وَلَمَّا جَآءَتْ رُسُلُنَآ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ بِٱلْبُشْرَىٰ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا مُهْلِكُوٓا۟ أَهْلِ هَـٰذِهِ ٱلْقَرْيَةِ ۖ إِنَّ أَهْلَهَا كَانُوا۟ ظَـٰلِمِينَ 31
Translations
And when Our messengers [i.e., angels] came to Abraham with the good tidings, they said, "Indeed, we will destroy the people of that [i.e., Lot's] city. Indeed, its people have been wrongdoers."
Transliteration
Wa-lammā jāat rusulunā Ibrāhīma bil-bushrā qālū innā muhlikusū ahla hādhihi al-qaryah; inna ahlahā kānū ẓālimīn
Tafsir (Explanation)
When the angels came to Prophet Ibrahim with glad tidings (of the birth of Isaac), they informed him of their mission to destroy the people of Sodom and Gomorrah due to their tyranny and wickedness. Ibn Kathir notes that this destruction was a consequence of their persistent rejection of truth and their oppressive conduct, serving as a clear warning that divine punishment inevitably follows the transgression of divine limits. The juxtaposition of glad tidings to Ibrahim with the announcement of destruction emphasizes both God's mercy to the righteous and His justice against the wrongdoers.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of the narrative in Surah Al-'Ankabut (Meccan surah) that recounts the story of Abraham's guests—the angels—who visited him to deliver good news and to inform him of the destruction of the sinful people of Lot. The broader context discusses God's historical patterns of destroying nations that rejected His messengers, reinforcing the Quranic theme that persistence in wrongdoing leads to inevitable divine punishment.
Related Hadiths
Sahih Muslim 2157: The Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned that among the people of the Fire, the least punished are those in the shallowest depths, and among the people of Paradise, the least rewarded are in the lowest levels—illustrating degrees of consequence. Related thematically: Hadith in Sunan Ibn Majah about the destruction of nations that rejected messengers (e.g., Thamud, 'Ad).
Themes
Key Lesson
Just as God delivered glad tidings to Abraham while announcing judgment upon the oppressors, believers today should recognize that moral corruption and injustice do not go unnoticed by the Divine—righteousness is rewarded while wrongdoing inevitably faces consequences, both in this life and the next.
Related Ayahs
لَّا تَدْعُوا۟ ٱلْيَوْمَ ثُبُورًا وَٰحِدًا وَٱدْعُوا۟ ثُبُورًا كَثِيرًا
[They will be told], "Do not cry this Day for one destruction but cry for much destruction."
ذَٰلِكَ جَزَآؤُهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ بِمَا كَفَرُوا۟ وَٱتَّخَذُوٓا۟ ءَايَـٰتِى وَرُسُلِى هُزُوًا
That is their recompense - Hell - for what they denied and [because] they took My signs and My messengers in ridicule.
لِلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَجَابُوا۟ لِرَبِّهِمُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لَهُۥ لَوْ أَنَّ لَهُم مَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا وَمِثْلَهُۥ مَعَهُۥ لَٱفْتَدَوْا۟ بِهِۦٓ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ لَهُمْ سُوٓءُ ٱلْحِسَابِ وَمَأْوَىٰهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ ۖ وَبِئْسَ ٱلْمِهَادُ
For those who have responded to their Lord is the best [reward], but those who did not respond to Him - if they had all that is in the earth entirely and the like of it with it, they would [attempt to] ransom themselves thereby. Those will have the worst account, and their refuge is Hell, and wretched is the resting place.
وَأَنَّهُۥٓ أَهْلَكَ عَادًا ٱلْأُولَىٰ
And that He destroyed the first [people of] ʿAad.