In November 1991, a settlement was discovered and hypothesized for Ubar, which is thought to be mentioned in the Qur'an as Iram dhāṫ al-‘Imād ( Arabic: إِرَم ذَات العِمَاد‎, Iram of the Pillars an alternative translation is Iram of the tentpoles), and may have been the capital of ʿĀd.

It is believed to have been in South Arabia, possibly in eastern Yemen and/or western Oman. The Quran gives the location of ʿĀd as being Al-Aḥqāf ( Arabic: الأَحقَاف‎, 'The Sandy Plains,' or 'the Wind-curved Sand-hills'). The other tribes claimed to be present at this time in Arabia, were the Thamud, Jurhum, Tasam, Jadis, Amim, Midian, Amalek Imlaq, Jasim, Qahtan, Banu Yaqtan and others. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary, Note 1040 There are ruins and inscriptions in the neighborhood. The tomb of the Prophet Hud (qabr Nabi Hud) is still traditionally shown in Hadhramaut, latitude 16 N, and longitude 49 1⁄ 2 E, about 90 miles north of Mukalla. At length a terrible blast of wind destroyed them and their land, but a remnant, known as the second ʿĀd or the Thamud (see below) were saved, and afterwards suffered a similar fate for their sins. A three years famine visited them, but yet they took no warning. They forsook the true God, and oppressed their people. Probably the long, winding tracts of sands ( ahqaf) in their dominions (46:21) were irrigated with canals. The people were tall in stature and were great builders. They occupied a large tract of country in Southern Arabia, extending from Umman at the mouth of the Persian Gulf to Hadhramaut and Yemen at the southern end of the Red Sea. Their eponymous ancestor ‘Ad was fourth in generation from Noah, having been a son of 'Aus, the son of Aram, the son of Sam, the son of Noah. See especially Quran 26:123–140 ( Yusuf Ali), and Quran 46:21–26 ( Yusuf Ali). The ʿĀd people, with their prophet Hud, are mentioned in many places. He is said to have been a subject of a mulk ( Arabic: مُلك‎, kingdom) named after its founder, ‘Ad, a fourth-generation descendant of Noah (his father being Uz, the son of Aram, who was the son of Shem, who, in turn, was a son of Noah): Hud has sometimes been identified with Eber, an ancestor of the Ishmaelites and the Israelites who is mentioned in the Old Testament. See also: Arabian Desert and Rub' al Khali

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