Lot in Jordan. Then Allah Most High sent him to the people of Sodom, and he said to them: “Do you commit such an abomination?”—meaning, sexual intercourse with males—“such as no one in all the worlds has ever committed before you?” Amr ibn Dinar said: “No male is ever seen with another male in this world except that he is from the people of Lot.”

“Innakum”: the people of Medina and Hafs recited it with the initial hamzah pronounced with kasrah, as a declarative statement; the others recited it as a new sentence. “You indeed approach men” in their anuses, “with desire instead of women.” Thus He explained that abomination: that men’s anuses were more desirable to them than women’s private parts. “Rather, you are a transgressing people”: exceeding the bounds of what is lawful and falling into what is forbidden.

Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: They had fruits and towns the like of which did not exist anywhere on earth. People would come to them and harm them, so Iblis appeared to them in the form of an old man and said, “If you do such-and-such to them, you will be safe.” They refused. But when people continued persistently coming to them, they came upon some handsome young boys, seized them, overpowered them sexually, and committed vile acts; and this became firmly established among them. Al-Hasan said: They would have intercourse only with strangers.

Al-Kalbi said: The first to engage in the practice of the people of Lot was Iblis, because their land became fertile and the people of other towns sought it out. That is, Iblis appeared to them in the form of a young man, then invited them to his anus, and he was sodomized. Then Allah Most High commanded the sky to shower them with stones and commanded the earth to swallow them up.