So he -asws said...
So he -asws said: ‘He -asws said: ‘They were a (group of) people who lived in two inter-connected villages and were able to see each other, and had rivers which flowed, and had phenomenal wealth. They denied the Favours of Allah -azwj and changed what was in themselves, so Allah -azwj Mighty and Majestic Sent the flood of Al-Aram against them. Their two villages were submerged, and their houses were spoilt, and their wealth was gone.
It changed their plantations into two plantations to be only with the edible plants of bitter tamarisk (a troublesome weed) and a few Lotus trees. Then Allah -azwj Mighty and Majestic Said: [34:17] That was our Recompense due to what they disbelieved in; and do We Punish any but the ungrateful?
Their heads were like the heads of predatory birds, and their claws were like the claws of predatory birds. Along with each of the birds were three stones. In their legs were two stones and in their beaks was one stone each. So, they went on to pelt them by these until their bodies became blistered with smallpox. So, they killed them in this way and there was not seen before that anything from the smallpox, nor were such birds seen before that day, nor after it’.