Who Were the Honoured Guests Who Visited Prophet Ibrahim?
من هم الضيوف المكرمون الذين زاروا النبي إبراهيم؟
“Has the story of Abraham’s honoured guests reached you?” (Surah Adh-Dhariyat 51:24). The guests were the angels; they came to give him the glad tidings that Allah would grant him and his wife Isaac, and that Isaac in turn would have a son named Yaqoub. “Then We gave her good news of the birth of Isaac, and, after him, Jacob” (Surah Hud 11:71). As for the news, it was that Allah would save His Prophet Lut and his family, except his wife, whom Allah would destroy. So Ibrahim began to argue on their behalf and plead with the angels, hoping they would not destroy them and that the punishment would be turned away from them. “Then after the fear had left Abraham, and the good news had reached him, he began to plead with Us for the people of Lot” (Surah Hud 11:74).
هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ ضَيْفِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْمُكْرَمِينَ (سورة الذاريات: 24). الضيوف هم الملائكة جاؤوه يبشرونه بأن الله سيرزقه وزوجته بإسحاق ومن ثم سيكون لإسحاق ابن اسمه يعقوب. فَبَشَّرْنَاهَا بِإِسْحَاقَ وَمِن وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ (سورة هود: 71). أما الخبر فهو أن الله سينجي نبيه لوطا وأهله إلا امرأته فإن الله سيهلكها. فجعل إبراهيم يجادل عنهم ويحاجج الملائكة رجاء أن لا يهلكوهم ويُصرف عنهم العذاب. فَلَمَّا ذَهَبَ عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الرَّوْعُ وَجَاءَتْهُ الْبُشْرَىٰ يُجَادِلُنَا فِي قَوْمِ لُوطٍ (سورة هود: 74).
1. Why the Quran Calls Them “Honoured Guests” | لماذا وصف القرآن الضيوف بالمكرمين
Al-Qurtubi reports two explanations of “honoured”: honoured in Allah’s sight, as the angels are called “honoured servants” (21:26), or, in Mujahid’s words, honoured because Ibrahim served them himself. The Quran says Ibrahim soon brought them a roasted calf (11:69) while he did not yet recognize them (51:25), and Ibn Kathir says these verses gather the etiquette of hospitality: he brought the food quickly and discreetly, chose the best of what he had, set it close to them, and invited them gently to eat, all before he knew they were angels. How the angels themselves worship is covered in whether the angels glorify their Lord.
يذكر القرطبي في معنى “المكرمين” قولين: مكرمون عند الله، كما قال تعالى: “بل عباد مكرمون” (الأنبياء: 26)، أو، كما قال مجاهد، سماهم مكرمين لخدمة إبراهيم إياهم بنفسه. ويخبر القرآن أن إبراهيم ما لبث أن جاءهم بعجل حنيذ (هود: 69) وهو لا يعرفهم (الذاريات: 25)، ويذكر ابن كثير أن هذه الآيات انتظمت آداب الضيافة: جاء بالطعام بسرعة وخفاء، وأتى بأفضل ما وجد من ماله، وقربه إليهم، وعرض عليهم الأكل بتلطف، كل ذلك قبل أن يعلم أنهم ملائكة.
2. Two Generations Promised in a Single Visit | جيلان بُشِّر بهما في زيارة واحدة
The glad tidings named not only a son, Isaac, but also a grandson, Yaqoub. Ibn Kathir explains that the tidings were of a son who would himself have offspring and descendants, and that some scholars drew from this verse that the son Ibrahim was commanded to sacrifice was Ismael, since Isaac had been promised a son of his own.
لم تقتصر البشرى على ابن، إسحاق، بل شملت حفيدا أيضا، يعقوب. ويبين ابن كثير أن المعنى: بولد يكون له ولد وعقب ونسل، وأن من العلماء من استدل بهذه الآية على أن الذبيح إسماعيل، لأن إسحاق بُشّر به وبأنه سيولد له يعقوب.
3. Pleading for Mercy on Behalf of Others | التماس الرحمة لأجل الآخرين
When the angels told him that Lut’s people would be destroyed, Ibrahim pleaded for them. Ibn Kathir relates from Sa’id ibn Jubayr that he asked whether they would destroy a town with three hundred believers in it, then fewer and fewer, down to a single Muslim, and then said, “But Lot is there!” (29:32). The verse right after his pleading praises him: “Truly, Abraham was forbearing, tender-hearted, and ever turning ˹to his Lord˺” (11:75), and the angels told him, “Plead no more! Your Lord’s decree has already come” (11:76).
ولما أخبرته الملائكة بهلاك قوم لوط جادل عنهم. وينقل ابن كثير عن سعيد بن جبير أنه سألهم: أتهلكون قرية فيها ثلاثمائة مؤمن؟ ثم ما زال ينقص العدد حتى قال: أرأيتم إن كان فيها رجل واحد مسلم؟ ثم قال: “إن فيها لوطا” (العنكبوت: 32). وتثني عليه الآية التي تلي جداله: “إن إبراهيم لحليم أواه منيب” (هود: 75)، وقالت له الملائكة: “يا إبراهيم أعرض عن هذا إنه قد جاء أمر ربك” (هود: 76).
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
Who were the visitors who came to see Ibrahim?
Angels appearing as human guests, described in the Quran as honoured guests.
What glad tidings did they bring Ibrahim?
News that Allah would grant him a son, Isaac, and a grandson, Yaqoub.
What other news did the angels bring?
That Allah would destroy the people of Lut (peace be upon him), sparing Lut and his family, except his wife.
How did Ibrahim respond to the news about Lut’s people?
He pleaded and argued with the angels, hoping the punishment could be averted.