Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL ANBIYAA' [71]

71. And We rescued him and Lut to the land which We have blessed for the nations. 72. And We bestowed upon him Ishaq, and Ya`qub Nafilatan. Each one We made righteous. 73. And We made them leaders, guiding by Our command, and We revealed to them the doing of good deeds, performing Salah, and the giving of Zakah, and of Us (Alone) they were the worshippers. 74. And (remember) Lut, We gave him wisdom and knowledge, and We saved him from the town who practised Al-Khaba'ith. Verily, they were a people given to evil, and were rebellious. 75. And We admitted him to Our mercy; truly, he was of the righteous. Allah tells us that He saved Ibrahim from the fire lit by his people, and brought him out from among them, migrating to the land of Ash-Sham, to the sacred regions thereof.

(And We bestowed upon him Ishaq, and Ya`qub Nafilatan.) `Ata' and Mujahid said, ”Nafilatan means as a gift.'' Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah and Al-Hakam bin `Uyaynah said, ”The gift of a son who has a son,'' meaning that Ya`qub was the son of Ishaq, as Allah says:

(But We gave her glad tidings of Ishaq, and after Ishaq, of Ya`qub) ﴿11:71﴾. `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said, ”He asked for one ﴿son﴾, and said,

(”My Lord! Grant me from the righteous.'') So Allah gave him Ishaq, and gave him Ya`qub in addition.

(Each one We made righteous. ) means, both of them were good and righteous people.

(And We made them leaders,) means, examples to be followed.

(guiding by Our command,) inviting to Him by His leave. Allah says:

(and We revealed to them the doing of good deeds, performing Salah, and the giving of Zakah,) Here the general is followed by the specific.

(and of Us (Alone) they were the worshippers.) means, they did what they enjoined others to do.   Then Allah mentions Lut, whose full name was Lut bin Haran bin Azar. He believed in Ibrahim and followed him, and migrated with him, as Allah says:

(So Lut believed in him. He (Ibrahim) said: ”I will emigrate for the sake of my Lord'') ﴿29:26﴾. Allah gave him wisdom and knowledge; He sent Revelation to him, made him a Prophet and appointed him to Sadum (Sodom) and its vicinity, but they rejected him and resisted him, so Allah utterly destroyed them, as He tells us in several places in His Book. Allah says;

(and We saved him from the town who practised Al-Khaba'ith. Verily, they were a people given to evil, and were rebellious. And We admitted him to Our mercy; truly, he was of the righteous.)