وَهِىَ تَجْرِى بِهِمْ فِى مَوْجٍ كَٱلْجِبَالِ وَنَادَىٰ نُوحٌ ٱبْنَهُۥ وَكَانَ فِى مَعْزِلٍ يَـٰبُنَىَّ ٱرْكَب مَّعَنَا وَلَا تَكُن مَّعَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ Qur’an Hud (11:42)Wahiya tajree bihim fee mawjin ka a ljib a li wan a d a noo h unu ibnahu wak a na fee maAAzilin y a bunayya irkab maAAan a wal a takun maAAa alk a fireen a
The diminutive in ya bunayya (lit., "O my little son") is an expression of endearment irrespective of a son's age: for instance, Noah's son appears in the above story as a grown man, while Joseph, similarly addressed by his father in 12:5 , was a child or, at the most, an adolescent.
The simile of mountains applies to the waves, which were mountain high, -literally, for the peaks were being submerged.