When he knew that they were angels and that they do not descend except by the permission of Allah as messengers in some matters, he said, "What is your affair?" meaning, "What is your situation and what is your request?" to a people who are criminals, to the people of Lot. "Stones of clay" means: [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN:sijjil], which is clay that has been baked like bricks, until it became as hard as stones, marked with signs, from [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN:sawma], which is the mark on each one of them the name of the one who will be destroyed by it. It was said: I informed that it is from the stones of punishment. It was said: with a sign that indicates that they are not from the stones of this world. He called them wasteful, just as he called them transgressors, due to their wastefulness and aggression in their actions: since they were not content with what was permitted to them. The pronoun in "in it" refers to the town, and it was not mentioned because it is known. And in it is evidence that faith and Islam are one, and that they are praiseworthy attributes. It was said: They are Lot and his two daughters. It was said: Lot and the members of his household who were saved were thirteen. And from Qatadah: If there had been more than that in it, He would have saved them, to make them know that faith is preserved and there is no loss for its people with Allah. A sign for those who fear, unlike those whose hearts are hardened. Ibn Jurayj said: It is a stacked rock in it. And it was said: It is foul black water.