38وَعادًا وَثَمودَ وَأَصحابَ الرَّسِّ وَقُرونًا بَينَ ذٰلِكَ كَثيرًاMuhammad AsadAnd [remember how We punished the tribes of] 'Ad and Thamud, and the people of Ar-Rass,1 and many generations [of sinners] in-between:Regarding the tribes of 'Ad and Thamud, see surah 7, notes 48 and 56. As for Ar-Rass, a town of that name exists to this day in the Central-Arabian province of Al-Qasim; in the ancient times referred to it seems to have been inhabited by descendants of the Nabataean tribe of Thamud (Tabari). There is, however no agreement among the commentators as to the real meaning of this name or designation; Razi cites several of the current, conflicting interpretations and rejects all of them as purely conjectural.