Quran Universe
15:62

قَالَ إِنَّكُمۡ قَوۡمٞ مُّنكَرُونَ

Qala innakum qawmun munkaroona

He said, "Indeed, you are people unknown."

Word by word
  1. قَالَHe said
  2. إِنَّكُمۡIndeed,you
  3. قَوۡمٞ(are) a people
  4. مُّنكَرُونَunknown
Al-Hijr · 15:62Makkah

Lut did not recognize who they were.

You are people unknown to me

The unease
Lutknows his town
meets
strangersunknown to him
Not knowing yet
I should understandeverything right away
it is unfoldingthe answer comes next

When the guests entered, Lut said you are people unknown to me. He knew how dangerous his town was for strangers. He did not yet know they were angels, or what they carried.

Something new walks into your life: a diagnosis, a move, a person. You feel uneasy because you cannot place it. Lut did not understand either, at first. The meaning came a moment later.

If I cannot make sense of this right now, something is wrong.

Even a prophet did not see the meaning at first; understanding can come a step later.

Try this

When something unclear happens today, say: O Allah, show me the good in this, and wait.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 15:61)

Then when the messengers (the angels) came to the family of Lu (61)He (Lut) said: "Verily, you are people unknown to me. (62)They said: "Nay, we have come to you with that (torment) which they have been doubting. (63)"And we have brought you the truth and certainly we tell the truth. (64)

The Angels coming to Lut

Allah tells us about when the angels came to Lut in the form of young men with handsome faces. When they entered his home, he said:

إِنَّكُمْ قَوْمٌ مُّنكَرُونَ - قَالُوا بَلْ جِئْنَاكَ بِمَا كَانُوا فِيهِ يَمْتَرُونَ

("Verily, you are people unknown to me." They said: "Nay, we have come to you with that (torment) which they have been doubting.") meaning that they were bringing the punishment and destruction that the people doubted they would ever suffer from.

وَأَتَيْنَاكَ بِالْحَقِّ

(And we have brought you the truth) is like the Ayah,

مَا نُنَزِّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ

(We do not send the angels down except with the truth)[15:8] and

وَإِنَّا لَصَادِقُونَ

(and certainly, we tell the truth.) They said this in affirmation of the news that they brought him, that he would be saved and his people would be destroyed.