Surah 15. Al-Hijr

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?'

[Lot] said: "[Take instead] these daughters of mine,⁵⁰ if you must do [whatever you intend to do]!"

  - Mohammad Asad

See surah {11}, note [109].

He said: "Here are my daughters, if you must act."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said, 'O my people! Here are my daughters¹ 'so marry them' if you wish to do so.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Single women of his community.

He said: Here are my daughters, if ye must be doing (so).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He said: "There are my daughters (to marry). If ye must act (so)." ¹⁹⁹⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xi. 78, n. 1575. "My daughters" in the mouth of a venerable man may mean young girls of the City, which would be appropriate considering the large number of men who came to besiege Lot's house.

[But the angels spoke thus:] "As thou livest, [O Lot, they will not listen to thee:]⁵¹ behold, in their delirium [of lust] they are but blindly stumbling to and fro!"

  - Mohammad Asad

The above two interpolations are based on Zamakhshari's commentary on this verse. The oath "As thou livest" reads, literally, "By thy life".

By your life, O Prophet Muhammad, they were madly blundering in their intoxication of lust!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

By your life 'O Prophet',¹ they certainly wandered blindly, intoxicated 'by lust'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 This is the only time in the Quran where Allah swears by the life of a human being. Elsewhere Allah swears by the sun, the moon, the stars, and other marvels of His creation.

By thy life (O Muhammad) they moved blindly in the frenzy of approaching death.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Verily by thy life (O Prophet) in their wild intoxication they wander in distraction to and fro. ¹⁹⁹⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The wild, mad fury of passion and sin attains its own destruction and cuts off the last hope of repentance or mercy.

And thereupon the blast [of Our punishment] overtook them⁵² at the time of sunrise,

  - Mohammad Asad

Regarding the meaning of the term Sayhah, rendered by me as "blast of [God's] punishment", see surah {11}, note [98].

So the mighty blast overtook them at sunrise.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So the 'mighty' blast overtook them at sunrise.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then the (Awful) Cry overtook them at the sunrise.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But the (mighty) Blast overtook them before morning ¹⁹⁹⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

As-Saihat, the mighty Blast, is mentioned as accompanying earthquakes: Cf. xi. 67-94. Here it was the violent wind and noise accompanying the shower of brimstones, possibly with some volcanic action.

and We turned those [sinful towns] upside down, and rained down upon them stone-hard blows of chastisement pre-ordained.⁵³

  - Mohammad Asad

See surah {11}, note [114].

Thus We turned the town upside down and rained down on them brimstones of baked clay.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We turned the cities 'of Sodom and Gomorrah' upside down and rained upon them stones of baked clay.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And We utterly confounded them, and We rained upon them stones of heated clay.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And We turned (the Cities) upside down and rained down on them brimstones hard as baked clay. ¹⁹⁹⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xi. 82 and notes, in which the word Sijjil and its origin are explained.

Verily, in all this there are messages indeed for those who can read the signs:⁵⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

In its full significance, the term mutawassim denotes "one who applies his mind to the study of the outward appearance of a thing with a view to understanding its real nature and its inner characteristics" (Zamakhshari and Razi).

Surely there are major lessons in this for those who investigate,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Surely in this are signs for those who contemplate.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! therein verily are portents for those who read the signs.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold! in this are Signs for those who by tokens do understand.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali