Overall meaning : The Almighty says: The dwellers of the Thicket (the people of Prophet Shu’ayb, peace be upon him) were truly wrongdoers for rejecting their Prophet Shu’ayb, and so We inflicted punishment upon them and destroyed them completely. The ruined dwellings of both the people of Lot and the people of Shu’ayb are on a clearly marked road and are seen by those who pass by them to serve as a lesson for them.
The dwellers of Al-Hijr, where Thamud lived, denied their messenger Salih, peace be upon him—and so their denial of Salih constituted a denial of all Allah’s messengers. We gave Thamud Our signs that attested to Salih’s truthfulness, including the she-camel, but they ignored them and turned away from them. They used to hew their dwellings out of the mountains, thinking themselves secure in them, so the awful cry of torment overtook them early in the morning, and all that they had achieved and acquired did not protect them from Allah’s torment.