وَءَاتَيْنَٰهُمْ ءَايَٰتِنَا فَكَانُوا۟ عَنْهَا مُعْرِضِينَ
Commentary:
In the foregoing verses three different peoples have been mentioned: (1) the people of Lot; (2) the people of Shu‘aib; and (3) the people of Salih. The order in which they have been mentioned is noteworthy. They have not been mentioned in their chronological order but in the order of the distance of their habitations from Mecca. The land of the people of Lot was the most distant of the three places and so it has been mentioned first. Next in order of distance were the people of Aikah, and they have been put next. Hijr being situated between Tabuk and Medina, the tribe of Thamud were the nearest of the three and it has consequently been mentioned last of all. In the order of time the people of Hijr preceded the people of Lot and the people of Aikah came last. This unusual order has been adopted in preference to the more natural one with a view to producing the greatest psychological effect, the tribe that was least known to the Arabs being mentioned first and the tribe which the Arabs knew best being mentioned last.
It may also be incidentally mentioned here that in this Surah mention has been made of those peoples in whom the art of writing was not much in vogue, and who were regarded by the Arabs as their ancestors. Adam is, of course, the common progenitor of mankind. Lot was a near relative of Abraham and as such, was among the ancestors of the Arabs. The tribe of Shu‘aib were cousins of the Ishmaelites, and became ultimately absorbed by them. The tribe of Thamud were a pure Arab tribe.
In the foregoing verses three different peoples have been mentioned—(a) the people of Lot; (b) the people of Shu‘aib and (c) the people of Salih. They have not been mentioned in their chronological order but in the order of the distance of their towns from Mecca. The town of the people of Lot was the most distant of the three. Next in order of distance lived the people of Aikah. Hijr being situated between Tabuk and Medina, the tribe of Thamud were the nearest of the three and it has consequently been mentioned last of all. This unusual order has been adopted in preference to the more natural one with a view to making the statement effective from the point of view of the persons addressed, the tribe that was least known to the Arabs being mentioned first and the tribe which the Arabs knew most being mentioned last.