Tell them about the guests of Abraham.

When they entered his presence and said, "Peace!" He said, "We feel afraid of you!"

They said: "Fear not! We give thee glad tidings of a son endowed with wisdom."

He said: "Do ye give me glad tidings that old age has seized me? Of what, then, is your good news?"

They said: "We give thee glad tidings in truth: be not then in despair!"

He said: "And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord, but such as go astray?"

Abraham said: "What then is the business on which ye (have come), O ye messengers (of Allah)?"

They said: "We have been sent to a people (deep) in sin,

"Excepting the adherents of Lut: them we are certainly (charged) to save (from harm),- All -

"Except his wife, who, We have ascertained, will be among those who will lag behind."

At length when the messengers arrived among the adherents of Lut,

He said: "Ye appear to be uncommon folk."

They said: "Yea, we have come to thee to accomplish that of which they doubt.

"We have brought to thee that which is inevitably due, and assuredly we tell the truth.

"Then travel by night with thy household, when a portion of the night (yet remains), and do thou bring up the rear: let no one amongst you look back, but pass on whither ye are ordered."

And We made known this decree to him, that the last remnants of those (sinners) should be cut off by the morning.

The inhabitants of the city came in (mad) joy (at news of the young men).

Lut said: "These are my guests: disgrace me not:

"But fear Allah, and shame me not."

They said: "Did we not forbid thee (to speak) for all and sundry?"

He said: "There are my daughters (to marry), if ye must act (so)."

Verily, by thy life (O Prophet), in their wild intoxication, they wander in distraction, to and fro.

But the (mighty) Blast overtook them before morning,

And We turned (the cities) upside down, and rained down on them brimstones hard as baked clay.

Behold! in this are Signs for those who by tokens do understand.

And the (cities were) right on the high-road.

Behold! in this is a sign for those who believed.

And the Companions of the Wood were also wrong-doers;

So We exacted retribution from them. They were both on an open highway, plain to see.

The Companions of the Rocky Tract also rejected the messengers:

We sent them Our Signs, but they persisted in turning away from them.

Out of the mountains did they hew (their) edifices, (feeling themselves) secure.

But the (mighty) Blast seized them of a morning,

And of no avail to them was all that they did (with such art and care)!

We created not the heavens, the earth, and all between them, but for just ends. And the Hour is surely coming (when this will be manifest). So overlook (any human faults) with gracious forgiveness.

For verily it is thy Lord who is the Master-Creator, knowing all things.

And We have bestowed upon thee the Seven Oft-repeated (verses) and the Grand Qur'an.

Strain not thine eyes. (Wistfully) at what We have bestowed on certain classes of them, nor grieve over them: but lower thy wing (in gentleness) to the believers.

And say: "I am indeed he that warneth openly and without ambiguity,"-

(Of just such wrath) as We sent down on those who divided (Scripture into arbitrary parts),-

(So also on such) as have made Qur'an into shreds (as they please).

Therefore, by the Lord, We will, of a surety, call them to account,

For all their deeds.

Therefore expound openly what thou art commanded, and turn away from those who join false gods with Allah.

For sufficient are We unto thee against those who scoff,-

Those who adopt, with Allah, another god: but soon will they come to know.

We do indeed know how thy heart is distressed at what they say.

But celebrate the praises of thy Lord, and be of those who prostrate themselves in adoration.

And serve thy Lord until there come unto thee the Hour that is Certain.