Surah Hud (11) — Ayah 77

(Ayah 77) ➊ { وَ لَمَّا جَآءَتْ رُسُلُنَا لُوْطًا سِيْٓءَ بِهِمْ …:} From here begins the story of Lut (peace be upon him), which has been mentioned in various ways in several surahs, such as Surah Al-A'raf, Al-Hijr, Ash-Shu'ara, An-Naml, Al-Ankabut, As-Saffat, Adh-Dhariyat, and Al-Qamar. See the tafsir in these surahs as well. Lut (peace be upon him) believed in Ibrahim (peace be upon him) when he came out of the fire unharmed, and he migrated with him towards Sham. Allah Almighty honored him with prophethood and sent him to the town named "Sodom" in the valley of Jordan and its surrounding areas. This nation, along with polytheism and disbelief, committed such an evil act that no one in the world had done before them. These people were accustomed to committing indecency with men instead of women. Openly committing evil in their gatherings and robbing was their common behavior. See Surah Al-Ankabut (29). For more details, see the tafsir of Surah Al-A'raf (80 to 83).

➋ {سِيْٓءَ بِهِمْ …: ’’ سَائَهُ يَسُوْئُهُ ‘‘} is a passive verb in the past tense, meaning to grieve, to feel bad. Here, the pronoun of {’’ سِيْٓءَ ‘‘} as the deputy subject refers to Lut (peace be upon him), and the subject is omitted, as if the phrase is: {’’سَاءَهُ مَجِيْئُهُمْ‘‘} meaning their coming made him grieved. The meaning of the passive verb would be: he was grieved because of them. {’’ وَ ضَاقَ بِهِمْ ذَرْعًا ‘‘ ’’ذَرْعٌ‘‘} and {’’ذِرَاعٌ‘‘ } mean arm or the front legs of an animal. If a camel or any living being is not carrying a load, it walks with open steps, but if it is carrying more than its capacity, it lifts its feet with great difficulty, and that too very narrowly, so {’’ضَاقَ ذَرْعًا‘‘} is taken to mean being constricted at heart. The reason Lut (peace be upon him) was grieved at their coming was not miserliness in hospitality—who can be more generous and open-hearted than a prophet—but he knew the evil habit of his people. Obviously, if angels come in human form, how beautiful would they be! Lut (peace be upon him) did not know that they were angels, because only Allah Almighty knows the unseen, and Lut (peace be upon him) had not been informed of this, so what he felt in his heart, Allah Almighty has depicted it perfectly. First, he was grieved, then his heart became constricted at his helplessness, then, just as a person says something to somewhat console his heart, he said: this is a very hard day. [ التحریر والتنویر]

77. 1. The reason for this intense distress of Prophet Lut (عليه السلام) has been written by the commentators: these angels came in the form of young men, who were beardless, due to which Prophet Lut (عليه السلام) felt great danger in view of the evil habit of his people. Because he did not know that these arriving young men were not guests, but rather angels sent by Allah who had come to destroy this people.

77. And when Our messengers came to Lot, he was distressed by their arrival and felt troubled for them, and he said, "This is a difficult [87] day."

[87]
Handsome Angels and Sayyiduna Lut ؑ's Concern:

After leaving Sayyiduna Ibrahim ؑ, these angels came to Sayyiduna Lut ؑ in the form of extremely handsome, youthful, beardless boys. Upon seeing them, Sayyiduna Lut ؑ felt great distress, and various dangers began to loom before him. The greatest danger was that these guests were handsome boys, and his people were involved in such immorality that they would never leave them alone. The other concern was that even if he wanted to defend them, it was not within his power to do so.