Surah Al-Hijr (15) — Ayah 72

(Ayah72){لَعَمْرُكَ اِنَّهُمْ لَفِيْ …: ’’ عَمْرٌ ‘‘} With a fatha on the ‘ayn, it is another dialectical form of {’’عُمْرٌ‘‘}, and its meaning is the duration of life in this world. When used in an oath, the ‘ayn is always open (with a fatha). The lām at the beginning is for initiation (ibtidā’), which means “by.” {’’عَمْرٌ‘‘} is the subject, and its predicate is {’’قَسْمِيْ‘‘ } or {’’يَمِيْنِيْ‘‘}, which is necessarily omitted, meaning: “By your life.” {’’سَكْرَةٌ‘‘} means to be intoxicated, to be in a stupor. Most commentators say that Allah Almighty swore by the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and honored him so much that He did not swear by the life of any other human being. This is a parenthetical sentence within the story of Lot (peace be upon him), intended to express that they would never desist from misguidance. The connection between the oath and its response is that, O Prophet! Your entire pure life and chastity is proof that those people who acted in complete opposition to it were, in fact, not in their senses, and in such a state of intoxication they were wandering lost that it was impossible for them to come to the right path.

Another interpretation is that these are the words of the angels, and they swore by the life of Lot (peace be upon him). In our Shariah, it is forbidden to swear by anyone other than Allah Almighty; this prohibition has come in Sahih hadiths. Allah Almighty can swear by whomever He wills. The detailed discussion about oaths will, insha’Allah, come at a later point.