For seven nights and eight days it blew over them - picking...

For seven nights and eight days it blew over them - picking up the men and the women, and annihilating them. The people of Propet Hud were referred to as dhat al-I'mad (the possessors of pillars) for they would carve out gigantic pillars from the mountains and then construct their palaces atop these pillars. In the wake of the chastisement, all of them were ground into dust.

According to the Noble Qur`an[^3], their chastisement was رِيحاً صَرصَراً - a furiously raging cold wind, which plucked them up from the ground, tossed them into the air like a locust and then dashed them against the mountains till their bones crumbled into powder.

[^4] Ibn Muljam and the Chastisement in the Purgatory Ibn Raqa narrates: “I was near Masjid al-Haram in Mecca when I noticed that a group of people had gathered near the Station of Ibrahim (a.s) whereupon I inquired: “What is the matter?” I was told: “A Christian monk has accepted Islam.” I pushed myself into the crowd and witnessed a tall old man, dressed in woolen clothes and wearing a woolen cap, seated opposite the Station of Ibrahim and delivering a speech.

I heard him say: “One day I was seated in the monastery and was looking out of it when, as a result of mystical intuition, I suddenly witnessed a gigantic bird resembling a hunting-hawk descend upon a slab of stone near the sea and vomit out something. I observed that one-fourth of a human body had come out of its mouth. The bird then flew off and disappeared from view. A little later it returned and vomiting out something, it once again flew out of sight.

I saw that once again one-fourth of a human body had come out of its mouth. It returned for the third time and threw out another fourth of a human body and yet again for the fourth time till an entire human figure was formed. After some time it returned and striking its beak, took away one fourth of the body. It repeated this act three more times till it had taken away the person completely. I was stunned and exclaimed: “O' Allah! Who is this person, who is being subjected to this chastisement?

I was greatly upset with myself as to why I did not go and question him but it was not long before the hunting bird returned and vomited out one fourth of the human body and repeated the act three more times till the entire human body was formed again. I hastened towards the person and enquired: “Who are you and what have you done?” He replied: “I am Ibn Muljam and I am the person who has killed ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s).