The Criterion
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[25:38]
And [remember how We punished the tribes of ’ād and Thamūd, and the people of Ar-Rass, and many generations [of sinners] in-between:

---

* v.38 : Regarding the tribes of ‘ād and Thamūd, see sūrah 7, notes 48 and 56. As for Ar-Rass, a town of that name exists to this day in the Central-Arabian province of Al-Qasīm; in the ancient times referred to it seems to have been inhabited by descendants of the Nabataean tribe of Thamūd (Tabarī). There is, however, no agreement among the commentators as to the real meaning of this name or designation; Rāzī cites several of the current, conflicting interpretations and rejects all of them as purely conjectural.