Tafsir of Al-`Ankabut 29:31

(And when Our messengers came to Abraham with the glad tidings): that is, with the good news of the child and the supererogatory gift.

(They said): that is, to Abraham, peace be upon him, in the midst of their discourse: (We are going to destroy the people of this town): meaning the town of Sodom, which was the largest of the towns of the people of Lot and the place where the indecency first originated, according to what has been said, and for this reason, it was singled out for mention. The reference with "this" indicates that it was near to the location of Abraham, peace be upon him. The genitive construction (idafa) of "destroyers" (muhliku) to "people" (ahl) is verbal (grammatical), because the meaning pertains to the future. It is also permissible for it to be a real (genitive) construction, treating the event as if it had already occurred to emphasize certainty and hyperbole.

(Indeed, its people are wrongdoers): This is a justification for the destruction based on their persistence in wrongdoing and their indulgence in various forms of corruption and kinds of disobedience. The emphasis in both instances is for the sake of highlighting the importance of the news. He, the Exalted, said: (Indeed, its people) rather than "indeed they are," despite the latter being more apparent and concise, to explicitly stipulate their consensus upon corruption, as Al-Khafaji chose.

Some meticulous scholars have said: This is to indicate that the source of the corruption of their nature lies in the foulness of their substance; thus, there is a subtle allusion that what is meant by "the people of the town" are those who grew up in it, so it does not include Lot, peace be upon him. This has been objected to on the grounds that such a subtlety would be extremely far-fetched if it were directed at Abraham, peace be upon him, as is apparent from the words of the Exalted...