﴿ فَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا نَجَّيْنَا صَٰلِحًۭا وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ بِرَحْمَةٍۢ مِّنَّا وَمِنْ خِزْىِ يَوْمِئِذٍ ۗ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ ٱلْقَوِىُّ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ﴾

“And so, when Our judgment came to pass, by Our grace We saved Salih and those who shared his faith; and [We saved them, too,] from the ignominy of [Our rejection on] that Day [of Resurrection]. Verily, thy Sustainer alone is powerful, almighty!”

Salih repeatedly told his community that he was the Lord’s messenger and that if they did not accept what he had to say, they would be seized upon by God. However, his community did not take his words seriously, even although they did not disbelieve in God and prophethood. The reason was that Salih had only theoretical reasoning to prove his prophethood, and it is a weakness of human beings that they are hardly ready to give up a familiar thing in favour of an unfamiliar thing merely on the basis of theoretical argument. When Salih’s community were not ready to bow to his word, at their demand a tangible miracle was performed as a final sign. This was a she-camel which came out of a solid rock before their very eyes. It is the law of God that the appearance of such a sign indicates that the period of testing is coming to an end. Salih thereupon, announced that they should repent and accept his word: otherwise all of them would be destroyed. But those who are not impressed by theoretical arguments, fail to learn a lesson even from tangible signs. So, even then, Salih’s community did not refrain from arrogance and they even went to the extent of slaying the she-camel. Thereafter, there being no question of any further respite for them, Salih was commanded to leave his community which, at that time, was settled in Western Arabia. Accompanied by his sincere companions, he therefore left for Syria. Subsequently, a horrible earthquake swallowed up the entire community, killing everyone.