“80–84” “And remember Lot, when he said to his people, ‘Do you commit an obscenity that no one in the world has ever committed before you?’” And so forth, to the end of the account (1).

That is: “And” remember Our servant “Lot,” peace be upon him, when We sent him to his people, commanding them to worship Allah alone and forbidding them the obscenity that no one in the world had committed before them. He said: “Do you commit an obscenity?” That is, a deed so grave and heinous that it encompasses every form of obscenity. Its being an obscenity is itself utterly heinous; equally heinous is the fact that they originated and invented it, thereby establishing it as a practice for those who came after them.

He then explained it by saying: “Indeed, you approach men with desire instead of women.” That is, how can you forsake the women whom Allah created for you, with whom enjoyment accords with desire and natural disposition, and instead turn to the anuses of men—the very height of hideousness and filth, and the place from which foul odors and impurities issue, things one is ashamed even to mention, let alone touch or approach? “Rather, you are a people who exceed all bounds.” That is, you transgress the limits Allah has set and brazenly violate His prohibitions.