Surah 25. Al-Furqan, Ayah 40

A reference to Sodom and its destruction by a rain of "stone-hard blows of chastisement pre-ordained" (see 11:82 and the corresponding note [114]). The phrase "they have come across" may be understood in either of two ways: (a) in its literal sense of "chancing upon" or "passing by", in which case it applies to the Prophet's contemporaries and opponents, the pagan Meccans, whose customary caravan route to Syria passed close by the Dead Sea and the probable site of Sodom and Gomorrah; or (b) in the tropical sense of "becoming aware [of something]" through reading or hearsay - in which case it may be taken to refer to people of all times, and to the fact that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is part and parcel of mankind's moral heritage.

Lit., "they were wont not to look forward to [i.e., to expect or believe in] resurrection".

This refers to Lut's story and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the wicked cities of the plain near the Dead Sea, by a shower of brimstone. The site lies on the highway between Arabia and Syria. Cf. xv. 74, 76, and n. 1998.