courteous of him, as part of his gracious hospitality toward his guests, to say, “A people unknown.” The word qawm (“people”), left without an explicit subject, could just as well be understood as “they are a people,” “you are a people,” or “these are a people,” none of which is as pointed as the bald statement “you are a people.” For that reason he dropped the subject altogether and contented himself with the words, “A people unknown.” Their being “unknown” simply means that he did not recognize them, for it was the first time he had set eyes on them.

Then comes the Almighty’s words: “So he slipped off to his household.” Abraham—peace be upon him—was generous. The verb rāgha (slipped off) indicates that he went quickly and unobtrusively to his household, that is, to his home. He then “brought a fat calf.” He chose a calf, the young of cattle, because its meat is tender and flavorful, while its being fat makes the flesh even sweeter and more palatable. In another verse it says that he brought “a roasted calf,” meaning one that had been spitted and grilled so that none of its savor had escaped—truly the most delectable form of meat.

Next, “he placed it near them.” He did not set the dish far away and say, “Come forward to the food.” Instead, he himself moved it close so that they would suffer neither inconvenience nor trouble. Even then he did not issue the bare command “Eat!”; rather he said, “Will you not eat?”—a courteous invitation, not an order, and yet another mark of his fine treatment of his guests.

Afterward, these same guests proceeded to Lot, assuming the appearance of clean-shaven youths possessed of beauty and allure. The people of Lot—may Allah protect us—had been afflicted with the plague of sodomy, a male approaching another male. When the guests arrived at Lot’s dwelling, the townspeople hurried to alert one another