Surah 15. Al-Hijr

[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 exclaimed, 'Who would despair of the mercy of their Lord except the misguided?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He said: "And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord but such as go astray?" ¹⁹⁸³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xi. 69.

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 'then' added, 'What is your mission, O messenger-angels?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Abraham said: "What then is the business on which ye (have come) O ye messengers (of Allah)?" ¹⁹⁸⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

When cordial understanding was established between Abraham and his guests and probably when the guests were about to depart, Abraham put a question to them: "What is the mission on which you are going?" It was further implied: "Is there anything I can do to help?" But no. The mission was one of Punishment for abominable sins. Note that the mention of Allah's Wrath is always linked with that of Allah's Mercy, and the Mercy comes first. The same angels that came to punish Sodom and Gomorrah were charged first to give the good news of Allah's Mercy to Abraham in the shape of a long line of Teachers of Righteousness.

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 replied, 'We have actually been sent to a wicked people.

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They said: "We have been sent to a people (deep) in sin. ¹⁹⁸⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Cities of the Plain round the Dead Sea, which to this day is called the Bahr Lut. They were given to unspeakable abominations. Read in this connection xi. 77- 83 and notes.

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

As for the family of Lot, we will certainly deliver them all,

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Excepting the adherents of Lut: them we are certainly (charged) to save (from harm) all ¹⁹⁸⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Here, again, Allah's saving Grace is linked with His Wrath, and is mentioned first.

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. We have determined that she will be one of the doomed.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Except his wife who we have ascertained will be among those who will lag behind." ¹⁹⁸⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See xi. 81, and n. 1577.

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

So when the messengers came to the family of Lot,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And when the messengers came unto the family of Lot,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

At length when the messengers arrived among the adherents of Lut ¹⁹⁸⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Al means people who adhere to the ways and teaching of a great Teacher; e.g., Al-u-Muhammad: it does not necessarily mean race or descendants. Ahl (xv. 65 below) usually implies "household" but may be taken in an extended sense to include People generally, see xv. 67. Qaum (xv. 62) may be any collection or aggregate of people. In xi. 70 the hostile inhabitants of the Cities of the Plain are called the qaum-u-Lut (the People of Lut). Ashab (companions) refers to a Group rather than to a People: Cf. xv; 78.

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, 'You are surely an unfamiliar people!'

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He said: "Ye appear to be uncommon folk."

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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 responded, 'We have come to you with that 'torment' which they have doubted.

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They said: "Yea we have come to thee to accomplish that of which they doubt. ¹⁹⁸⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The unusual appearance of the angels struck Lot as it had struck Abraham. Knowing the abominable vices to which the Cities were addicted, he feared to entertain handsome young men. They at once disclosed their mission to him. In effect they said: "You, Lot, have been preaching in vain to these wicked Cities. When you warn them of their inevitable end: Destruction, they laugh and doubt. Now their doubt will be resolved. Their destruction will be accomplished before the morning."

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

We come to you with the truth, and we are certainly truthful.

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"We have brought to thee that which is inevitably due and assuredly we tell the truth. ¹⁹⁹⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Al-Haqq: the Punishment which is justly and inevitably due, which must certainly come to pass. Cf. xxii. 18.

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 your family in the dark of night, and follow 'closely' behind them. Do not let any of you look back, and go where you are commanded.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

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

"Then travel by night with thy household when a portion of the night (yet remains) and do thou bring up the rear: let no one amongst you look back but pass on whither ye are ordered."

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And [through Our messengers] We revealed unto him this decree: "The last remnant of those [sinners] shall be wiped out⁴⁷ in the morn."

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "cut off".

We informed him about this decree of Ours that the roots of the sinners of his city would be cut off by the morning.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We revealed to him this decree: 'Those 'sinners' will be uprooted in the morning.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We made plain the case to him, that the root of them (who did wrong) was to be cut at early morn.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We made known this decree to him that the last remnants of those (sinners) should be cut off by the morning. ¹⁹⁹¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

As the last remnants of the wicked were to be cut off, and as the Mercy of Allah wished to save every true soul who might be with Lot, Allah's decree was made known to Lot, so that he might save his adherents.

And the people of the city came [unto Lot], rejoicing at the glad tiding.⁴⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "of the arrival of handsome strangers". See also {7:80-81} and {11:77-79}, as well as the relevant notes.

The people of the town came rejoicing to the house of Lut when they heard the news of those two young male visitors.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And there came the men of the city, rejoicing.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the people of the city came, rejoicing at the news (of new arrivals).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The inhabitants of the City came in (mad) joy (at news of the young men). ¹⁹⁹²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They were addicted to unnatural crime, and the news of the advent of handsome youg men inflamed them. How true it is that at the very verge of destruction, men rush blindly to their fate, and cut off any last hope of repentence and mercy for themselves. Cf. xv. 72 below.

Exclaimed [Lot]: "Behold, these are my guests: so put me not to shame,

  - Mohammad Asad

Lut said: "They are my guests, so do not disgrace me.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lot pleaded, 'Indeed, these are my guests, so do not embarrass me.

  - Mustafa Khattab

He said: Lo! they are my guests. Affront me not!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Lut said: "These are my guests: disgrace me not:

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

but be conscious of God and disgrace me not!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Have fear of Allah and do not put me to shame."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Fear Allah and do not humiliate me.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

And keep your duty to Allah, and shame me not!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"But fear Allah and shame me not."

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They answered: "Have we not forbidden thee [to offer protection] to any kind of people?"⁴⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "all people" (al-'alamin): obviously, because Lot was a stranger in Sodom - having come there from Mesopotamia, his and Abraham's country of origin (see surah {11}, note [102]) - and had previously aroused the ire of the Sodomites by his moral reproaches (cf. {7:80-82}).

They said: "Have we not forbidden you to plead for the rest of the world?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They responded, 'Have we not forbidden you from protecting anyone?'

  - Mustafa Khattab

They said: Have we not forbidden you from (entertaining) anyone?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They said: "Did we not forbid thee (to speak) for all and sundry?" ¹⁹⁹³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

I understand the meaning to be that Lot, the only righteous man in the City, had frequently remonstrated with the inhabitants against their unnatural crimes, and they had forbidden him to speak to them again on behalf of any one, "as if" (they might tauntingly say) "he was the protector of all and sundry." Some Commentators understand the verse to mean: 'Did we not forbid thee to entertain any strangers?'