29/26-40 — Lot, Shuʿayb and four forms of destruction
This block names several communities one after another and closes by gathering them all into a single verse.
Wa Lūṭan idh qāla li-qawmihī innakum la-taʾtūna'l-fāḥishata mā sabaqakum bihā min aḥadin mina'l-ʿālamīn
The side of the narrative treated here is the answer of the people: fa-mā kāna jawāba qawmihī illā an qālu'tinā bi-ʿadhābi'llāh — "bring us the punishment of God!"
I record this as an observation: the same pattern (fa-mā kāna jawāba qawmihī illā) had been used for Abraham as well in the twenty-fourth verse. In both places what is called an "answer" is not a proof: one is a proposal of execution, the other a challenge. The sūra records twice, with the same pattern, that the opposition is not made by way of proof.
وَتَأْتُونَ فِى نَادِيكُمُ ٱلْمُنكَرَ — nādī: a meeting place, an assembly. The word announces that what is done is done in the open.
And Abraham's exchange with the angels (31-32) is worth recording: inna fīhā Lūṭā · qālū naḥnu aʿlamu bi-man fīhā. An objection is raised, and the objection is not rejected — it is met with knowledge.
The fortieth verse gathers into a single sentence all the communities named in the block, and enumerates four forms of destruction:
| Form | Expression | From where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fa-minhum man arsalnā ʿalayhi ḥāṣibā | From the sky — a wind hurling stones |
| 2 | Wa minhum man akhadhathu'ṣ-ṣayḥa | By sound |
| 3 | Wa minhum man khasafnā bihi'l-arḍ | From the earth — being swallowed into the ground |
| 4 | Wa minhum man aghraqnā | By water — drowning |
Four different directions: from above, by sound, from below, from the water. This is a classification that can be verified from the text.
وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِيَظْلِمَهُمْ وَلَٰكِن كَانُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ — and the block closes with a sentence that puts responsibility in its place.
The word order must be recorded: kānū anfusahum yaẓlimūn — the object (anfusahum) comes before the verb. In Arabic this fronting conveys emphasis: the ones wronged are themselves.