69وَلَقَد جاءَت رُسُلُنا إِبراهيمَ بِالبُشرىٰ قالوا سَلامًا ۖ قالَ سَلامٌ ۖ فَما لَبِثَ أَن جاءَ بِعِجلٍ حَنيذٍMuhammad AsadAND, INDEED, there came unto Abraham Our [heavenly] messengers, bearing a glad tiding.1 They bade him peace; [and] he answered, "[And upon you be] peace!"- and made haste to place before them'2 a roasted calf.The Qur'an does not state in so many words that these guests of Abraham were angels; but since the term rusuluna ("Our messengers") is often used in the sense of heavenly messengers, all the classical commentators interpret it thus in the above context. For the contents of the "glad tiding" referred to here, see verse 71 below.- The reason for prefacing the story of Lot with an episode from Abraham's life lies in the latter's subsequent pleading in behalf of the sinful people of Sodom (verses 74-76) and also, possibly, in God's earlier promise to him, "Behold, I shall make thee a leader of men" (see 2:124), which must have imbued him with an enhanced sense of moral responsibility not only for his own family but also for the people with whom he was indirectly connected through his nephew Lot (Lut in Arabic).Lit., "and did not delay in bringing". Regarding the deeper implications of the word "peace" (salam) as used in this passage, see surah 5, note 29.