31وَلَمّا جاءَت رُسُلُنا إِبراهيمَ بِالبُشرىٰ قالوا إِنّا مُهلِكو أَهلِ هٰذِهِ القَريَةِ ۖ إِنَّ أَهلَها كانوا ظالِمينَMuhammad AsadAnd so, when Our [heavenly] messengers came to Abraham with the glad tiding [of the birth of Isaac],1 they [also] said, "Behold, we are about to destroy the people of that land,2 for its people are truly evildoers!"See 11:69 if., as well as the first half of the corresponding note 99.The term qaryah has here, as so often in classical Arabic, the connotation of "land", in this instance comprising the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah.