148 Preface وَزُروعٍ وَنَخلٍ طَلعُها هَضيمٌYusuf Ali“And corn-fields and date-palms with spathes near breaking1 (with the weight of fruit)?The date palm flowers on a long spathe: when the flowers develop into fruit, the heavy ones hang with the load of fruit. Thamūd evidently were proud of their skill in producing corn and fruit and in hewing fine dwellings out of rocks, like the later dwellings of Roman times in the town of Petra.