Is there not a contradiction between the Qur’anic verses that describe the duration of the wind sent upon the people of 'Aad, where one refers to "a day of continuous misfortune," another to "unfortunate days," and a third to "seven nights and eight days in succession"?

There is no contradiction between the verses of the Holy Qur’an regarding the story of 'Ad, because the misconception arises from a lack of familiarity with the styles of the Arabic language, or from measuring the Qur’an against corrupted scriptures. The Holy Qur’an is the word of Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, transmitted through continuous, successive narration (tawatur), and it is impossible for an explicit contradiction to occur within it.

The Qur’anic verses clarify that the days of 'Ad's torment were eight days, as stated in Surat Al-Haqqah: "seven nights and eight days in succession (husūman)." And His saying, the Almighty, in Surat Fussilat: "So We sent upon them a roaring wind during days of misfortune (nahisāt)" does not contradict the aforementioned number, as the plural applies to eight. As for His saying in Surat Al-Qamar: "in a day of continuous misfortune (nahsin mustamirrin)," it refers to the day the torment began and continued for eight days. He did not say, "in one day of misfortune." The misfortune continued to destroy the arrogant.

Ibn Kathir indicates that the meaning of "days of misfortune" is successive, and that "a day of continuous misfortune" means the beginning of the torment that continued until it annihilated them. Al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur affirmed that "a day of misfortune" was the first day of the wind that was sent upon 'Ad.