His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

﴿They said, O Lot, indeed we are the messengers of your Lord. They will not reach you, so travel with your family in a portion of the night, and let not one of you turn back except your wife. Indeed, what will strike them will strike her. Indeed, their appointment is the morning. Is not the morning near?﴾

The pronoun in 'They said' refers to the angels. It is narrated that when they overpowered Lot and they intended to break down the door while he was holding it, the messengers said to him: 'Step away from the door.' So he stepped away and the door opened. Then Gabriel, peace be upon him, struck them with his wing and blinded their eyes, and they went back on their heels saying: 'Escape! Escape!' So, at that time, Lot had a people who were sorcerers, and they threatened Lot. He was frightened then by their threat. At that time, they said to him: 'Indeed, we are the messengers of your Lord, so be at ease.' This discussion was mentioned, and in the interpretation of others, it implies that their saying: 'Indeed, we are the messengers of your Lord' was before the blinding of their eyes. Then they commanded him to travel and informed him that the punishment was descending upon the people. Lot said to them: 'So punish them immediately.' They said to him: 'Indeed, their appointment is the morning, by which Allah has commanded.' Then they reassured him in his anxiety with their saying:

Is not the morning near?

Nafi' and Ibn Kathir read 'So travel' from 'sara' when he traveled during the night. The others read 'So travel' when he traveled at the beginning of the night, and 'a portion' means a piece of the night. It is possible that Lot traveled with his family from the beginning of the night until he passed beyond the city that was to be uprooted, and his salvation occurred at dawn. This verse coincides with His saying: 'Except for the family of Lot, We saved them at dawn.' The house of Al-Nabighah combines both actions in his saying:

'It traveled upon him from the constellation of Al-Jawza, a traveler that the north wind drives upon him, solid as hail.'

So, some went to say that 'sara' and 'asra' have the same meaning, and they used this verse as evidence.

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

And I say that the verse can hold both meanings, and this is clearer to me because it aimed to describe this rain, and that it began from the beginning of the night at the time of the rising of Al-Jawza in winter.

Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr read 'Except your wife' in the nominative as a substitute for 'one.' This is the more correct view if it is excluded from the negation, like your saying: 'No one came to me except Zayd.' This is an exception from those who turned back. The others read 'Except your wife' in the accusative, and a group of grammarians saw this as the correct view in the exception from the negation, as the negated speech here is independent of itself like the affirmative. Thus, it is like it in independence, so its ruling is like its ruling in the accusative of the exception. A group of those who read: 'Except your wife' in the accusative interpreted that the exception occurred from the family, as if he said: 'So travel with your family except your wife.' And upon this interpretation, there can only be the accusative. Abu Ubaid Al-Qasim ibn Salam said: If the speech were: 'And let not one turn back' - in the nominative - the nominative would have been correct in his saying: 'Except your wife.' But it is a prohibition, so if 'the woman' is excluded from 'one,' it must be that 'the woman' is permitted to turn back, which would corrupt the meaning of the verse.

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

And this objection is good. It necessitates the exception from "one" whether you raised the تاء or you did not, and the separation from it is based on a saying attributed to Al-Mubarrad, which is that the prohibition was intended for Lut alone. And the "turning away" is negated from them in meaning, meaning do not let any one of them turn away. This is like saying to a man: let not any one of these stand up except Zayd. And those did not hear you, so the meaning is: do not let any one of these stand up, and standing up in meaning is negated from those referred to.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The gist of this is that the wording of the verse is the wording of our saying: let not any one stand up except Zayd. And we need its meaning to be the meaning of our saying: let not any one stand up except Zayd, and that wording does not return to this meaning except by the estimation of what we have narrated from Al-Mubarrad, so contemplate it. And it appears from the doctrine of Abu Ubaid that the exception is only from the family. In the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud: "So travel with your family during a part of the night except your wife," and his saying: and let not any one of you turn away has been omitted.

And the apparent meaning in "let him turn away" is that it is from the turning of the sight. And a group said: it is from the one who turns something, he turns it if he bends it and twists it, so its meaning is: and let him not hesitate. And this is rare despite its correctness. And in the book of Al-Zahrawi, it is said that the meaning is: and let no one turn to what he has left behind, rather let him exit quickly with Lut, peace be upon him. And it has been narrated that when Lut's wife heard the sound, she turned her gaze and said: Woe to my people! So a stone struck her and killed her.

And a group read: "the morning" with a دَامَة on the باء.