Surah Ankabut Ayat 31 in Arabic Text
English Translation
Here you can read various translations of verse 31
And when Our messengers came to Abraham with the good tidings, they said, “Indeed, we will destroy the people of that Lot’s city. Indeed, its people have been wrongdoers.”
When Our Messengers came to Abraham with the good news, they said: “We are indeed going to destroy the people of this township: for truly they are (addicted to) crime.”
When Our emissaries brought the good news to Abraham, and said (to him): “We are surely going to destroy the inhabitants of this city; its inhabitants are immersed in wrong-doing.”
And when Our Messengers came to Ibrahim (Abraham) with the glad tidings they said: “Verily, we are going to destroy the people of this [Lout’s (Lot’s)] town (i.e. the town of Sodom in Palestine) truly, its people have been Zalimun [wrong-doers, polytheists and disobedient to Allah, and have also belied their Messenger Lout (Lot)].”
And when Our messengers brought Abraham the good news, they said: Lo! we are about to destroy the people of that township, for its people are wrong-doers.
And as soon as Our Messengers came to Ibrahîm with the good tidings, they said, “Surely we will cause the population of this town to perish; surely its population have been unjust.”
When Our mes-sengers brought the good news [of the birth of a son] to Abraham,they told him, ‘We are about to destroy the people of that town. They are wrongdoers.’
اور جب ہمارے بھیجے ہوئے فرشتے ابراہیم (علیہ السلام) کے پاس بشارت لے کر پہنچے کہنے لگے کہ اس بستی والوں کو ہم ہلاک کرنے والے ہیں، یقیناً یہاں کے رہنے والے گنہگار ہیں
Quran 29 Verse 31 Explanation
For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Ankabut ayat 31, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.
Ala-Maududi
(29:31) When Our emissaries brought the good news[53] to Abraham, and said (to him): “We are surely going to destroy the inhabitants[54] of this city; its inhabitants are immersed in wrong-doing.”
53. According to the details given of this in Surah Hud and Surah A1-Hijr, the angels who had been sent to bring the torment on the people of the Prophet Lot (peace be upon him), first came to the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) and gave him the good news of the birth of the Prophet Isaac (peace be upon him) and after him of the Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him). Then they told him that they had been sent to destroy the people of Lot (peace be upon him).
54. “This habitation” refers to the territory of the people of Lot (peace be upon him). The Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) at that time resided in the Palestinian city of Hebron, now called Al-Khalil. A few miles to the southeast of this city lies that part of the Dead Sea, which was once inhabited by the people of Lot (peace be upon him) and which is now under sea water. It is a low lying area and is clearly visible from the hill country of Hebron. That is why the angels, pointing towards it, had said “We are going to destroy this habitation.” See (Surah Ash-Shuara, ayat 173) note 114.
Ibn-Kathir
31. And when Our messengers came to Ibrahim with the glad tidings they said: “Verily, we are going to destroy the people of this town; truly, its people have been wrongdoers.” 32. Ibrahim said: “But there is Lut in it.” They said: “We know better who is there. We will verily, save him and his family – except his wife, she will be of those who remain behind.” 33. And when Our messengers came to Lut, he was grieved because of them, and felt straitened on their account. They said: “Have no fear, and do not grieve! Truly, we shall save you and your family except your wife: she will be of those who remain behind.” 34. “Verily, we are about to bring down on the people of this town a great torment from the sky, because they have been rebellious.” 35. And indeed We have left thereof an evident Ayah for a folk who understand.
When Lut, peace be upon him, asked Allah to help him against them, Allah sent angels to help him. They first came to Ibrahim in the form of guests, so he offered them hospitality in the appropriate manner. When he saw that they had no interest in the food, he felt some mistrust of them and was fearful of them. They started to calm him down and gave him the news of a righteous son born by his wife Sarah, who was present, and she was astonished by this, as we have already explained in our Tafsir of Surat Hud and Surat Al-Hijr. When they brought this news to Ibrahim and told him that they were sent to destroy the people of Lut, he began to speak up for them, hoping to win more time for them so that they might be guided by Allah. When they said, “We have come to destroy the people of this township,”
((Ibrahim) said: “But there is Lut in it.” They said: “We know better who is there. We will verily, save him and his family except his wife, she will be of those who remain behind.”) meaning, one of those who will be destroyed, because she used to support them in their disbelief and wrongdoing. Then the angels left him and visited Lut in the form of handsome young men. When he saw them like that,
(he was grieved because of them, and felt straitened on their account.) means, he was worried since if he had them as guests then he was afraid for them and what his people might do to them, but if he did not host them, he was still afraid of what might happen to them. At that point he did not know who they were.
(They said: “Have no fear, and do not grieve! Truly, we shall save you and your family except your wife: she will be of those who remain behind. Verily, we are about to bring down on the people of this town a great torment from the sky, because they have been rebellious.”) Jibril, peace be upon him, uprooted their town from the depths of the earth, lifted it up to the sky, then threw it upside down upon them. Allah rained upon them:
(stones of Sijjil, in a well-arranged manner one after another. Marked from your Lord; and they are not ever far from the evil doers.) ﴿11:82-83﴾ Allah turned the place where they had lived into a putrid, stinking lake, which will remain as a lesson to mankind until the Day of Resurrection, and they will be among those who are most severely punished on the Day of Resurrection. Allah says:
(And indeed We have left thereof an evident Ayah) i. e., a clear sign, n
(for a folk who understand.) This is like the Ayah,
(Verily, you pass by them in the morning And at night; will you not then reflect) (37:137-138)
Quick navigation links
