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Surah 15. Al-Hijr

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15:51
وَنَبِّئْهُمْ عَن ضَيْفِ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ Wanabbihum AAan d ayfi ibr a heem a
AND TELL THEM [once again] about Abraham's guests37 -
  - Mohammad Asad

For a more detailed story of Abraham and the heavenly messengers, see verses {69-76} of surah {11} (Hud), which was revealed shortly before the present one. The connection between this story and the preceding stress on God's grace arises from Abraham's saying (in verse {56}), "And who - other than those who have utterly lost their way - could ever lose the hope of his Sustainer's grace?" Similarly, the subsequent references (in verses {58-84}) to the sinful communities that were destroyed because they refused to heed the warnings of their prophets are, obviously, meant to illustrate the reverse of God's grace, namely, His inevitable chastisement of deliberate, unrepented sinning (verse {50} above).

Tell them about the guests of Ibrahim (Abraham).
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
And inform them 'O Prophet' about Abraham's guests
  - Mustafa Khattab
And tell them of Abraham's guests,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Tell them about the guests of Abraham. 1980
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

In illustration of the contrasts between Good and Evil, and the consequences that flow from them, we have now a reference to four incidents from the past, viz.: (1) an incident from the story of Abraham; (2) from that of Lot, nephew of Abraham, and the end of the Cities of the Plain, which he was sent to warn; (3) the People of the Wood; and (4) the People of the Rocky Tract (Hijr), after whom this Sura is called. As usual, the recital of Allah's abounding grace comes first.

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15:52
إِذْ دَخَلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِ فَقَالُوا۟ سَلَـٰمًا قَالَ إِنَّا مِنكُمْ وَجِلُونَ I th dakhaloo AAalayhi faq a loo sal a man q a la inn a minkum wajiloon a
[how,] when they presented themselves before him and bade him peace, he answered: "Behold, we are afraid of you!"38
  - Mohammad Asad

For the reason of Abraham's and Sarah's apprehension, see 11:70 .

They entered upon them and said: "Peace be upon you!" But he replied: "Surely we are afraid of you."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
who entered upon him and greeted 'him with', 'Peace!' He 'later' said, 'Surely we are afraid of you.'1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 As mentioned in 11:69-70, the angels came to Abraham in the form of men and when he offered them food, they did not eat. In ancient Middle Eastern culture, if a guest refused to eat the food provided by their host, it was a sign of ill-will.

(How) when they came in unto him, and said: Peace. He said: Lo! we are afraid of you.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
When they entered his presence and said "Peace!" He said "We feel afraid of you!" 1981
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

For a full understanding of this reference to the angels who were Abraham's guests and came to announce the birth of a son to him in his old age, read xi. 69-73 and notes. The appearance of two strangers of uncommon appearance, who refused to partake of the host's sumptuous hospitality, made Abraham at first suspicious and afraid.

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15:53
قَالُوا۟ لَا تَوْجَلْ إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَـٰمٍ عَلِيمٍ Q a loo l a tawjal inn a nubashshiruka bighul a min AAaleem in
Said they: "Fear not! Behold, we bring thee the glad tiding of [the birth of] a son who will be endowed with deep knowledge."39
  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., will be a prophet.

They answered: "Do not be afraid of us! We have come to you with good news of a son endowed with knowledge."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
They reassured 'him', 'Do not be afraid! Surely we give you good news of a knowledgeable son.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
They said: Be not afraid! Lo! we bring thee good tidings of a boy possessing wisdom.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
They said: "Fear not! we give thee glad tidings of a son endowed with wisdom." 1982
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The birth of a son in old age, to a sonless father was glad tidings to Abraham personally. The birth of a son endowed with widsom promised something infinitely more. Considering that the angels were divine messengers, the wisdom referred to was divine wisdom, and the event became an event of prime importance in the world's religious history. For Abraham became, through his progeny, the root of the three great universal religions, diffused throughout the world.

