Ash-Shu'ara': 173

Ayah

Word by Word

وَأَمۡطَرۡنَا

And We rained

عَلَيۡهِم

upon them

مَّطَرٗاۖ

a rain

فَسَآءَ

and evil was

مَطَرُ

(was) the rain

ٱلۡمُنذَرِينَ

(on) those who were warned

Translation

We rained down on them a shower (of brimstone): and evil was the shower on those who were admonished (but heeded not)!

Tafsir

Lut and His Call

Allah tells:

كَذَّبَتۡ قَوۡمُ لُوطٍ الۡمُرۡسَلِينَ

إِذۡ قَالَ لَهُمۡ أَخُوهُمۡ لُوطٌ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ

إِنِّي لَكُمۡ رَسُولٌ أَمِينٌ

فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ

وَمَا أَسۡأَلُكُمۡ عَلَيۡهِ مِنۡ أَجۡرٍ

إِنۡ أَجۡرِيَ إِلاَّ عَلَى رَبِّ الۡعَالَمِينَ

The people of Lut denied the Messengers. When their brother Lut said to them:

Will you not have Taqwa! Verily, I am a trustworthy Messenger to you. So, have Taqwa of Allah, and obey me. No reward do I ask of you for it; my reward is only from the Lord of all that exits.

Here Allah tells us about His servant and Messenger Lut, peace be upon him.

He was Lut bin Haran bin Azar, the nephew of Ibrahim Al-Khalil, upon him be peace. Allah sent him to a mighty nation during the lifetime of Ibrahim, peace be upon them both. They lived in Sadum (Sodom) and its environs, where Allah destroyed them and turned the area into a putrid, stinking lake, which is well-known in the land of Al-Ghur (the Jordan Valley), bordering the mountains of Jerusalem, between the mountains and the land of Al-Karak and Ash-Shawbak.

He called them to Allah, to worship Him alone with no partner or associate, and to obey the Messenger whom Allah sent to them.

He forbade from disobeying Allah and committing the sin that they had invented which was unknown on earth before their time; intercourse with males instead of with females.

Lut's Denunciation of His People's Deeds, Their Response and Their Punishment

Allah said:

أَتَأۡتُونَ الذُّكۡرَانَ مِنَ الۡعَالَمِينَ

وَتَذَرُونَ مَا خَلَقَ لَكُمۡ رَبُّكُمۡ مِنۡ أَزۡوَاجِكُم

بَلۡ أَنتُمۡ قَوۡمٌ عَادُونَ

Go you in unto the males of Al-`Alamin (people), And leave those whom Allah has created for you to be your wives! Nay, you are a trespassing people!

The Prophet of Allah forbade them from committing evil deeds and intercourse with males, and he taught them that they should have intercourse with their wives whom Allah had created for them. Their response was only to say

قَالُوا لَيِن لَّمۡ تَنتَهِ يَا لُوطُ

They said:If you cease not, O Lut,

meaning, `if you do not give up what you have brought,'

لَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الۡمُخۡرَجِينَ

verily, you will be one of those who are driven out!

meaning, `we will expel you from among us.'

This is like the Ayah,

فَمَا كَانَ جَوَابَ قَوۡمِهِ إِلاَّ أَن قَالُواۡ أَخۡرِجُواۡ ءَالَ لُوطٍ مِّن قَرۡيَتِكُمۡ إِنَّهمۡ أُنَاسٌ يَتَطَهَّرُونَ

There was no other answer given by his people except that they said:Drive out the family of Lut from your city. Verily, these are men who want to be clean and pure! (27:56)

When he ﷺ that they would not give up their ways, and that they were persisting in their misguidance, he declared his innocence of them:

قَالَ إِنِّي لِعَمَلِكُم مِّنَ الۡقَالِينَ

He said:I am, indeed, of those who disapprove with severe anger and fury.

`Of those who are outraged, I do not like it and I do not accept it, and I have nothing to do with you.'

Then he prayed to Allah against them and said:

رَبِّ نَجِّنِي وَأَهۡلِي مِمَّا يَعۡمَلُونَ

My Lord! Save me and my family from what they do.

Allah says:

فَنَجَّيۡنَاهُ وَأَهۡلَهُ أَجۡمَعِينَ

إِلاَّ عَجُوزًا فِي الۡغَابِرِينَ

So, We saved him and his family, all. Except an old woman among those who remained behind.

This was his wife, who was a bad old woman. She stayed behind and was destroyed with whoever else was left.

This is similar to what Allah says about them in Surah Al-A`raf and Surah Hud, and in Surah Al-Hijr, where Allah commanded him to take his family at night, except for his wife, and not to turn around when they heard the Sayhah as it came upon his people. So they patiently obeyed the command of Allah and persevered, and Allah sent upon the people a punishment which struck them all, and rained upon them stones of baked clay, piled up.

Allah says:

ثُمَّ دَمَّرۡنَا الاۡخَرِينَ

وَأَمۡطَرۡنَا عَلَيۡهِم مَّطَرًا

فَسَاء مَطَرُ الۡمُنذَرِينَ

إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَايَةً

وَمَا كَانَ أَكۡثَرُهُم مُّوۡمِنِينَ

وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الۡعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ

Then afterward We destroyed the others. And We rained on them a rain, and how evil was the rain of those who had been warned!

Verily, in this is indeed a sign, yet most of them are not believers. And verily your Lord, He is indeed the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful.