And We made known this decree to him, that the last remnants of those (sinners) should be cut off by the morning. Al-Hijr 15:66 ⧉
Tafsir:
It was one command with which the angels had gone to Abraham. It was another command with which they reached Lot. The first command was in the shape of a special gift from God and the second one was in the shape of God’s special punishment. Those angels had come to Lot in the shape of human beings. Their task was to carry into effect God’s verdict upon the prophet’s rejectors. According to the angels’ advice, Lot along with other people of the Faith, left the town in the darkness of the night. Thereafter, in the early morning the whole area was devastated by the explosions of a severe earthquake. All the deniers were summarily killed. Where did this devastation take place? It took place in this very world which they had considered their own world; in which all appeared to them their comrades and supporters. That very plan which a man considered his key to success becomes an instrument of destruction for him, if God so commands. That very palace of which a man is so proud is turned into a ruin, like a heap of debris descending upon him.