Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:70
But when he saw their hands not reaching for it, he distrusted them and felt from them apprehension. They said, "Fear not. We have been sent to the people of Lot."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: فَلَمَّا رَأَى أَيْدِيَهُمْ لا تَصِلُ إِلَيْهِ نَكِرَهُمْ وَأَوْجَسَ مِنْهُمْ خِيفَةً قَالُوا لا تَخَفْ إِنَّا أُرْسِلْنَا إِلَى قَوْمِ لُوطٍ (70) (But when he saw that their hands did not reach out toward it, he found them strange and conceived a fear of them in his heart. They said: Fear not! We have been sent to the people of Lūṭ.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says here: When Ibrāhīm saw that their hands did not reach to the calf which he had offered them and the food which he had set before them — since they, as has been mentioned, did not eat because they are not among those who eat — he found them strange. The withholding from the food was, in the eyes of Ibrāhīm, while they were his guests, something strange. There was no familiarity between them; their affair disquieted him, and he felt within his soul a fear of them.
Qatāda used to describe this as:
18311. Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: فَلَمَّا رَأَى أَيْدِيَهُمْ لا تَصِلُ إِلَيْهِ نَكِرَهُمْ وَأَوْجَسَ مِنْهُمْ خِيفَةً — the Arabs used to think, when a guest came to them who did not eat of their food, that he did not intend any good toward them and that he was plotting something evil in his heart.
18312. Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the word: فَلَمَّا رَأَى أَيْدِيَهُمْ لا تَصِلُ إِلَيْهِ نَكِرَهُمْ — he said: when a guest came to them who did not eat of their food, they thought that he did not intend any good toward them and that he was plotting something evil in his heart. Then, on that occasion, they would inform him of the purpose for which they had come.
18313. Al-Ḥārith related to me: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, on the authority of Jundub ibn Sufyān, who said: When the guests of Ibrāhīm ﷺ entered, he offered them the calf; they began to tap with arrows in their hands while their hands did not reach the food; thereby he found them strange.
It is said of this: "nakartu l-shayʾa ankiruhu" and "ankartuhu ankiruhu" — with the same meaning. From "nakartu" and "ankartu" is the verse of al-Aʿshā:
"Wa-ankaratnī wa-mā kāna lladhī nakirat min al-ḥawādithi illā l-shayba wa-l-ṣalaʿā"
(She found me strange, but what she found strange in me of the vicissitudes of time was nothing other than the grey hair and the baldness.)
Thus he combined both linguistic forms in a single verse. Abū Dhuʾayb said:
"Fa-nakirnahū fa-nafarna wa-mṭarasat bih hawjāʾu hādiyatun wa-hādin jurshūʿu"
(They found him strange and fled, and a reckless mare pressed close upon him, led by a great-headed beast.)
وَأَوْجَسَ مِنْهُمْ خِيفَةً — that is to say: he felt within his soul a fear of them and concealed it. قَالُوا لا تَخَفْ — that is to say: the angels said, when they saw the fear of Ibrāhīm: Do not fear us, and be reassured, for we are the angels of your Lord. أُرْسِلْنَا إِلَى قَوْمِ لُوطٍ .
