فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الرَّجْفَةُ فَأَصْبَحُوا فِي دَارِهِمْ جَاثِمِينَ ﴿۷۸﴾ فَتَوَلَّى عَنْهُمْ وَقَالَ يَا قَوْمِ لَقَدْ أَبْلَغْتُكُمْ رِسَالَةَ رَبِّي وَنَصَحْتُ لَكُمْ وَلَكِنْ لَا تُحِبُّونَ النَّاصِحِينَ ﴿۷۹﴾ وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُمْ بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِنَ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿۸۰﴾ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِنْ دُونِ النِّسَاءِ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُسْرِفُونَ ﴿۸۱﴾

﴾78﴿ Fa akhazat humur rajfatu fa asbahoo fee daarihim jaasimeen
﴾79﴿ Fa tawalla 'anhum wa qaala yaa qawmi laqad ablaghtukum Risaalata Rabbee wa nasahtu lakum wa laakil laa tuhibboonan naasiheen
﴾80﴿ Wa Lootan iz qaala liqawmiheee ata'toonal faahishata maa sabaqakum bihaa min ahadim minal 'aalameen
﴾81﴿ Innakum lata'toonar rijaala shahwatam min doonin nisaaa'; bal antumqawmum musrifoon

﴾78﴿ Then an earthquake struck them, and they fell to their knees (dead) in their village
﴾79﴿ So Salih, peace be upon him, left them and said, O people, I have brought you the message of my Lord And I have asked you for good, but you do not like your well-wishers
﴾80﴿ (And we had sent) Lot, peace be upon him, when he said to his people, Are you doing an abominable act that none of the people has done before you
﴾81﴿ indeed You go to men for lust, except for women, but you are a people of polytheists

[78] "(Ar-Rajfah)" refers to the earthquake that came from the earth.
In Surah Hud, the word "As-Sayhah" (the shriek) is used, meaning that both punishments were combined for them — or, it may mean that ar-rajfah refers to the trembling of the heart due to the shriek, or that as-sayhah refers to a terrifying sound that occurred during the intense earthquake.
Because of the quake, their houses collapsed.
"(Then they became...) (فَأَصْبَحُوا)" — this indicates that the punishment came during the night.
"Dār" means a village or settlement that contains many rooms or buildings; that is why it is mentioned in singular form.
"Jāthimīn" (جَاثِمِينَ) means to collapse to the ground, and also refers to sitting on one’s knees — both meanings are mentioned in Lisān al-‘Arab.
[79] "O my people (يَا قَوْمِ)" — Question: This is an address to the dead, so does it prove that the dead can hear?
Answer 1: This address was made before the punishment came, as becomes clear from the sequence of events in Surah Hud.
Answer 2: This address was made miraculously, as occurred in the event of Badr — and miracles are specific to prophets.
[80] This is the fourth event, and it relates to the second claim in the Surah — that the people of Lot (peace be upon him) were forbidden from following Satan. However, they did not refrain, so punishment was sent upon them.
This people was also afflicted with polytheism.
Lot (peace be upon him) was not from their lineage; rather, he was the nephew of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) — Lot ibn Haran ibn Tarikh (Azar). For this reason, he did not refer to them as “my brothers.”
The phrase “What no one among you has done before” (مَا سَبَقَكُمْ) makes it clear that this nation initiated this evil sin, thus making it extremely severe — because others imitate the originators.
So, this sin included both innovation (introducing an evil) and causing others to follow it, and the second is even greater than the first.
“To his people” (لِقَوْمِهِ) — they are called his people either because he was sent for their reform (to establish the religious order), or because he had married among them and was related through in-laws.
“Al-Fāḥishah (الْفَاحِشَةَ)” — refers to a sin that is openly indecent, and is condemned by reason, custom, and Sharia.
Qurtubi mentions that zina (fornication) is called fāḥishah in the Qur’an, and this act of the people of Lot is also called fāḥishah — which shows that this act carries the same ruling as zina.
[81] This is an explanation of that fāḥishah (indecent act). The meaning of "Musrifūn" (مُسْرِفُونَ) here is polytheists, and this interpretation is also mentioned in verse 29 of Surah Al-‘Ankabūt.