Surah Hud, Ayah 95

Shu` ayb's threatening of His People When the Prophet of Allah,Shu` ayb, despaired of their response to him, he said, "O mypeople

اعْمَلُواْ عَلَى مَكَانَتِكُمْ

(Act according to your ability,) This means, "Act according to your current ways." This is actually a severe threat.

إِنِّى عَـمِلٌ

(I am acting.) according to my way.

سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ مَن يَأْتِيهِ عَذَابٌ يُخْزِيهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ كَاذِبٌ

(You will come to know who it is on whom descends the torment that will cover him with ignominy, and who is a liar!) meaning, between me and you.

وَارْتَقِبُواْ

(And watch you!) This means to wait.

إِنِّى مَعَكُمْ رَقِيبٌ

(I too am watching with you.) Allah then says,

وَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا نَجَّيْنَا شُعَيْبًا وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مَعَهُ بِرَحْمَةٍ مِّنَّا وَأَخَذَتِ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ الصَّيْحَةُ فَأَصْبَحُواْ فِى دِيَـرِهِمْ جَـثِمِينَ

After having given this good counsel to them, he warned them of the punishment of Allah Ta` ala. He said:

وَيَا قَوْمِ لَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شِقَاقِي أَن يُصِيبَكُم مِّثْلُ مَا أَصَابَ قَوْمَ نُوحٍ أَوْ قَوْمَ هُودٍ أَوْ قَوْمَ صَالِحٍ ۚ وَمَا قَوْمُ لُوطٍ مِّنكُم بِبَعِيدٍ

And 0 my people, let not your hostility towards me cause you to suffer what was suffered by the people of Nuh, or the people of Hud, or the people of Salih. And the people of Lut are not far from you.

The sense of the last sentence is that the overturned habitations of the people of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) were close to Madyan where they were. Then, in terms of time, the punishment that came upon them was very close. From this they could learn their lesson and leave their obstinacy.

The people of Shu‘ayb’s community considered themselves Lords of Midian, taking things which had been given to them for the purpose of putting them to the test as their inalienable right. With all this in mind, they planned aggressive measures against Shu‘ayb. They even threatened to banish him and his companions from their land ( 7:88 ). But in the land which they considered their very own and of which they had become landlords, a terrible earthquake with horrifying tremors erupted at God’s behest; as a result of which, the whole region was destroyed. They were annihilated in their own domain, as if they had never existed. However, those members of the community who had accepted Shu‘ayb’s word, and had become his companions, were saved by special divine intervention.