Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 15 Al-Hijr, Ayat 61-66

فَلَمَّا جَآءَ اٰلَ لُوۡطِ ۨالۡمُرۡسَلُوۡنَۙ‏ ﴿15:61﴾ قَالَ اِنَّـكُمۡ قَوۡمٌ مُّنۡكَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿15:62﴾ قَالُوۡا بَلۡ جِئۡنٰكَ بِمَا كَانُوۡا فِيۡهِ يَمۡتَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿15:63﴾ وَ اَتَيۡنٰكَ بِالۡحَـقِّ وَاِنَّا لَصٰدِقُوۡنَ‏ ﴿15:64﴾ فَاَسۡرِ بِاَهۡلِكَ بِقِطۡعٍ مِّنَ الَّيۡلِ وَاتَّبِعۡ اَدۡبَارَهُمۡ وَلَا يَلۡـتَفِتۡ مِنۡكُمۡ اَحَدٌ وَّامۡضُوۡا حَيۡثُ تُؤۡمَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿15:65﴾ وَقَضَيۡنَاۤ اِلَيۡهِ ذٰ لِكَ الۡاَمۡرَ اَنَّ دَابِرَ هٰٓؤُلَاۤءِ مَقۡطُوۡعٌ مُّصۡبِحِيۡنَ‏ ﴿15:66﴾

(15:61) So when the envoys came to the household of Lot,35 (15:62) he said: "Surely you are an unknown folk."36 (15:63) They said: "Nay, we have brought to you that concerning which they have been in doubt. (15:64) We truly tell you that we have brought to you the Truth. (15:65) So set out with your family in a watch of the night, and keep yourself behind them,37 and no one of you may turn around,38 and keep going ahead as you have been commanded." (15:66) And We communicated to him the decree that by the morning those people will be totally destroyed.


Notes

35. Please compare this with (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayats 80-84) and (Surah Houd, Ayats 77-83).

36. Here the story has been related in brief. But we learn from (Surah Houd, Ayats 77-83) that Prophet Lot (peace be upon him) was greatly perturbed and distressed at the visit of the angels. He said to himself, “This is a day of woe.” The reason why he was distressed, as implied in the Quran and explicitly expressed in the traditions, was that the angels had come to Prophet Lot (peace be upon him) in the form of beautiful boys, and he knew how perverse and wicked his people were. He was distressed for he could not send them away because they were his guests, and because he did not know how to protect them from those villains.

37. That is, you should walk behind your people lest anyone of them should stay behind.

38. It did not mean: “look not behind thee, lest thou be consumed,” as stated in the Bible. But it merely meant to warn them: None of you should turn round to see what was happening behind them lest you should stop to see when you heard the cries of the smitten people. For it is neither the time nor the place viewing the destruction nor shedding tears of regret. If you stop even for a minute in the territory of the smitten people you also might get hurt from the rain of stones.