Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:78
And his people came hastening to him, and before [this] they had been doing evil deeds. He said, "O my people, these are my daughters; they are purer for you. So fear Allah and do not disgrace me concerning my guests. Is there not among you a man of reason?"
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 statement concerning the interpretation of the words of Allah, the Exalted: وَجَاءَهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ وَمِنْ قَبْلُ كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ هَؤُلاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلا تُخْزُونِي فِي ضَيْفِي أَلَيْسَ مِنْكُمْ رَجُلٌ رَشِيدٌ (And his people came rushing toward him, while before that they used to commit evil deeds. He said: "O my people, these are my daughters — they are purer for you. So fear Allah and do not disgrace me concerning my guests. Is there not among you a right-minded man?") (78).
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted be His mention, says: The people of Lūṭ rushed toward him, trembling from the haste of their gait, on account of what drove them in their craving for the abomination.
One says: "uhrīʿa al-rajul" — from cold, anger, or fever — when a person trembles; "wa-huwa muhraʿ" when he is driven and hurried, as the rajaz-poet said: "With hastening ones rushing toward him." And from this come the words of Muhlhil: "They came rushing while they were captives, driven on despite their reluctance."
In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said this:
18361 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ — he said: "They walked at an accelerated pace; that is brisk walking."
18362 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
18363 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — something similar.
18364 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Khālid and al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: وَجَاءَهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ — he said: "They rushed toward him."
18365 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: "They came rushing toward him" — that is: quickly toward him.
18366 — Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ — he said: "They hurried toward him."
18367 — Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وَجَاءَهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ — that is: they quickened their pace toward him.
18368 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَجَاءَهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ — he said: "They walked at an accelerated pace." Sufyān said: يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ — "they hurried toward him."
18369 — Sawwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us; Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna said concerning His word: يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ — "It is as though they were being pushed forward."
18370 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Ḥumayd related to us, on the authority of Shimr ibn ʿAṭiyya, who said: "They came at a pace between brisk walking and galloping."
18371 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَجَاءَهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ — that is: hurrying.
And His word: وَمِنْ قَبْلُ كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ — that is: before their coming to Lūṭ they used to penetrate men in their backsides, as in:
18372 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His word: وَمِنْ قَبْلُ كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ — he said: "They used to take men."
And His word: قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ هَؤُلاءِ بَنَاتِي — Allah, exalted be His mention, says: Lūṭ said to his people, when they came to him and sought to seduce him concerning his guests: "These, O my people, are my daughters" — by which he meant the women of his community — "so marry them, for they are purer for you," as in:
18373 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: هَؤُلاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ — he said: "Lūṭ commanded them to marry the women and said: they are purer for you."
18374 — Muḥammad related to us: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, who said: This has also reached me through Mujāhid.
18375 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: هَؤُلاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ — he said: "They were not his own daughters, but they belonged to his community, and every prophet is the father of his community."
18376 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: هَؤُلاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ — he said: "He commanded them to marry the women; he did not offer them illicit intercourse."
18377 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Abū Bishr related to us; I heard Ibn Abī Najīḥ say concerning His word: هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ — he said: "He offered them neither marriage nor illicit intercourse."
18378 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: هَؤُلاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ — he said: "He commanded them to marry the women, and the prophet of Allah ﷺ wished to protect his guests by means of his daughters."
18379 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Saʿd related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar informed us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word: هَؤُلاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ — he meant marriage.
18380 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū al-Nuʿmān ʿĀrim related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Shubayyib al-Zuhrānī related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning the word of Lūṭ: هَؤُلاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ — he meant: their women are his daughters; he is their prophet; and in one of the readings it is stated: النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجُهُ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ وَهُوَ أَبٌ لَهُمْ (The Prophet has more right over the believers than they have over themselves, and his wives are their mothers, and he is a father to them) [Al-Aḥzāb: 6].
18381 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وَجَاءَهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ — they said: "Did we not forbid you to receive guests from among mankind?" He said: هَؤُلاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ if you wish to do it — أَلَيْسَ مِنْكُمْ رَجُلٌ رَشِيدٌ ?
18382 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: When the messengers came to Lūṭ, his people rushed toward them after they had been informed about them. It is claimed — and Allah knows best — that it was the wife of Lūṭ who informed them of their presence, saying: "With Lūṭ there are guests; I have never seen anyone so handsome and beautiful!" They used to take men out of desire instead of women — an abomination which no one in the world before them had committed. When they came to him, they said: "Did we not forbid you to receive people?" That is: "Did we not say to you: let no one come to you, for we will commit the abomination with everyone we find with you?" He said: "O my people, these are my daughters — they are purer for you" — by this he wished to ransom his guests by offering them; and he called them only to what is lawful, namely marriage.
18383 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: هَؤُلاءِ بَنَاتِي — he said: "The women."
The reciters differed concerning the reading of His word: هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ . The majority of the reciters read it with the nominative: "aṭharu" — taking "hunna" as the subject (mubtadaʾ) and "aṭhar" as its predicate, as though one meant to say: "My daughters are purer for you than the abomination you crave with men." It is reported that ʿĪsā ibn ʿUmar al-Baṣrī read it as: هُنَّ أَطْهَرَ لَكُمْ with the accusative of "aṭhara." Some of the grammarians of Basra said: "This is not possible; the predicate of a verb requiring a predicate is placed in the accusative only when between the subject and the predicate there are such pronominal words." Some of the grammarians of Kufa said: "Whoever reads it in the accusative takes it as an indefinite noun derived from the definite, and 'hunna' then forms the support (ʿimād) of the verb without governing it." Another of them said: "It has been heard from the Arabs: 'hādhā Zaydun iyyāhu bi-ʿaynih' — and by this it is made the predicate of 'hādhā,' as one says: 'kāna ʿAbd Allāh iyyāhu bi-ʿaynih.' The verb, however, could not stand here, because al-taqrīb (the form of bringing near) is a response to an assertion — the two cannot be combined, for that would be contradictory: on the one hand there is information about something known, and on the other information about a new establishment."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The reading from which I may not deviate is the nominative: هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ — because of the consensus of the leading reciters from all regions upon it, and because of its correctness in Arabic.
And His word: فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلا تُخْزُونِي فِي ضَيْفِي — that is: "Fear Allah, O people, and beware of His punishment for the abomination you commit and pursue" — وَلا تُخْزُونِي فِي ضَيْفِي — that is: "Do not disgrace me by committing against my guests something that they detest your committing against them."
"Al-ḍayf" (the guest) stands here in the singular form but has the meaning of the plural. The Arabs call both singular and plural "ḍayf" with the same form — as one says: "a just man and a just people."
And His word: أَلَيْسَ مِنْكُمْ رَجُلٌ رَشِيدٌ — that is: "Is there not among you a man of sound judgment, who restrains the one who wishes to commit the abomination with my guests and places himself between them and that deed?" As in:
18384 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلا تُخْزُونِي فِي ضَيْفِي أَلَيْسَ مِنْكُمْ رَجُلٌ رَشِيدٌ — that is: "A man who knows the right and forbids the reprehensible?"
