17 Preface وَأَمّا ثَمودُ فَهَدَيناهُم فَاستَحَبُّوا العَمىٰ عَلَى الهُدىٰ فَأَخَذَتهُم صاعِقَةُ العَذابِ الهونِ بِما كانوا يَكسِبونَYusuf AliAs to the Thamūd,1 We gave them Guidance, but they preferred blindness (of heart) to Guidance: so the stunning Punishment2 of humiliation seized them, because of what they had earned.The story of Thamūd usually goes with that of ‘Ād. Cf. 36:140-59; also 7:73- 79, and n. 1043.“The stunning Punishment”: i.e., deafening noises like those of thunder and lightning; or the rumbling of a terrible earthquake. In 7:78, an earthquake is suggested, see n. 1047 to that verse. Cf. also above, 41:13.