Translation of the meanings Ayah 65 Surah Al-Hijr - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 65

فَأَسۡرِ بِأَهۡلِكَ بِقِطۡعٖ مِّنَ ٱلَّيۡلِ وَٱتَّبِعۡ أَدۡبَٰرَهُمۡ وَلَا يَلۡتَفِتۡ مِنكُمۡ أَحَدٞ وَٱمۡضُواْ حَيۡثُ تُؤۡمَرُونَ

(65) ^[3167]So travel with your household in the small hours^[3168], and follow ˹them up˺ in their heels, let not any of you look back and proceed ˹to the place˺ where you are commanded.

[3167] What follows is a meticulous, four-step salvation plan. The detailing of it brings to light how God Almighty takes special care of His devout servants. First, they are commanded to travel very late at night, ‘in the small hours’, so that due to people being asleep they would not attract unwanted attention which may hamper their advance (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī). Secondly, the figurehead of the household, Prophet Lot (عليه السلام), is told to walk behind his family to: make sure that no one is left behind and is afflicted by the punishment (cf. al-Qurṭubī), so that he may set a physical as well as a psychological barrier between them and the place of horror (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar), for him not to be anxious about any of them (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar), and/or for them not to look back, as they were commanded, realizing that he will be keeping watch over them (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr). Thirdly, they are commanded ‘not to look back’ so that they would be more persistent and purposeful in their walk and strike some distance before dawn caught up on them (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, al-Saʿdī), or that they might not be frightened and traumatized by catching sight of the horrific punishment of their folks (cf. al-Samʿānī). Lastly, they are told to go to a certain destination where they were to find a new home and not remain refugees for even a single night. Moreover, the present continuous verb tu’marūn (‘˹to where˺ you are commanded’), gets the feeling across that some of the angels would be in their company as a greater measure of assurance (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar).
[3168] They made their escape very late at night at the time of saḥar, i.e. when dawn was about to break: “...except the house of Lūṭ; We delivered them ˹just˺ before dawn” (54: 34).