The Coming of the Angels to Lut, His Grief, and His Discussion with His People

Allah, the Exalted, informs about the coming of His messenger angels. After they informed Ibrahim of their mission to destroy the people of Lut, they left him and set out to destroy Lut's people that very night. After leaving Ibrahim, they came to Lut. Some say that they came to him while he was on a piece of land that belonged to him. Others say that they came to him while he was in his home. They approached him while they were in the most handsome of forms. They appeared in the forms of young men with handsome faces. This was a test from Allah that contained much wisdom and a firm evidence. Their appearance saddened him (Lut) and he felt grief in his soul because of them. He was afraid that if he did not host them as his guests, someone else of his people would host them and harm them.

وَقَالَ هَـذَا يَوْمٌ عَصِيبٌ

Things turned out as Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) had first apprehended. This finds mention in the second verse (78): وَجَاءَهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَ‌عُونَ إِلَيْهِ (And his people came to him, rushing upon him) - and they were already used to committing evil deeds.

It has been hinted here that such was the curse of their evil deed that they had lost all sense of modesty and propriety, so much so that they did not hesitate to storm even the home of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) for a purpose that sinister.