Surah Al-A'raf 7:80

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ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ

And [We had sent] Lot when he said to his people, "Do you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you with from among the worlds?

Al-A'raf (The Heights): Verse 80

And [mention] Lot, when he said to his people, "Do you commit such immorality as no one among the worlds has preceded you in doing?

Commentary

This is the fourth narrative (story).

The grammarians state that the name Lot (لوط) was made to undergo ṣarf (diptote/indeclinable treatment) because it is a trilateral root structure with a quiescent middle letter.

On the phrase: {Do you commit immorality} (أتأتون الفاحشة)

This means: Do you commit the heinous sin that is persistent in its ugliness?

On the phrase: {no one among the worlds has preceded you in doing} (ما سبقكم بها من أحد من العالمين)

There are two points of discussion regarding this phrase:

First Discussion:

The author of Al-Kashshāf (Al-Zamakhshari) stated that the first "min" (من) is superfluous (extra) to emphasize the negation and convey the meaning of totality/encompassingness, while the second "min" (من) denotes partiality (part of the worlds).

If it is asked: How can it be permissible to say, {no one among the worlds has preceded you in doing} when desire (shahwah) always calls toward this act?

The Answer: We observe many people who find this act repulsive. If it is possible for a large number of people to find it repulsive, then it is not far-fetched that many epochs (a'ṣār) passed during which no one in those epochs committed it.

Another view: It might be said that perhaps they entirely devoted themselves to this act, and complete devotion to this act is something that did not occur in previous epochs.

Al-Hasan said: They used to marry men in their anuses, and they would only marry strangers. 'Aṭā’ narrated from Ibn 'Abbās: This practice became so entrenched among them that some of them did it to others (i.e., among themselves).

Second Discussion:

The phrase {has preceded you} (ما سبقكم) can be:

A new, independent clause used for reprimanding them (a new statement of rebuke).
An adjective describing the immorality (al-fāḥishah), similar to the Almighty's saying: {And a sign for them is the night: We strip the daylight from it} (Qur'an 36:37). The poet also said:

And indeed, I passed by a base man who insults me...

! 7 < { Indeed, you approach men with desire instead of women. Rather, you are a people who transgress. } > 7 !

Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:80

Mafatih al-Ghayb