Al-Sayhah

Al-sayhah — the thunderous blast or screaming sound — was the means by which Thamud was destroyed after they killed the she-camel. The Quran describes it as a single cry from the sky so catastrophic that it killed the entire civilization in an instant, leaving them prostrate in their homes as if they had never existed. Ibn Kathir notes the contrast with 'Ad's seven-night wind: Thamud's punishment was instantaneous rather than sustained, suggesting that the level of their deliberate defiance — killing a sign given specifically at their own request — warranted a more sudden and total accounting. Their carved homes, still standing in the mountains of northwest Arabia, serve as the permanent memorial the Quran points to: 'So enjoy your dwellings for three days — that is a promise not to be denied.'

As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.