“Then the only answer of his people was that they said, ‘Kill him or burn him!’ But Allah saved him from the Fire. Surely in that are signs for a people who believe. (24)

“And he said, ‘You have only taken idols apart from Allah as a bond of affection among yourselves in the life of this world. Then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will disown one another and curse one another; your refuge will be the Fire, and you will have no helpers.’ (25)

“Then Lot believed him. And he said, ‘Indeed, I am emigrating to my Lord. Indeed, He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.’” (26)

“And those who disbelieve in Allah’s signs and in meeting Him”—that is, in the Quran and the Resurrection—“they have despaired of My mercy,” meaning My Paradise; “and they will have a painful punishment.” These verses serve as a reminder and warning to the people of Mecca, and they occur parenthetically within the story of Abraham. Thus He, exalted is He, says: “Then the only answer of his people was that they said, ‘Kill him or burn him!’ But Allah saved him from the Fire.”

“Then the only answer of his people was that they said, ‘Kill him or burn him!’ But Allah saved him from the Fire”—and He made it cool and safe for him. “Surely in that are signs for a people who believe”: that is, who affirm the truth.

“And he said,” meaning Abraham said to his people: “You have only taken idols apart from Allah as a bond of affection among yourselves.” Ibn Kathir, al-Kisa’i, Abu ‘Amr, and Ya‘qub recited mawaddatu (“the affection”) in the nominative, without nunation, and baynikum (“among you”) in the genitive as a possessive construction, with the meaning: Indeed, the idols that you have taken apart from Allah are the bond of affection among you “in the life of this world”; then it will cease and will not benefit you in the Hereafter.

Hamzah and Hafs recited mawaddata (“affection”) in the accusative, without nunation, as a possessive construction, since it is governed by the verb “you have taken.” The other reciters read mawaddatan in the accusative with nunation, and baynakum in the accusative. Its meaning is: You have taken these idols only as a bond of affection among yourselves in the life of this world: you gather to worship them and maintain your ties through them in this world. “Then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will disown one another and curse one another”: the idols will disavow their worshippers, the leaders will disavow their followers, and the followers will curse the leaders. “Your refuge”—all of you, both the worshippers and those worshipped—“will be the Fire, and you will have no helpers.”

“Then Lot believed him,” meaning that he affirmed him. He was the first to believe Abraham, and he was Abraham’s nephew. “And he said,” meaning Abraham, “Indeed, I am emigrating to my Lord.” He emigrated from Kutha, in the rural environs of Kufa, to Harran, and then to Syria, accompanied by Lot and his wife Sarah. He was the first to emigrate. Muqatil said: Abraham, peace be upon him, emigrated when he was seventy-five years old. “Indeed, He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.”