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 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

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

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall