Surah 11:82

Surah 11

"So when Our command came, We turned it upside down, and rained on it stones of baked clay, one after another,"

Islamic Commentaries (1)Manuscripts (38)

The Town of Lut's People is overturned and Their Destruction Verses 11:82-83

Show Full Scripture Context (11:82-83) — 2 Verses

Verse 82

فَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمۡرُنَا جَعَلۡنَا عَٰلِيَهَا سَافِلَهَا وَأَمۡطَرۡنَا عَلَيۡهَا حِجَارَةٗ مِّن سِجِّيلٖ مَّنضُودٖ

So when Our command came, We turned it upside down, and rained on it stones of baked clay, one after another,

Verse 83

مُّسَوَّمَةً عِندَ رَبِّكَۖ وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٖ

marked in the presence of your Lord. It is not far from the evildoers.

Allah, the Exalted, says,

Quoted Scripture

"So when Our commandment came,"

This happened at sunrise.

{We [turned it]...} The city of Sadum (Sodom)

{upside down,} This is similar to Allah's statement,

{So there covered them that which did cover (torment with stones).} 53:54

This means, "We rained upon it with stones made of Sijjil." Sijjil is a Persian word meaning stones made of clay. This definition has been mentioned by Ibn 'Abbas and others.

Some of the scholars said that it (Sijjil) derived from the word Sang, which means a stone. Some others said it means Wakil, which is clay. In another verse Allah says,

{the stones of clay,} This means clay made into strong, hard stone. Some of the scholars said it means baked clay. Al-Bukhari said, "Sijjil means that which is big and strong."

Concerning Allah's statement,

{in an array.} Some of the scholars said that Mandud means the stones were arranged in the heavens and prepared for that (destruction). Others said,

{in an array.} This word means that some of them (the stones) followed others in their descent upon the people of Lut.

Concerning the statement,

{Marked} meaning the stones were marked and sealed, all of them having the names of their victims written on them. Qatadah and Ikrimah both said, "Musawwamah means each stone was encompassed by a sprinkling of red coloring." The commentators have mentioned that it (the shower of stones) descended upon the people of the town and upon the various villages around it. One of them would be speaking with some people when a stone would strike him from the sky and kill him while he was among the people. Thus, the stones followed them, striking the people in the entire land until they destroyed them all. Not a single one of them remained.

Concerning Allah's statement,

Quoted Scripture

"and they are not ever far from the wrongdoers."

This means that this vengeance (of Allah) is not far from similar wrongdoers. Verily, it has been reported in a Hadith of the Sunan collections, from Ibn 'Abbas, which he attributed to the Prophet,

"Whoever you find doing the deed of Lut's people [homosexuality], then kill the doer and the one who allows it to be done to him (both partners)."

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.

Navigation