Tafsir of An-Naml 27:54-55

{And [mention] Lot, when he said...} Mention [the story of] Our messenger, Lot. Or, it means "We sent Lot," based on the indication of the preceding verse: "And We have certainly sent..."

{...while you are witnessing} This refers to the vision of the heart (insight). It means: You know that it is an abomination the likes of which no one has preceded you in. You know that Allah created the female for the male, and did not create the male for the male, nor the female for the female. Thus, [this act] is in opposition to Allah in His wisdom and His decree. Your knowledge of this makes your sin greater and more profound in its ugliness and repulsiveness.

This contains evidence that an ugly act committed by one who knows better is uglier than when committed by a servant, because He is the All-Knowing of the knowers and the Wisest of the judges.

Alternatively, it means: You witness it from one another, for they used to commit it in their gatherings openly, not concealing it from one another out of shamelessness, depravity, and immersion in disobedience. It is as if Abu Nuwas built his verse upon their school of thought: “Speak openly of what you do, and spare me the metaphors; For there is no pleasure in delights that lack exposure.”

Or, it means: You witness the traces of the sinners who came before you and what befell them.

If you ask: You interpreted "witnessing" as knowledge, and then followed it with {Nay, you are a people who are ignorant}. How can they be both knowledgeable and ignorant? I say: He meant: You act like the ignorant, despite your knowledge that it is an abomination. Or, you are ignorant of the consequence. Or, he meant by "ignorance" the foolishness and depravity they were upon.

If you ask: {You are ignorant} is an adjective for "a people," and the described noun is in the form of the third person. Why did the adjective not match the described noun, such that it would be read with a ya (third person) instead of a ta (second person)? The same applies to "Nay, you are a people who are being tested." I say: Both the third person and the second person are present, but the second person prevailed because it is stronger and more firmly rooted in origin than the third person.

{And the answer of his people was not but that they said, "Expel the family of Lot from your city. Indeed, they are people who keep themselves pure." So We saved him and his family, except his wife; We destined her to be of those who remained behind. And We rained upon them a rain [of stones], and evil is the rain of those who were warned.}