you ask for the punishment and are waiting in insolent defiance, what can I do but also wait?- in fear and trembling for you, for I know that God’s punishment is sure! (Cf. 53:23).