Surah 11. Hud, Ayah 45

A reference to the divine command, mentioned in verse {40} - "Place on board this [ark]...thy family" - which Noah apparently understood as meaning that the whole of his family would be saved, thus overlooking the qualifying clause, "except those on whom sentence has already been passed". - Some of the commentators suppose that verses {45-47} connect with verse {43}, and thus precede, in point of time, the events narrated in verse {44} - a supposition which has caused the modern translators of the Qur'an to render Noah's prayer, erroneously, in the present tense (i.e., in the form of a prayer for his son's rescue from drowning). It is, however, much more plausible to assume - as is done by Tabari and Ibn Kathir - that Noah's words were spoken after the ark had come to rest on Mount Judi (i.e., long after his son's death) and that they represented "an endeavour on the part of Noah to find out what would be the condition of his drowned son [in the hereafter]" (Ibn Kathir). Consequently, the sentence relating to this son, both in Noah's prayer and in God's answer, must be rendered in the past tense.