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15:54
قَالَ أَبَشَّرْتُمُونِى عَلَىٰٓ أَن مَّسَّنِىَ ٱلْكِبَرُ فَبِمَ تُبَشِّرُونَ Q a la abashshartumoonee AAal a an massaniya alkibaru fabima tubashshiroon i
Said he: "Do you give me this glad tiding despite the fact that old age has overtaken me? Of what [strange thing], then, are you giving me a tiding!"
  - Mohammad Asad
He said: "Are you giving me the good news of a son when I have become old? What kind of good news you are giving?"
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
He wondered, 'Do you give me good news despite my old age? What unlikely news!'
  - Mustafa Khattab
He said: Bring ye me good tidings (of a son) when old age hath overtaken me? Of what then can ye bring good tidings?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
He said: "Do ye give me glad tidings that old age has seized me? Of what then is your good news?"
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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15:55
قَالُوا۟ بَشَّرْنَـٰكَ بِٱلْحَقِّ فَلَا تَكُن مِّنَ ٱلْقَـٰنِطِينَ Q a loo bashsharn a ka bi a l h aqqi fal a takun mina alq a ni t een a
They answered: "We have given thee the glad tiding of something that is bound to come true:40 so be not of those who abandon hope!"
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "We have given thee the glad tiding of the truth" - i.e., of the truth willed by God (Ibn 'Abbas, as quoted by Razi).

They replied: "We are giving you true good news; you should not be of those who despair."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
They responded, 'We give you good news in all truth, so do not be one of those who despair.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
They said: We bring thee good tidings in truth. So be not thou of the despairing.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
They said: "We give thee glad tidings in truth: be not then in despair!"
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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15:56
قَالَ وَمَن يَقْنَطُ مِن رَّحْمَةِ رَبِّهِۦٓ إِلَّا ٱلضَّآلُّونَ Q a la waman yaqna t u min ra h mati rabbihi ill a a l dda lloon a
[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.

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15:57
قَالَ فَمَا خَطْبُكُمْ أَيُّهَا ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ Q a la fam a kha t bukum ayyuh a almursaloon a
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.

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15:58
قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّآ أُرْسِلْنَآ إِلَىٰ قَوْمٍ مُّجْرِمِينَ Q a loo inn a orsiln a il a qawmin mujrimeen a
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.

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15:59
إِلَّآ ءَالَ لُوطٍ إِنَّا لَمُنَجُّوهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ Ill a a la loo t in inn a lamunajjoohum ajmaAAeen a
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.

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15:60
إِلَّا ٱمْرَأَتَهُۥ قَدَّرْنَآ ۙ إِنَّهَا لَمِنَ ٱلْغَـٰبِرِينَ Ill a imraatahu qaddarn a innah a lamina algh a bireen a
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.

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15:61
فَلَمَّا جَآءَ ءَالَ لُوطٍ ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ Falamm a j a a a la loo t in almursaloon a
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.

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15:62
قَالَ إِنَّكُمْ قَوْمٌ مُّنكَرُونَ Q a la innakum qawmun munkaroon a
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

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15:63
قَالُوا۟ بَلْ جِئْنَـٰكَ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ فِيهِ يَمْتَرُونَ Q a loo bal jin a ka bim a k a noo feehi yamtaroon a
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."

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15:64
وَأَتَيْنَـٰكَ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَإِنَّا لَصَـٰدِقُونَ Waatayn a ka bi a l h aqqi wainn a la sa diqoon a
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.

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15:65
فَأَسْرِ بِأَهْلِكَ بِقِطْعٍ مِّنَ ٱلَّيْلِ وَٱتَّبِعْ أَدْبَـٰرَهُمْ وَلَا يَلْتَفِتْ مِنكُمْ أَحَدٌ وَٱمْضُوا۟ حَيْثُ تُؤْمَرُونَ Faasri biahlika biqi t AAin mina allayli wa i ttabiAA adb a rahum wal a yaltafit minkum a h adun wa i m d oo h aythu tumaroon a
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

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