Tafseer Ibn Kathir of HUUD [82]

82. So when Our commandment came, We turned them upside down, and rained on them stones of clay, in an array. 83. Marked from your Lord; and they are not ever far from the wrongdoers. Allah, the Exalted, says,

(So when Our commandment came,) This happened at sunrise.

(We ï´¿turned itï´¾...) The city of Sadum (Sodom)

(upside down,) This is similar to Allah's statement,

(So there covered them that which did cover (torment with stones).)﴿53:54﴾ This means, ”We rained upon it with stones made of Sijjil.'' Sijjil is a Persian word meaning stones made of clay. This definition has been mentioned by Ibn `Abbas and others. Some of the scholars said that it (Sijjil) derived from the word Sang, which means a stone. Some others said it means Wakil, which is clay. In another verse Allah says,

(the stones of clay,) This means clay made into strong, hard stone. Some of the scholars said it means baked clay. Al-Bukhari said, ”Sijjil means that which is big and strong.'' Concerning Allah's statement,

(in an array. ) Some of the scholars said that Mandud means the stones were arranged in the heavens and prepared for that (destruction). Others said,

(in an array.) This word means that some of them (the stones) followed others in their descent upon the people of Lut. Concerning the statement,

(Marked) meaning the stones were marked and sealed, all of them having the names of their victims written on them. Qatadah and `Ikrimah both said, ”Musawwamah means each stone was encompassed by a sprinkling of red coloring.'' The commentators have mentioned that it (the shower of stones) descended upon the people of the town and upon the various villages around it. One of them would be speaking with some people when a stone would strike him from the sky and kill him while he was among the people. Thus, the stones followed them, striking the people in the entire land until they destroyed them all. Not a single one of them remained. Concerning Allah's statement,

(and they are not ever far from the wrongdoers.) This means that this vengeance (of Allah) is not far from similar wrongdoers. Verily, it has been reported in a Hadith of the Sunan collections, from Ibn `Abbas, which he attributed to the Prophet ,

(Whoever you find doing the deed of Lut's people ï´¿homosexualityï´¾, then kill the doer and the one who allows it to be done to him (both partners).)