| Hud: (76-77) O Abraham, turn away...

Know that His saying: {O Abraham, turn away from this} means that the angels said to him: Leave off this argumentation, for the command of your Lord has come regarding inflicting this punishment upon them. If the text clearly indicates this ruling, there is no way to repel it. Therefore, they commanded him to cease arguing. When they mentioned: {Indeed, the command of your Lord has come}, and this wording did not indicate what this command was about, God Almighty clarified that a punishment is coming to them that will not be turned back, meaning a punishment that cannot be repelled or averted.

Then He said: {And when Our messengers came to Lot, he was distressed by them and felt constrained by [the situation with] them}. These messengers are the same ones who brought the good news of a son to Abraham, peace be upon them. Ibn Abbas (may God be pleased with him) said: They departed from Abraham and went to Lot. The distance between the two towns was four farāsikh (leagues). They entered upon him in the guise of handsome young men among the sons of Adam, and they were exceedingly beautiful. Lot did not know they were angels of God. Six interpretations are mentioned regarding why he was distressed:

1. He thought they were humans, so he feared the wickedness of his people and that they would be unable to resist them.
2. Their arrival distressed him because he did not have what he could spend on them, nor was he capable of fulfilling the rights of their hospitality.
3. It distressed him because his people prevented him from bringing guests into his house.
4. Their arrival distressed him because he knew through his prudence that they were angels and that they had only come for the destruction of his people.

The first interpretation is the soundest due to the indication in His saying: {And his people came to him rushing} (Hud: 78).

Three remaining terms in the verse must be explained:

The first term: His saying: {he was distressed by them} (sū’a bihim). This means their arrival distressed him. Sā’a (to distress) is an intransitive verb that can be made transitive, like sā’tuhu fa-sū’a (I distressed him, so he became distressed), similar to shaghaltuhu fa-shaghala (I occupied him, so he became occupied) and sarrartuhu fa-sura (I pleased him, so he became pleased). Al-Zajjaj said: Its origin was suwi’a bihim, but the wāw was quiescent, and its vowel (damma) was transferred to the sīn (making it sū’a).

The second term: His saying: {and felt constrained by [the situation with] them} (wa-ḍāqa bihim dhara‘an). Al-Azhari said: Adh-Dhar‘ is used in place of capacity (ṭāqah). Its origin relates to a camel that measures its stride (yadhra‘u) with its forelegs as far as its step allows. If it is loaded beyond its capacity, its dhara‘ becomes tight for that, so it weakens and stretches its neck. Thus, the tightness of the dhara‘ is used as an expression for capacity and ability. It is said: Mālī bihi dhara‘un wa-lā dhirā‘un (I have no capacity for him), meaning I have no strength for him. The proof for the correctness of what we said is that they use adh-dhirā‘ (cubit/arm) in place of adh-dhara‘ and say: Ḍīqtu bil-amri dhirā‘an (I became constrained by the matter).

The third term: His saying: {this is a difficult day} (yawmun ‘aṣīb). This means a severe day. It is called ‘aṣīb (severe/binding) because it binds a person with evil.

7 < {And his people came to him rushing, and before that they used to commit evil deeds. He said, "O my people, these are my daughters; they are purer for you. So fear Allah and do not disgrace me concerning my guests. Is there not among you a right-minded man?" * They said, "You know that we have no right to your daughters, and indeed, you know what we want." * He said, "If only I had strength against you or could resort to a strong support."} > 7

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