Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:83
So We saved him and his family, except for his wife; she was of those who remained [with the evildoers].
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 His word: فَأَنْجَيْنَاهُ وَأَهْلَهُ إِلا امْرَأَتَهُ كَانَتْ مِنَ الْغَابِرِينَ (83) (And We saved him and his family, except his wife; she was among those who stayed behind) (7:83)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: when the people of Lūṭ refused — despite Lūṭ's rebuke concerning the abomination (al-fāḥisha) which they were committing, and despite his conveying to them the message of his Lord by which this was forbidden to them — to do anything other than persist in their error, We saved Lūṭ and his family members who believed in him, except his wife, for she was unfaithful to Lūṭ and, with respect to Allah, a disbeliever (kāfir).
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And His word: ( مِنَ الْغَابِرِينَ ) (among those who stayed behind) means: among the remaining ones.
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It was said: ( مِنَ الْغَابِرِينَ ) (masculine form) and not "al-ghābirāt" (feminine form), because it was intended that she was among those who stayed behind together with the men. When the mention of her was combined with the mention of the men, it was said: "min al-ghābirīn".
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Its verb is: "ghabara, yaghburu, ghubūran and ghabran", and that is when someone remains, as al-Aʿshā said:
He bit at what the razors had left him of a slave-woman (ama) in the time that has passed (al-ghābir)
And as another said:
And my father, he who conquered the lands with his sword and humbled them before the Banū Abān, the one who remained (al-ghābir)
He means: the one who remained.
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If someone were to say: did the wife of Lūṭ then belong to those who escaped the destruction by which the people of Lūṭ perished?
Then it is said: no, rather she was among those who perished.
If he were to say: how then is it said: ( إِلا امْرَأَتَهُ كَانَتْ مِنَ الْغَابِرِينَ ) (except his wife; she was among those who stayed behind), while you have said that the meaning of "al-ghābir" is "the one who remained"? Then she must surely have remained?
Then it is said: the meaning of that is other than what you supposed. By it was only intended: except his wife — she was among those who remained before the destruction, and among the very aged ones upon whom a long lifespan had come and for whom much time had passed, until she grew old amid the people who grew old. She was thus among those who had remained a long time before the destruction of the people, and she perished with those who perished of the people of Lūṭ when the punishment (ʿadhāb) came to them.
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And it was said: the meaning of that is: among those who stay behind in the punishment of Allah.
* Mention of who said this:
14839 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda concerning إِلا عَجُوزًا فِي الْغَابِرِينَ [Sūrat al-Shuʿarāʾ: 171 / Sūrat al-Ṣāffāt: 135] (except an old woman among those who stayed behind): in the punishment of Allah.
