وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ وَأَنْتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ ﴿۵۴﴾ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِنْ دُونِ النِّسَاءِ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ ﴿۵۵﴾ فَمَا كَانَ جَوَابَ قَوْمِهِ إِلَّا أَنْ قَالُوا أَخْرِجُوا آلَ لُوطٍ مِنْ قَرْيَتِكُمْ إِنَّهُمْ أُنَاسٌ يَتَطَهَّرُونَ ﴿۵۶﴾ فَأَنْجَيْنَاهُ وَأَهْلَهُ إِلَّا امْرَأَتَهُ قَدَّرْنَاهَا مِنَ الْغَابِرِينَ ﴿۵۷﴾ وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ مَطَرًا فَسَاءَ مَطَرُ الْمُنْذَرِينَ ﴿۵۸﴾ قُلِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَى آللَّهُ خَيْرٌ أَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ﴿۵۹﴾ أَمَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَأَنْزَلَ لَكُمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَنْبَتْنَا بِهِ حَدَائِقَ ذَاتَ بَهْجَةٍ مَا كَانَ لَكُمْ أَنْ تُنْبِتُوا شَجَرَهَا أَإِلَهٌ مَعَ اللَّهِ بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ يَعْدِلُونَ ﴿۶۰﴾

﴾54﴿ Wa lootan iz qaala liqawmiheee ataatoonal faa hishata wa antum tubsiroon
﴾55﴿ A'innakum lataatoonar rijaala shahwatam min doonin nisaaa'; bal antum qawmun tajhaloon
﴾56﴿ Famaa kaana jawaaba qawmiheee illaaa an qaalooo akhrijooo aalaa Lootim min qaryatikum innahum unaasuny yatatahharoon
﴾57﴿ Fa anjainaahu wa ahlahooo illam ra atahoo qaddarnaahaa minal ghaabireen
﴾58﴿ Wa amtarnaa 'alaihimm mataran fasaaa'a matarul munzareen
﴾59﴿ Qulil hamdu lillaahi wa salaamun 'alaa 'ibaadihil lazeenas tafaa; aaallaahu khairun ammmaa yushrikoon
﴾60﴿ Amman khalaqas samaawaati wal arda wa anzala lakum minas samaaa'i maaa'an fa anbatnaa bihee hadaaa'iqa zaata bahjah; maa kaana lakum an tunbitoo shajarahaa; 'a-ilaahun ma'al laah; bal hum qawmuny ya'diloon

﴾54﴿ And (remember) Lot (peace be upon him) when he said to his people, Do you commit immorality while you see (its evil)
﴾55﴿ Do you indeed approach men with desire instead of women? Rather, you are a people behaving ignorantly
﴾56﴿ But the response of his people was nothing except that they said, Expel the family of Lot (peace be upon him) from your town. Indeed, they are people who keep themselves pure
﴾57﴿ So We saved him and his family, except for his wife; We had decreed her to be among those who remained behind
﴾58﴿ And We rained upon them a rain (of stones). Then evil was the rain of those who were warned
﴾59﴿ Say, All attributes of divinity belong solely to Allah, and peace (from all punishments and afflictions) be upon His chosen servants. Is Allah better (for worship) or those they associate as partners with Him
﴾60﴿ Is He who created the heavens and the earth and sent down for you water from the sky, by which We caused gardens of delightful beauty to grow—whose trees you could not have grown—(worthy of worship)? Is there any deity with Allah? Rather, they are a people who deviate (from the truth)

