When Prophet Hud (a.s) was forty years of his age, Allah revealed to him: “Go to your nation and invite your people towards monotheism and My worship.”
The nation of Prophet Hud (a.s) was ‘ad, which consisted of thirteen tribes. The people possessed a tall physique and a long life-span. They engaged themselves in farming and possessed excellent date palms, and their cities were the most prosperous of the Arab cities.
For years on end Prophet Hud (a.s) strived to guide his nation, but when it yielded no result, he said to them: “I shall curse you.” His people said: “O’ Hud! The people of Nuh possessed a frail and weak physique but our Allahs are strong and so are our bodies. We do not fear the punishment.” Allah sent down upon them a devastating wind (about which the Commander of the Faithfuls(a.s) said: “I seek refuge in Allah from the devastating wind.”)
When the chastisement came upon them it plucked their castles, forts, cities and all the other structures, tossed them into the air as if pebbles and then grounded them into fine powder. 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`an3, 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.( Hayat al-Qulub, vol. 1, pg. 99 )