Tafseer Ibn Kathir of HUUD [74]

74. Then when the fear had gone away from (the mind of) Ibrahim, and the glad tidings had reached him, he began to plead with Us (Our messengers) for the people of Lut. 75. Verily, Ibrahim was, without doubt, forbearing, used to invoke Allah with humility, and was repentant. 76. ”O Ibrahim! Forsake this. Indeed, the commandment of your Lord has gone forth. Verily, there will come a torment for them which cannot be turned back.'' Allah, the Exalted, informs of what happened after the fright of Ibrahim left him and he felt no more fear of the angels when they refused to eat. After this, they gave him the glad tidings of the birth of a son and the destruction of the people of Lut. When they told him of this, he spoke to them as Sa`id bin Jubayr narrated concerning this verse. Sa`id said: When Jibril and the other angels who were with him came to Ibrahim, they said,

(Verily, we are going to destroy the people of this town.) Ibrahim said to them, ”Will you destroy a town that has three hundred believers in it'' They said, ”No.'' He then said, ”Will you destroy a town that has two hundred believers in it'' They said, ”No.'' He said, ”Will you destroy a town that has forty believers in it'' They said, ”No.'' He then said, ”Thirty'' They still replied, ”No.'' This continued until he said, ”Five'' They said, ”No.'' Then he said, ”What do you think if there is one Muslim man in the town, would you destroy it'' They said, ”No.'' With this, 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.'') Therefore, Ibrahim remained silent and his soul was at rest. Concerning Allah's statement,

(Verily, Ibrahim was, without doubt, forbearing, used to invoke Alllah with humility, and was repentant (to Allah).) ï´¿11:75ï´¾ This is a commendation for Ibrahim because of these beautiful characteristics. Then Allah says,

(O Ibrahim! Forsake this. Indeed, the commandment of your Lord has gone forth.) This means the decree was settled concerning them and the Word was already given that they should be destroyed. The evil torment was coming to them, that cannot be averted from wicked people.