Surah 15. Al-Hijr

AND TELL THEM [once again] about Abraham's guests³⁷ -

  - Mohammad Asad

For a more detailed story of Abraham and the heavenly messengers, see verses {69-76} of surah {11} (Hud), which was revealed shortly before the present one. The connection between this story and the preceding stress on God's grace arises from Abraham's saying (in verse {56}), "And who - other than those who have utterly lost their way - could ever lose the hope of his Sustainer's grace?" Similarly, the subsequent references (in verses {58-84}) to the sinful communities that were destroyed because they refused to heed the warnings of their prophets are, obviously, meant to illustrate the reverse of God's grace, namely, His inevitable chastisement of deliberate, unrepented sinning (verse {50} above).

Tell them about the guests of Ibrahim (Abraham).

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And tell them of Abraham's guests,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[how,] when they presented themselves before him and bade him peace, he answered: "Behold, we are afraid of you!"³⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

For the reason of Abraham's and Sarah's apprehension, see 11:70 .

They entered upon them and said: "Peace be upon you!" But he replied: "Surely we are afraid of you."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(How) when they came in unto him, and said: Peace. He said: Lo! we are afraid of you.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Said they: "Fear not! Behold, we bring thee the glad tiding of [the birth of] a son who will be endowed with deep knowledge."³⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., will be a prophet.

They answered: "Do not be afraid of us! We have come to you with good news of a son endowed with knowledge."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They said: Be not afraid! Lo! we bring thee good tidings of a boy possessing wisdom.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Said he: "Do you give me this glad tiding despite the fact that old age has overtaken me? Of what [strange thing], then, are you giving me a tiding!"

  - Mohammad Asad

He said: "Are you giving me the good news of a son when I have become old? What kind of good news you are giving?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Bring ye me good tidings (of a son) when old age hath overtaken me? Of what then can ye bring good tidings?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They answered: "We have given thee the glad tiding of something that is bound to come true:⁴⁰ so be not of those who abandon hope!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "We have given thee the glad tiding of the truth" - i.e., of the truth willed by God (Ibn 'Abbas, as quoted by Razi).

They replied: "We are giving you true good news; you should not be of those who despair."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They said: We bring thee good tidings in truth. So be not thou of the despairing.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Abraham] exclaimed: "And who - other than those who have utterly lost their way - could ever abandon the hope of his Sustainer's grace?"

  - Mohammad Asad

He said: "Who would despair of the mercy of his Rabb except one who goes astray?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: And who despaireth not the mercy of his Lord save those who are astray?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He added: "And what [else] may you have in view, O you [heavenly] messengers?"

  - Mohammad Asad

Then he asked: "On what expedition you have been sent, O emissaries of Allah?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: And afterward what is your business, O ye messengers (of Allah)?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They answered: "We are sent to people lost in sin⁴¹ [who are to be destroyed],

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., to the people of Sodom (see also {7:80-84} and {11:77-83}).

They replied: "We have been sent to punish a criminal nation,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They said: We have been sent unto a guilty folk.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

barring Lot's household, all of whom, behold, we shall save -

  - Mohammad Asad

with the exception of Lut's (Lot's) family; we will certainly rescue them all

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(All) save the family of Lot. Them we shall deliver everyone,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

excepting only his wife, [of whom God says,] 'We have ordained [that], behold, she should be among those who stay behind!'"⁴²

  - Mohammad Asad

See 7:83 and the corresponding note [66], as well as 11:81 and 66:10 . My interpolation of the words "of whom God says" is necessitated by the elliptic use of the verb qaddarna - which, in the sense of "We have ordained" or "decreed", is an act attributed in the Qur'an invariably, and exclusively, to God. As I have repeatedly pointed out in my notes, God's "ordaining" a sinner to commit a sin or His "decreeing" that he should remain deaf to the voice of truth is a metonym for the natural law instituted by Him, which has been explained in surah {2}, note [7]; it refers also, generally speaking, to God's absolute fore-knowledge of how any of His creatures will act in a given situation (Zamakhshari). See also note [56] on 11:34 and note [4] on 14:4 .

except his wife, who, Allah says, has been destined to remain with those who will stay behind."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Except his wife, of whom We had decreed that she should be of those who stay behind.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND WHEN the messengers [of God] came to the house of Lot,

  - Mohammad Asad

So when the emissaries came to the family of Lut,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when the messengers came unto the family of Lot,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

he said: "Behold, you are people unknown [here]!"⁴³

  - Mohammad Asad

Implying that they might be assaulted by the sinful people of his town: cf. 11:77 and the corresponding note [107].

he said: " You appear to be strangers."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Lo! ye are folk unknown (to me).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They answered: "Nay, but we have come unto thee with [the announcement of] something that they [who are given to evil] have always been wont to call in question,⁴⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "that about which they have persistently been (kanu) in doubt" - i.e., the doom which, in this world or in the hereafter, is the inevitable consequence of deliberate sinning: a prediction which the sinners themselves so often deride (cf. {6:57-58}, 8:32 , 11:8 , and the corresponding notes). To my mind, this sentence constitutes the reason for the repetition, in this surah, of the stories of Lot's people and the other sinful communities of old that were punished for their persistent transgressions against all moral laws.

They said: "We have come to you with that concerning which these people had doubts.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They said: Nay, but we bring thee that concerning which they keep disputing,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and we are bringing thee the certainty [of its fulfilment]:⁴⁵ for, behold, we are speaking the truth indeed.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "We have brought thee [or "come to thee with"] the truth".

We have come to you with the Truth of Allah's decree and we are telling you the truth.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And bring thee the Truth, and lo! we are truth tellers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Go, then, with thy household while it is yet night, with thyself following them in the rear, and let none of you look back,⁴⁶ but proceed whither you are bidden."

  - Mohammad Asad

For an explanation of this metaphorical "looking back", see surah {11}, note [112].

You should, therefore, depart with your family during the last hours of the night and you yourself should follow them at their rear; let no one of you look back, keep on going where you are commanded to go."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So travel with thy household in a portion of the night, and follow thou their backs. Let none of you turn round, but go whither ye are commanded.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall