His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And when Our messengers came to Lot, he was distressed by them and was straitened for them, and he said, 'This is a day of great distress.'" "And his people came rushing to him, and before that 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 in my guests. Is there not among you a man of reason?'" "They said, 'You certainly know that we have no claim to your daughters, and indeed, you know what we want.'" "He said, 'If only I had strength against you or could take refuge in a strong support.'"

"The 'messengers' here are the angels who were guests of Ibrahim, peace be upon him. This is because when they went to the land of Lot - and there are eight miles between him and the village of Ibrahim - they reached him. It was said: they found Lot in his field, and it was said: they found his daughter drawing water from the river of Sodom - which is the largest settlement of the people of Lot. They asked her for directions to someone who would host them. When she saw their appearance, she feared for them from the people of Lot. She said to them: 'Stay here,' and went to her father and informed him. He came out to them and said: 'Do you want me to host you tonight?' They said to him: 'Did you not hear about the deeds of these people?' They said, 'What are their deeds?' He said: 'I bear witness by Allah that they are the worst people on earth.' And Allah, exalted and glorified is He, had said to the angels: 'Do not punish them until Lot bears witness against them four times.' When Lot said this, Jibril said to his companions: 'This is one,' and the saying was repeated among them until Lot repeated the testimony four times. Then Lot entered the city with them, and at that time he was distressed by them, meaning he was afflicted with harm. And 'distressed' is a passive form built for the object. And 'the straitening' is a source derived from 'the arm.' When the arm is the place of a person's strength, it was said: 'So-and-so's arm is straitened by this matter,' meaning his ability is straitened by it. They expanded this until they turned it around and said: 'So-and-so has a broad arm,' when they described him with the vastness of ability. And from this is the saying of the poet:

' O master, you are not from a master, one who has broad arms and is gentle.'

And his saying: 'This is a day of great distress' refers to what he feared from the transgression of his people against his guests and his need to defend against them while he was weak against it. And 'great distress' is a noun of the doer, meaning: it constrains people with evil as the one who strikes the plant does when he wants to strike it and shake off its leaves. And from this is the saying of al-Hajjaj in his sermon: 'And I will constrain you like the plant.' So it is from the constraining. Then their description today became 'great distress.' And from this is the saying of the poet, 'Udayy ibn Zayd':

' And I was not one to be negligent in your conflict, and they have brought you into a day of great distress.'

And from this is the saying of another:

' For if you do not please Bakr ibn Wa'il, you will have a day in Iraq that is great distress.'

So 'great distress' - in general - is in a place of severity and difficult pressure, and its derivation is as we have mentioned.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And his people came to him﴾, it has been narrated that the wife of Lot, the disbeliever, when she saw the guests and saw their beauty and appearance, went out until she reached the gatherings of her people and said to them: "Indeed, Lot has hosted tonight young men the like of whom have not been seen in beauty, and so on." Then they came rushing to him, and its meaning is that they were hurrying. Al-Ihra' is when a matter causes a person to hurry until he moves between walking quickly and running. It is the walk of a captive who is hurried along, and of a greedy person who hastens towards a matter he fears missing. It is said that the man hurried, and he was hurried by greed, an enemy, or fear, and the like of this.

And the well-known reading is: "They are rushing" with a dammah on the ya, meaning greed is causing them to hurry. A group read: "They are rushing" with a fatha on the ya, from har'a. From this word is the saying of Muhalhal:

They came rushing while they were captives ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ leading them despite their noses.

And His saying: "And before that they were doing evil deeds," meaning their habit was to commit immorality with men. They came to the guests for that reason, so Lot stood up to them in defense and said: "These are my daughters." A group indicated that he was referring to his own daughters and urged them in this statement towards marriage. This is based on the fact that their custom was the permissibility of marrying a disbelieving believer, or that within his words was a call for them to believe. A group said: The speech was a defense and he did not intend to enforce it. This saying has been narrated from Abu Ubaidah, and it is weak. This is similar to what is said to one who forbids the wealth of others: the pig is more lawful for you than this, and this extremism is not from the words of the Prophets, blessings and peace be upon him. A group said: By his saying: "My daughters," he referred to women in general, as the Prophet of the people is a father to them. This is strengthened by the reading of Ibn Mas'ud: "The Prophet is closer to the believers than themselves, and his wives are their mothers," and he is a father to them. Lot also referred in this interpretation to marriage.

And a group read - they are the majority - "They are purer" with a raised ra on the news of the beginning. Al-Hasan, Isa ibn Umar, Muhammad ibn Marwan, and Sa'id ibn Jubair read: "Purer" with a fatha, and Sibawayh said: It is a grammatical error. Abu Amr ibn al-Ala said: Ibn Marwan made a mistake in his grammar. The explanation for those who read it with a fatha is that it is in the accusative case, meaning my daughters are the subject and they are its predicate, and the sentence is the news of these.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is a grammatical interpretation narrated from Al-Mubarrid, and Abu Al-Fath mentioned it, and it is an error in the meaning of the verse. He only corrected the wording, while the meaning is in his saying: 'the purest.' This was intended to be conveyed, for it is a state that cannot be dispensed with, as has been mentioned in his saying: 'And this is my husband, a scholar.' The correct way to say is: 'These are my daughters,' an introduction and a statement. They are a separation and 'the purest' is a state, even if the condition of separation is that it must be between two definite nouns to separate the speech from the description to the statement. Since the statement here is in 'the purest,' it is permissible to say the separation. And when Abu Amr and Sibawayh did not accept this, Ibn Marwan was criticized. They would not let pass what Abu Al-Fath mentioned. And 'the guest' is a source that can describe the singular and the plural, the masculine and the feminine. Then he reproached them by saying: 'Is there not among you a sensible man who can restrain you and turn you back?'

And His saying, the Exalted: 'They said: Indeed, you know what we have in your daughters of a right,' the verse, it has been narrated that the people of Lot had proposed to the daughters of Lot, and he rejected them. Their custom was that whoever was rejected in the proposal of a woman was never lawful for him. Therefore, they said: 'Indeed, you know what we have in your daughters of a right.'

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And it is far from it not to have this specificity. The meaning of the speech is: We have no connection to your daughters, nor is it our intention, nor do we have a habit of seeking that. And their saying: 'And indeed, you know what we want,' is an indication to the guests. When he saw their persistence in their error and their dominance over him and his weakness before them, he said - in a state of lamentation and submission - 'If only I had strength against you, and that there were a place of refuge by an implied action, the meaning of which is: If it were to happen or occur, and so on. - And this is consistent in 'that' which follows 'if' - and the response to 'if' is omitted, and omitting such is more eloquent, for it leaves the listener to reach the furthest of his imaginations, and the meaning is: I would have done such and such.

And the majority read: 'Or I seek refuge' with the 'ya' being silent, and Shaiba and Abu Ja'far read: 'Or I seek refuge' with the 'ya' being pronounced, the meaning being: or that I seek refuge. Thus, 'that' with 'I seek refuge' is interpreted as the source, as Maysoon bint Bihadl said:

And wearing a cloak and my eyes find comfort.

And the arrangement of the speech would be: 'If only I had strength against you or refuge.' And 'to seek refuge' means: to take shelter and to gather. And what Lot, peace be upon him, intended by 'the pillar' is kinship and protection by multitude. And his vile actions reached this - with his knowledge of what is with Allah, the Exalted - it is narrated that the angels found him when he said these words, and they said: 'Indeed, your pillar is strong.' And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'May Allah have mercy on Lot; he used to seek refuge with a strong pillar.' So the wonder is from him when he submitted.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is a criticism of Lot for uttering these words. Otherwise, the state of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, at the time of throwing the meat of the camel and with the people of Ta'if, and in other situations does not necessitate the saying of Lot. However, Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, did not speak of any of that out of determination or courage. Rather, Lot feared that Allah would give those people respite until they disobeyed him regarding the guests, just as He had given them respite before that for their sins. So he wished for a support from among the people to hasten against them, while he knew that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, was behind their punishment. It has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Allah, glorified and exalted is He, did not send a prophet after Lot except in a state of strength among his people,' meaning in a state of protection and honor.