138. And by night; do you not then use your reason?

"And by night": It is said, meaning: and in the evening. This is intended to mean the beginning of the night, because it is the time for travel, and because it stands in contrast to the morning. It is also said: it means by day and by night, but this is an interpretation for which there is no necessity, which is why the first view was preferred. The reason for the specification in that view is that perhaps Sodom was located near a place from which the traveler departs in the morning and arrives in the evening. Some eminent scholars said: If it is kept to its literal sense, it is because the lands of the Arabs, due to their intense heat, are traveled through at night until the morning; this avoids the burden of trying to justify the contrast.

"Do you not then use your reason?": Do you witness that, yet fail to use your reason so that you might take a lesson from it and fear that what befell them might befall you? For the cause of that [their destruction] was their opposition to their Messenger, and opposing the Messenger is a common factor between you and them.