What is the wisdom behind describing sodomy as excessiveness in His — Exalted be He — saying: (Rather, you are a people given to excess)?

Allah Almighty says: {Indeed, you approach men with lust, instead of women. Rather, you are a transgressing people.} (An-Naml: 55). And transgression (israf) here means exceeding the limit, extravagance, and putting something in the wrong place.

The people of Lot transgressed because they exceeded what was lawful and permissible for them by Allah, to what was unlawful and forbidden by Allah to them. So the act itself is a transgression and an exceeding of the limit; it is a major sin even if it occurred only once.

Thus, the transgression mentioned in the verse does not mean that the people of Lot deserved punishment because of the repetition of their evil deed, but rather because this abominable act in itself is a transgression and an exceeding of the limit set by Allah, even if it happened only once.