Ash-Shu'araa 26:171

"Except an old woman among those who remained behind."

Lut's Denunciation of His People's Deeds, Their Response and Their Punishment

The Prophet of Allah forbade them from committing evil deeds and intercourse with males, and he taught them that they should have intercourse with their wives whom Allah had created for them. Their response was only to say:

لَئِن لَّمْ تَنتَهِ يلُوطُ

(If you cease not, O Lut,) meaning, `if you do not give up what you have brought,'

لَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُخْرَجِينَ

(verily, you will be one of those who are driven out!) meaning, `we will expel you from among us.' This is like the Ayah,

فَمَا كَانَ جَوَابَ قَوْمِهِ إِلاَّ أَن قَالُواْ أَخْرِجُواْ ءَالَ لُوطٍ مِّن قَرْيَتِكُمْ إِنَّهمْ أُنَاسٌ يَتَطَهَّرُونَ

(There was no other answer given by his people except that they said: "Drive out the family of Lut from your city. Verily, these are men who want to be clean and pure!") (27:56). When he saw that they would not give up their ways, and that they were persisting in their misguidance, he declared his innocence of them, saying:

إِنِّى لِعَمَلِكُمْ مِّنَ الْقَـلِينَ

(I am, indeed, of those who disapprove with severe anger and fury) `Of those who are outraged, I do not like it and I do not accept it, and I have nothing to do with you. ' Then he prayed to Allah against them and said:

رَبِّ نَّجِنِى وَأَهْلِى مِمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ

(My Lord! Save me and my family from what they do.) Allah says:

فَنَجَّيْنَـهُ وَأَهْلَهُ أَجْمَعِينَ - إِلاَّ عَجُوزاً فِى الْغَـبِرِينَ

(So, We saved him and his family, all. Except an old woman among those who remained behind.) This was his wife, who was a bad old woman. She stayed behind and was destroyed with whoever else was left. This is similar to what Allah says about them in Surat Al-A`raf and Surah Hud, and in Surat Al-Hijr, where Allah commanded him to take his family at night, except for his wife, and not to turn around when they heard the Sayhah as it came upon his people. So they patiently obeyed the command of Allah and persevered, and Allah sent upon the people a punishment which struck them all, and rained upon them stones of baked clay, piled up. Allah says:

ثُمَّ دَمَّرْنَا الاٌّخَرِينَ وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ مَّطَرًا

(Then afterward We destroyed the others. And We rained on them a rain) until Allah's saying;

وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ

(And verily, your Lord, He is indeed the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful. )

كَذَّبَ أَصْحَـبُ لْـَيْكَةِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ - إِذْ قَالَ لَهُمْ شُعَيْبٌ أَلاَ تَتَّقُونَ إِنِّى لَكُمْ رَسُولٌ أَمِينٌ

Пророк Лут призывал своих соплеменников уверовать, но они ответили ему так же, как это делали все остальные неверующие народы. Речи неверных во все времена были похожи, потому что похожи были их сердца. Однако соплеменники Лута отличались от многих других неверных. Они не только приобщали к Аллаху сотоварищей, но и совершали омерзительный грех, который не совершал никто прежде. Мужчины этого народа возлежали с мужчинами и отказывались от половой близости с женщинами. Это были закоренелые преступники, которые испытывали величайшую ненависть по отношению к святому пророку. Несмотря на это, Лут не прекращал проповедовать среди них истинную веру, и поэтому однажды они сказали ему: «О Лут! Твои проповеди закончатся тем, что мы выгоним тебя из нашего города». Когда святой пророк увидел, что его соплеменники не собираются покаяться в своих злодеяниях, он сказал: «Воистину, я испытываю к вашим деяниям ненависть и отвращение и поэтому заклинаю вас поскорее отречься от них». Затем он воззвал к Аллаху и сказал: «Господи! Отдали меня и моих близких от тех мерзких поступков, которые совершают мои соплеменники, и упаси нас от сурового наказания».

إِلَّا عَجُوزًا فِي الْغَابِرِ‌ينَ

Except an old woman among those who remained behind. - 26:171

The word 'old woman' is used for the wife of Sayyidna Lut علیہ السلام who was an infidel and was agreeable to the unnatural act of the people of Lut (علیہ السلام) If the wife of Lut (علیہ السلام) was an old woman then the use of this word for her is quite clear, but if she was not old, then perhaps she was called 'old woman' for the reason that the prophet's wife is regarded like the mother of the Ummah, and to call a woman having many children as old is not unlikely.

Other English translations

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Lut's Denunciation of His People's Deeds, Their Response and Their Punishment