ﱥ ﱦ ﱧ ﱨ ﱩ ﱪ ﱫ ﱬ ﱭ ﱮ ﱯ ﱰ ﱱ ﱲ ﱳ ﱴ ﱵ ﱶ ﱷ ﱸ ﱹ ﱺ ﱻ ﱼ
And when Our messengers came to Lot, he was distressed for them and felt for them great discomfort. They said, "Fear not, nor grieve. Indeed, we will save you and your family, except your wife; she is to be of those who remain behind.
Tafsir
Verse range: 29:33
"And when Our messengers came..."
{ أن } (When/That): A connective particle that emphasizes the occurrence of the two verbs [the coming of the messengers and the distress of Lot] in succession, at two adjacent times with no interval between them. It is as if they occurred in a single moment of time. It is as if it were said: "As soon as he sensed their arrival, distress surprised him without delay, out of fear for them from his people."
{ وضاق بهم ذرعا } (And he was distressed for them): He was distressed regarding their situation and the management of their affair, meaning his dhar'u (capacity/strength). The Arabs used "narrowness of the arm (dhirāʿ) and capacity (dharʿ)" as an expression for the lack of ability. Just as they say, "He has a wide arm for such-and-such," when he is capable of it. The origin of this is that when a man’s arm is long, he reaches what a short-armed man cannot. Thus, it became a metaphor for incapacity and capability.
{ إنا منزلون على أهل هذه القرية رجزا من السماء بما كانوا يفسقون * ولقد تركنا منها آية بينة لقوم يعقلون }
"Indeed, We will bring down upon the people of this city a punishment from the sky because they have been defiantly disobedient. And We have certainly left of it a sign as clear evidence for a people who use reason."
