قَالُوا۟ يَٰلُوطُ إِنَّا رُسُلُ رَبِّكَ لَن يَصِلُوٓا۟ إِلَيْكَ فَأَسْرِ بِأَهْلِكَ بِقِطْعٍ مِّنَ ٱلَّيْلِ وَلَا يَلْتَفِتْ مِنكُمْ أَحَدٌ إِلَّا ٱمْرَأَتَكَ إِنَّهُۥ مُصِيبُهَا مَآ أَصَابَهُمْ إِنَّ مَوْعِدَهُمُ ٱلصُّبْحُ أَلَيْسَ ٱلصُّبْحُ بِقَرِيبٍ
qālū yā Lūṭu innā rusulu rabbika lan yaṣilū ilayk, fa-asri bi-ahlika bi-qiṭʿin mina'l-layli wa lā yaltafit minkum aḥadun illā'mraʾatak, innahū muṣībuhā mā aṣābahum, inna mawʿidahumu'l-ṣubḥ, a-laysa'l-ṣubḥu bi-qarīb
"They said: 'Lot! We are the messengers of your Lord; they will never reach you. So set out with your household in a part of the night, and let none of you look back — except your wife; what befalls them will befall her. Their appointed time is the morning. Is the morning not near?'"
The eighty-first verse is the answer to the eightieth, and I record this as an observation about the word order:
| Verse | What Lot lacked | The answer that comes |
|---|---|---|
| 80 | quwwatan — strength | lan yaṣilū ilayk — they will not reach you |
| 80 | ruknin shadīd — a support | innā rusulu rabbik — the messengers of your Lord |
The root س-ر-ي: to travel by night. The root occurred at al-Isrāʾ 17/1 (subḥāna'lladhī asrā bi-ʿabdihī laylā), on the occasion of that sūra's name.
The root ق-ط-ع: to cut. Qiṭʿ — a piece, a cut-off portion. So bi-qiṭʿin mina'l-layl — "in a portion of the night".
I record this as an observation: the command names no hour; it says a part of the night. And the limit of time comes at the end of the verse from another quarter: inna mawʿidahumu'l-ṣubḥ.
The root ل-ف-ت: to turn a thing from its direction, to twist it round. Iltifāt (Form VIII) — to turn the head and look back. And in Arabic rhetoric iltifāt is also the source of the term used for a shift in the direction of address — it has occurred in many places across this series.
Per the rule: why looking back is forbidden is not said in the Qurʾān. The explanations given in the classical sources are conjecture; I do not enter into them.
There is a variant reading in this exception, and the difference changes what the exception attaches to. I give it in a table:
| Reading | Parsing | What the exception attaches to | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| illā'mraʾatAka (accusative) | An exception from ahl | fa-asri bi-ahlik | "Set out with your household — except your wife" |
| illā'mraʾatUka (nominative) | An exception from aḥad | wa lā yaltafit minkum aḥad | "Let none of you look back — except your wife; she did look" |
Both readings are transmitted in the sources for the variant readings; I do not impose a preference.
| The first reading | The second reading | |
|---|---|---|
| Did the woman set out | No — outside from the start | Yes — but she looked back |
| Its fit with the rest of the sentence | innahū muṣībuhā mā aṣābahum — consistent with both | The same |
And both readings arrive at the same conclusion: muṣībuhā mā aṣābahum — "what befell them will befall her."
And this connects with the principle treated at al-Taḥrīm 66/10 (the wives of Noah and of Lot). I rely on that treatment. And it is on the same line as the forty-sixth verse of the sūra: nearness does not determine the scope.
Two narratives, the same principle, the same sūra. This is an overlap that can be verified from the text.
I record this as an observation about the word order: the sentence gives no information; it gives a consolation. And the one addressed is Lot — that is, the side being asked to wait.
And this is in the same field as wa'ntaẓirū innā muntaẓirūn (122) in the closing verses of the sūra. This is an overlap that can be verified from the text.