Lūṭ and His Guests

Then it continues to Lūṭ (peace be upon him), who is related to Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him). And there is the matter of his people, when these angels came in the form of young men: the people there, who were unfortunately sodomites and lived in that region, wished to go after the angels. And Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) grows worried — no; not Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him); Lūṭ (peace be upon him).

In this rush — an hour, a juzʾ — mistakes are made at times, and there are slips. The other day a grasshopper was meant, and it was called a caterpillar. So such slips of the tongue do happen; and al-ḥamdu li-llāh there are good friends out there who point them out. Where they can be corrected they will be corrected, and especially the serious mistakes; and they will be corrected, in shāʾ Allāh. It is a fine thing to have people who look after one in that way. May Allah bless them all.

The matter, then, is that Lūṭ (peace be upon him) is greatly worried and perturbed: how is this, that these are my guests, that these are angels — what is to happen? For he knows these people, that they are after boys. So he says: here are the girls; take them; this is what they are made for; this is what is good for you. And they say that they have no interest in that:

Laqad ʿalimta mā lanā fī banātika min ḥaqq, verse 79, and what follows. And then those people were destroyed, and it speaks of how they were destroyed, the stones rained down upon them:

Wa amṭarnā ʿalayhim ḥijāratan min sijjīlin manḍūd, musawwamah. They were all named as well, ʿinda rabbik. Every one of them was known exactly, which one it was. So they were very intelligent stones — smart stones, as one would say in today's world.