[from 54 to 58] This is the fourth story, and it also contains many lessons. The greatest wisdom in it is that the prophets (peace be upon them) and the righteous are in need of Allah Most High for their safety and salvation.
The lessons are:
1. Engaging in lustful acts with men and boys is also a form of immorality (fāḥishah).
2. Such actions are the deeds of the ignorant.
3. Expelling the people of truth from their homeland.
4. Mocking them—this too is the behavior of the ignorant.
5. Such immoralities become the cause of worldly punishment.
6. Followers of falsehood criticize the righteous to the extreme.
“While you can see” (وَأَنْتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ)—means you know that this is an indecent and sinful act, or that you commit this act openly before one another without any shame.
“Indeed, they are a people who purify themselves” (إِنَّهُمْ أُنَاسٌ يَتَطَهَّرُونَ)—this was said mockingly, as if to say: “You consider yourselves pure and view us as impure.” Thus, the pure must be separated from the impure.
More details about this are mentioned in Surah Al-A‘rāf.
[59] From this verse until the end of the Surah is the third section. In this part, both claims of tawheed (the Oneness of Allah) are mentioned, and between them is a detailed explanation of tawheed al-uluhiyyah (Oneness of Worship) with rational, refutational proofs.
Then come repeated warnings, followed by consolation for the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace).
These are all matters related to da'wah (the call to truth). Then, there is detailed warning of the Hereafter. And in the end, there are proofs from revelation to refute shirk fi al-‘ibādah (associating partners in worship), along with a call to the Qur’an and worldly warning.
In this verse (59) is the first claim: that the prophets (peace be upon them) are in need of Allah Most High for safety—they cannot be partners with Allah Most High.
This is a continuation of the stories of Salih (peace be upon him) and Lut (peace be upon him).
In the Tafsīr of Ibn Kathir, it is mentioned that this is the structure of delivering a sermon: first, praise of Allah Most High, then sending peace upon the prophets (peace be upon them), and then detailing the oneness of Allah with rational proofs.
In this Surah, this is the second address to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace).
“Isṭafā” (اصْطَفَى) is derived from ṣafā, meaning pure—because the prophets (peace be upon them) are pure and clean from the filth of humanity (i.e., sin).
“Khayr” (خَيْرٌ) here does not mean comparative “better,” because there is no good in the opposite. Or, it could be mentioned in the form of comparison according to the belief of the polytheists, who believed their gods had some goodness.
The intended meaning of the phrase is: “Is the worship of Allah better, or the worship of those whom they associate as partners?”
This is a rhetorical question meant to affirm the truth.
It is narrated that after this verse, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) would say: “Rather, Allah is better—more lasting, more majestic, and more honorable.”
[60] From this verse onward, rational proofs for tawḥīd al-ulūhiyyah (Oneness of Worship) begin.
This is a form of silent admission, because a question is posed (istifhām), but the opponent’s answer is not mentioned—indicating that the answer is obvious and undeniable.
“Amman” (أَمَّنْ) is originally “am man”, and “am” here means “bal” (rather)—meaning, first a question was posed with reference to Allah, then detailed descriptions of divine attributes follow.
Three such attributes are mentioned here.
In the verse, there is an implied meaning, as previously: “Is the worship of the One who created the heavens and the earth...” (أَعِبَادَةُ مَنْ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوَاتِ...) better, or the worship of those they associate with Him (مَا يُشْرِكُونَ)?
A third interpretation is that this is an independent question: Rather—“Is there anyone who created the heavens and the earth...” and so on—yet the answer is omitted, as it is obvious: “They will say: Allah.”
Then comes the independent question: “Is there a god with Allah?” (أَإِلَهٌ مَعَ اللَّهِ)—meaning: since they admitted that Allah created the heavens and the earth, then is there any other god who can do what Allah does?
Again, the answer is omitted—implied as “No”—and the verse concludes with: “Rather, they are a people who turn away” (بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ يَعْدِلُونَ)—this is a rebuke, meaning they turn away from the truth without any evidence.
Or, “ya‘dilūn” could mean “they equate”—that is, they equate others with Allah Most High.
Similar explanation continues in the following verses up to verse (64).
These verses indicate that “Ilāh” (God) is that being who has the power to do the acts mentioned in the five verses—thus, He is the one who governs and controls.
So, it becomes clear that in these verses “Ilāh” means “the one who has power and control”—which is the broader, general meaning of the word.
“It is not for you to cause trees to grow” (مَا كَانَ لَكُمْ أَنْ تُنْبِتُوا شَجَرَهَا)—this is a general address to all creation, and saints (awliyā’) are included in it—none has the ability to cause trees or plants to grow from the earth.