Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:77
And when Our messengers, [the angels], came to Lot, he was anguished for them and felt for them great discomfort and said, "This is a trying day."
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 discourse concerning the explanation of the words of Allah, the Exalted: وَلَمَّا جَاءَتْ رُسُلُنَا لُوطًا سِيءَ بِهِمْ وَضَاقَ بِهِمْ ذَرْعًا وَقَالَ هَذَا يَوْمٌ عَصِيبٌ (And when Our messengers came to Lūṭ, he was grieved on their account and felt straitened on their behalf, and he said: "This is a distressful day") (77).
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted be His mention, says: When Our angels came to Lūṭ, the evil of their coming struck him — and that is the verb derived from "al-sūʾ" (evil) — وَضَاقَ بِهِمْ on account of their coming ذَرْعًا , that is to say: his soul was straitened with distress because of their coming. This was because, at the moment their coming struck him, he did not know that they were messengers of Allah; he knew his people and what they did in committing the abomination, and he feared for them. On that account he was straitened by their coming, and he knew that he would have to defend the guests — and therefore he said: هَذَا يَوْمٌ عَصِيبٌ (This is a distressful day).
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said this:
18350 — Al-Muthanā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَلَمَّا جَاءَتْ رُسُلُنَا لُوطًا سِيءَ بِهِمْ وَضَاقَ بِهِمْ ذَرْعًا — he said: "He thought ill of his people and was straitened on account of his guests."
18351 — Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa, who said: When the messengers came to Lūṭ, they came to him while he was working on a plot of land of his. They had been told — and Allah knows best — : "Do not destroy them until Lūṭ bears witness." He said: They came to him and said: "We are your guests tonight." He set out with them, and after an hour had passed, he looked back and said: "Do you not know what the inhabitants of this village do? By Allah, I know of no one upon the face of the earth more wicked than they!" And he went on with them. Then he said the same thing a second time, and went on with them. When the depraved old woman — his wife — saw them, she hurried off to warn them.
18352 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda — he said: Ḥudhayfa said, and he mentioned something similar.
18353 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Al-Ḥakam ibn Bashīr related to us, he said: ʿAmr ibn Qays al-Mulāʾī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Bashīr, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: The angels came to Lūṭ while he was on a field of his. Allah had said to the angels: "If Lūṭ testifies four testimonies against them, then I grant you permission to destroy them." They said: "O Lūṭ, we wish to be your guests tonight." He said: "And what have you learned about their affair?" They said: "And what is their affair?" He said: "I testify by Allah that this is the worst village on earth as to its deeds!" — this he said four times. Thus Lūṭ bore four testimonies against them, and they entered his dwelling with him.
18354 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: The angels departed from the dwelling of Ibrāhīm in the direction of the village of Lūṭ, and they arrived there in the middle of the day. When they reached the river of Sadūm, they came upon a daughter of Lūṭ drawing water for her family — he had two daughters, the name of the elder was Rīthā and the younger Zughrathā. They said to her: "O girl, is there a lodging?" She said: "Yes, wait here, do not go in until I return to you!" — she was afraid for them on account of her people. She went to her father and said: "O father, there are young men standing at the city gate, I have never seen people with such handsome faces — let not your people seize them and disgrace them!" Now his people had forbidden him to receive guests — they had said: "Let us extend hospitality to the men!" He brought them along, and no one knew of it except the inhabitants of Lūṭ's house. His wife went out and informed her people: "In the house of Lūṭ there are men, I have never seen such handsome faces!" His people then hurried to him.
18355 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: The messengers departed — according to the claim of the people of the Tawrāh — from the dwelling of Ibrāhīm to Lūṭ in al-Muʾtafika. When the messengers came to Lūṭ, he was grieved on their account and straitened, and that was because of his fear for his people, that they would disgrace him on account of his guests. He said: هَذَا يَوْمٌ عَصِيبٌ (This is a distressful day).
As for His word: وَقَالَ هَذَا يَوْمٌ عَصِيبٌ — He says thereby: Lūṭ said: "This day is a day whose evil is heavy and whose tribulation is great."
One says for that in Arabic: ʿaṣaba yawmunā hādhā yaʿṣibu ʿaṣban — and hence the words of ʿAdī ibn Zayd:
"And I was the one who clung fast to your adversary, I did not yield, while they had imprisoned you on a distressful day."
And the words of the rajaz poet:
"A day that is distressful, which binds the heroes together, as the strong man twists together the tall salam trees."
And the words of another: "And if you do not satisfy Bakr ibn Wāʾil, then a distressful day awaits you in Iraq."
And Kaʿb ibn Juʿayl said: "And those who settle in the lowland are throngs, who know of that day a distressful day."
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said this:
18356 — Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: عَصِيبٌ — severe.
18357 — Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: هَذَا يَوْمٌ عَصِيبٌ — that is to say: severe.
18358 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: هَذَا يَوْمٌ عَصِيبٌ — that is to say: a day of tribulation and distress.
18359 — Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: يَوْمٌ عَصِيبٌ — severe.
18360 — ʿAlī related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَقَالَ هَذَا يَوْمٌ عَصِيبٌ — that is to say: a severe day.