56 r Bat-Sheva Garsiel
serving them, but they were not eating. She approached to serve them, but
they did not eat. So she said: “What a wonder! We are serving our guests
because we honor them, and they are not eating.” So Sarah laughed.^49
Baidawi reviewed a number of opinions: (a) Sarah laughed out of fear
when she realized that the messengers were angels; (b) She laughed out
of joy at hearing of the death of the evil people, the Sodomites; (c) She
smote her face out of embarrassment, for she was menstruating and felt
a heat wave.^50 Another explanation brought by Baidawi is that when they
gave the good tidings to Sarah, that she would give birth to a child at the
age of 90, she laughed out of amazement.^51 Yet another explanation is that
she laughed out of excitement.^52 We must note, however, that the last two
opinions stray from what is written in the Quran, since according to the
Quran, Sarah laughed before hearing the news of the birth of a son. In
order to be able to accept either of those explanations, the order of the
sentences should be changed: the statement that Sarah heard the good
tidings concerning the future birth of Isaac and afterwards of Jacob has to
precede her laugh.^53
In my opinion, the Quran’s changes are due to rhetorical consider-
ations: Sarah’s laugh precedes the news of the future birth of a child, since
such laughter arouses interest and tension among the listeners, who won-
der: why did Sarah laugh? This wonder makes them more attentive in
expectation of the good news. However, the portrayal of Sarah smiting
her face after hearing the news reinforces the idea that the intent was to
stimulate expectation and tension in the audience; since the custom of
smiting one’s face seems generally to be a sign of mourning, not of joy, the
listeners are surprised and look forward to the continuation of the story.
The story of Abraham’s attempt to save Lot and his people appears
twice in the Quran. In sura 11, the angels relate the story of their mission
to Abraham and he argues with God about Lot’s people. But God answers
him that the punishment has been decreed and cannot be revoked (11:74–
76). In sura 29, on the other hand, Abraham only requests that Lot be
saved, and God replies that Lot and his household will be saved (29:32). In
two other suras, the angels notify Abraham of their mission to destroy the
people of Sodom, and Abraham does not even react, let alone try to save
them (15:57–60; 51:31–37). Sura 11, which relates Abraham’s attempt to save
the Sodomites, is partly similar to the Bible’s version, but in contrast to the
biblical narrative, which relates at length how Abraham attempts to save
the Sodomites and requests mercy on their behalf,^54 sura 11 condenses the