Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:80
He said, "If only I had against you some power or could take refuge in a strong support."
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 word concerning the explanation of the words of Allah, the Exalted: قَالَ لَوْ أَنَّ لِي بِكُمْ قُوَّةً أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ (He said: "Would that I had power against you, or could betake myself to a strong support") (80).
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted be His mention, says: Lūṭ said to his people, when they refused anything other than to persist in what they had in mind — the desire for the abomination — and he had despaired that they would accept anything of what he offered them: لَوْ أَنَّ لِي بِكُمْ قُوَّةً — with helpers who would aid me against you and supporters who would assist me أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ — that is to say: or join myself to a protecting tribe that would defend me against you — then I would place myself between you and that for which you have come and what you desire of me concerning my guests. The answer of "law" (if) has been omitted because the context indicates it and its meaning is understood.
In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said this:
18388 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: Lūṭ said: قَالَ لَوْ أَنَّ لِي بِكُمْ قُوَّةً أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ — that is to say: "To a strong army — then I would have fought you."
18389 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ — he said: "The tribe."
18390 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ — he said: "The tribe."
18391 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Mubārak ibn Faḍāla related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ — he said: "To a support of men."
18392 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said, concerning His word: أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ — he said: "It has reached us that after Lūṭ no prophet was sent except from a position of standing among his people — up to the Prophet ﷺ."
18393 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: لَوْ أَنَّ لِي بِكُمْ قُوَّةً أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ — that is to say: "A tribe that protects me or supporters who assist me — then I would have placed myself between you and this."
18394 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: لَوْ أَنَّ لِي بِكُمْ قُوَّةً أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ — he said: "By it he means the tribe."
18395 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: When this verse was sent down — لَوْ أَنَّ لِي بِكُمْ قُوَّةً أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ — the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "May Allah have mercy on Lūṭ — he indeed betook himself to a strong support!"
18396 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, on the authority of Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "May Allah have mercy on my brother Lūṭ — he indeed betook himself to a strong support. Why then did he bow his head?"
18397 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAbda and ʿAbd al-Raḥīm related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, who said: Abū Salama related to us, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "May Allah have mercy on Lūṭ — he indeed betook himself to a strong support when he said to his people: لَوْ أَنَّ لِي بِكُمْ قُوَّةً أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ . Allah did not send after him any prophet except from a position of standing among his people." Muḥammad said: "Al-tharwa" — abundance and power.
18398 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Kathīr related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū Salama related to us, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ — the same.
18399 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Sulaymān ibn Bilāl informed me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Abū Salama, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ — the same.
18400 — Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abān al-Miṣrī related to me, saying: Saʿīd ibn Talīd related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Bakr ibn Muḍar related to me, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith, on the authority of Yūnus ibn Yazīd, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī, who said: Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib informed me, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "May Allah have mercy on Lūṭ — he indeed betook himself to a strong support."
18401 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yūnus informed me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, on the authority of Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, on the authority of Abū Hurayra: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said — and he mentioned the same.
18402 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Abū Salama, on the authority of Abū Hurayra: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said concerning His word أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ : "He indeed betook himself to a strong support" — by it he meant Allah, the Blessed and Exalted. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Allah did not send after him any prophet except from a position of standing among his people."
18403 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb related to us, saying: Ibn Lahīʿa related to us, on the authority of Abū Yūnus, who heard Abū Hurayra narrate from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: "May Allah have mercy on Lūṭ — he indeed betook himself to a strong support."
18404 — [...] he said: Ibn Abī Maryam Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zanād related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Aʿraj, on the authority of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ — something similar.
18405 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — it was mentioned to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, when he recited this verse — or: when he reached this verse — said: "May Allah have mercy on Lūṭ — he indeed betook himself to a strong support!" And it was mentioned to us that Allah, the Exalted, did not send after Lūṭ (peace be upon him) any prophet except from a position of standing among his people — until Allah sent your prophet from a position of standing among his people.
Of the verb in آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ one says: "awaytu ilayka fa-anā āwī ilayka awyan" — with the meaning: I went to you and joined myself to you, as the rajaz-poet said:
"He betakes himself to a support among the supports, with a great number and a clear standing."
It has been said that the messengers reproached Lūṭ when he spoke these words.
18406 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me that he heard Wahb ibn Munabbih say: Lūṭ said: لَوْ أَنَّ لِي بِكُمْ قُوَّةً أَوْ آوِي إِلَى رُكْنٍ شَدِيدٍ — and the messengers reproached him and said: "Your support is indeed strong!"
