55. The original “munkarun” carries the connotation of a slight distaste, as if Lut (asws) was not too happy with their visit. Qurtubi has something close to say.

Another possible rendition is: “You are a strange people.” And Lut only said that when he did everything possible to save them from the city-men raiding his house, but he observed that the guests themselves sat out coolly, quite unconcerned and pretty well-composed. So, as if Lut told them, “You are a strange people. I am working so hard to avoid the crisis, but you sit there complacently?” They replied, “Do not worry, we are angels and have been sent to destroy the towns” (Shabbir).

56. Perhaps Lut was finding it hard to reconcile himself to the fact that his people will be destroyed, root and branch (Au.).

For greater details of the story, summarized here, see Hud, verses 77-83.

57. That is, let none of you turn back when you hear the blast seize them (Ibn Kathir).

Why were they commanded not to look back? Mawdudi explains, “This does not mean that as soon as they looked behind, they would be turned into pillars of salt, as the Bible says (Genesis, 19: 26). What was being asked was simply that they should not be prompted by the noise behind them to pause and see what was going on.”

58. That is, ‘keep yourself at the rear as you set off, preventing anyone from falling out for any reason.

59. Majid remarks, “(They were pleased by) the news of the arrival of young and handsome strangers.”

60. This happened earlier, before he knew that they were angels, but sequence is not important here (Ibn Kathir). Nevertheless, it is also possible that when Lut came to know that they were angels and sent to destroy his people, he went out to the men to plead for sensibility, for one and the last time. Who knows, they could avoid the punishment? (Au.)

61. They reminded him that they had instructed him never to accept guests (who were their own right for their own purposes: Au.) nor offer them protection (Qatadah and others: Ibn Jarir).

62. He meant their own women, calling them his daughters because a Prophet is the father of his nation (Zamakhshari).

63. Qadi Abu Bakr b. `Arabiyy has said that the unanimous opinion of the commentators is that Allah swore by the life of our Prophet as a mark of honor, for, his own people, the Quraysh, were drunk in power, also stumbling blindly. However, Ibn al-`Arabiyy has added that there is no reason why Allah (swt) would not have sworn by the life of Lut. That of course will not reduce our own Prophet’s status (Qurtubi).

Qurtubi also points out that according to Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal and Malik, for us humans to swear by the life of the Prophet is a sin, calling for expiation, to which Ibn Khuwayzmandad has added that unless the meaning were to be, “by the Lord of Muhammad” in which case it would be allowable.

Majid comments on Allah swearing by the Prophet’s life, “It is the absolute purity of the holy Prophet’s life that is cited here as witness.”

64. It is akin to saying, ‘When you come across their story during your study of history, place a mark there’ (Au.).

Asad comments: “In its full significance, the term mutawassimun 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).

This is also the meaning given by the Salaf who said that it means, “mutafarrisin” meaning as given by Asad above. The Prophet (saws) has said in a hadith of Tirmidhi al-Hakeem,

إن لله عز وجل عبادا يعرفون الناس بالتوسم

“There are some slaves of Allah who know the people by (their) marks.” Another hadith says,

اتَّقُوا فِرَاسَةَ الْمُؤْمِنِ، فَإِنَّهُ يَنْظُرُ بنورِ اللَّهِ

“Beware of the believer’s sight of eye. He sees by the light of Allah” (Tirmidhi, who declared it weak).

Ibn ‘Abbas said, “It never happened that someone asked me a question and I did not know whether the man is learned or not.”

And, it is reported that once Imam Shafe`i and Muhammad b. al-Hasan (Abu Hanifa’s pupil) were in the Ka`bah yard when a man entered the Haram gate. One of them said, “I think he is a carpenter.” Another said, “Rather, I believe he is a blacksmith.” Someone who had heard their remarks went up and asked the man what he did for his living. He said, “I used to be a carpenter, but now I work as a blacksmith.” It is reported of ‘Umar that when the Madh-hij tribe visited him with Ashtar as one of them, he looked hard at him and remarked, “I see in this man tribulations for the Muslims.” (Ashtar later played his role in the martyrdom of Hasan).

It is also reported that once Malik b. Anas passed by the market-place where he stared at a beautiful woman. When he entered upon ‘Uthman (b. ‘Affan) he remarked, “One of you enters upon me while he has marks of adultery in his eyes.” Malik remarked, “What! revelation after the Prophet?” He replied, “Rather not, but signs and penetrating eyes.” Many such incidents have been reported of the Salaf (Qurtubi).

65. That is, the city of Sodom (Ibn Jarir).

66. Now the city lies under the Dead Sea, as is in everybody’s knowledge (Ibn Kathir).

Asad writes: “The existence of that road, which led from northern Hijaz to Syria, skirting the Dead Sea - to the north-east of which Sodom and Gomorrah were situated - has received startling confirmation through aerial photographs recently published by the American School of Oriental Research (New Haven, Connecticut). These photographs clearly show the ancient road as a dark streak winding northwards, more or less parallel with the eastern shore of the Dead Sea.”

Yusuf Ali adds: “The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were utterly destroyed, and even their precise position cannot be identified. But the brimstone plain of the tract still exists, right on the highway, between Arabia and Syria. To the traveler in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea the whole locality presents a scene of dismal desolation which truly suggests the awful punishment for unspeakable crimes.”

67. The word ‘aykah is for an orchard thick with trees (Ibn Kathir). According to Qatadah, they were one of the two nations to whom Shu`ayb (asws) was sent, the other being Madyan. These people are referred to as the dwellers in the Thicket (As-hab al-`aykah) because they owned huge orchards and whose economy largely depended on fruit production. It is said that when Allah (swt) decided on their destruction, He sent upon them a scorching heat lasting for a week. Thereafter He sent a piece of cloud. They gathered under its shade. A fire came down from the cloud and they were all burned. Hence the Qur’anic reference to the punishment elsewhere as (26: 189), “punishment of the day of Shade” (Ibn Jarir).

However, another opinion is that ‘Aykah was the name of a town (Shawkani).

68. Although Ibn Jarir writes that the allusion by “the two” is to the cities of Lut and Shu`ayb (Au.), it could also be to the two cities of Shu`ayb: the Thicket City and Madyan (Kashshaf and Razi).