The Quran

Preface

وَجاءَهُ قَومُهُ يُهرَعونَ إِلَيهِ وَمِن قَبلُ كانوا يَعمَلونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ ۚ قالَ يا قَومِ هٰؤُلاءِ بَناتي هُنَّ أَطهَرُ لَكُم ۖ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلا تُخزونِ في ضَيفي ۖ أَلَيسَ مِنكُم رَجُلٌ رَشيدٌ

Yusuf Ali

And his people came rushing towards him, and they had been long in the habit of practising abominations. He said: “O my people! Here are my daughters: they are purer for you (if ye marry)!¹ Now fear God, and cover me not with shame about my guests! Is there not among you a single right-minded man?”

The Biblical narrative suggests that the daughters were married and their husbands were close by (Gen. 19:14) and that these same daughters afterwards committed incest with their father and had children by him (Gen. 19:31). The Holy Qur-ān nowhere suggests such abominations. Some Commentators suggest that “my daughters” in the mouth of a venerable man like Lut, the father of his people, may mean any young girls of those Towns. “My son” (waladi) is still a common mode of address in Arabic-speaking countries when an elderly man addresses a young man.