Surah 11. Hud

AND THIS was revealed unto Noah: "Never will any of thy people believe except those who have already attained to faith. Be not, then, distressed by anything that they may do,

  - Mohammad Asad

And it was revealed to Nuh: "None of your people will believe now, other than those who have already believed. So do not grieve at their evil deeds.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And it was inspired in Noah, (saying) : No one of the folk will believe save him who hath believed already. Be not distressed because of what they do.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

but build, under Our eyes⁵⁹ and according to Our inspiration, the ark [that shall save thee and those who follow thee];⁶⁰ and do not appeal to Me in behalf of those who are bent on evildoing - for, behold, they are destined to be drowned!"

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "under Our protection".

This interpolation is necessitated by the definite article preceding the noun fulk (lit., "ship", but rendered by me as "ark" owing to its familiar connotation in European languages).

Build an ark under Our supervision in accordance with Our revelation, and beware not to plead with Me on behalf of those who are wrongdoers: for they are all to be drowned in the flood."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Build the ship under Our Eyes and by Our inspiration, and speak not unto Me on behalf of those who do wrong. Lo! they wilt be drowned.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [so Noah] set himself to building the ark; and every time the great ones of his people passed by him, they scoffed at him. [Thereupon] he said: "If you are scoffing at us - behold, we are scoffing at you [and your ignorance], just as you are scoffing at us.⁶¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Since it is obviously impossible to attribute to a prophet the levity of scoffing (Baghawi), the meaning of the above phrase seems to be this: "If you consider us ignorant because of what we believe and are doing, we consider you ignorant because of your refusal to acknowledge the truth and your readiness to expose yourselves to God's punishment" (Zamakhshari and, in a shorter form, Baghawi). Hence my interpolation of the words "and your ignorance".

So he started to build the ark; and whenever the chiefs of his people passed by him they laughed at him. He said: "Laugh at us now if you will, soon the time is going to come when we too will laugh at you as you are laughing at us.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And he was building the ship, and every time that chieftains of his people passed him, they made mock of him. He said: Though ye make mock of us, yet we mock at you even as ye mock;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But in time you will come to know who it is that [in this world] shall be visited by suffering which will cover him with ignominy, and upon whom longlasting suffering shall alight [in the life to come]!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Soon you will come to know who will be seized by a humiliating scourge, and who is afflicted with everlasting punishment."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And ye shall know to whom a punishment that will confound him cometh, and upon whom a lasting doom will fall.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And so it went on] till, when Our judgment came to pass, and waters gushed forth in torrents over the face of the earth,⁶² We said [unto Noah]: "Place on board of this [ark] one pair of each [kind of animal] of either sex,⁶³ as well as thy family - except those on whom [Our] sentence has already been passed⁶⁴ - and all [others] who have attained to faith!" - for, only a few [of Noah's people] shared his faith.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "the face of the earth boiled over" (fara 't-tannur). This phrase has been subject to several conflicting interpretations, some of which are based on no more than Talmudic legends (Manar XII, 75f.). The most convincing explanation is that given - among others - by Tabari, Baghawi and Ibn Kathir on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas and 'Ikrimah: "At-tannur [lit., "oven"] denotes the face of the earth." Razi, too, mentions that "the Arabs call the face of the earth tannur", while the Qamus gives as one of the meanings of tannur "any place from which water gushes forth". The verb fara - which literally means "it boiled over" - describes the raging torrents of water which "turned the earth into springs" (Ibn Kathir; see also 54:12 ). This "gushing forth of water over the face of the earth" seems to point to the inundation of the huge valley now covered by the Mediterranean Sea (see surah {7}, note [47]) - an inundation which, augmented by continuous, torrential rains (cf. 54:11 ), rapidly spread over the land-mass of present-day Syria and northern 'Iraq and grew into the immense deluge described in the Bible and in the Qur'an, and also referred to in the myths of ancient Greece (e.g., in the story of Deukalion and Pyrrhea), as well as in Sumerian and Babylonian legends.

The term zawj signifies, primarily, each of the two parts of a pair, and is also used in the sense of "a pair". In the present context it obviously has the former meaning; consequently, the expression min kullin zawjayn ithnayn is best rendered as above. - As regards the animals which Noah was commanded to take with him in the ark, it is reasonable to assume that this referred to the domesticated animals already in his possession, and not to all animals, as the Biblical narrative would have it.

I.e., those who stand condemned in the sight of God because of their persistent refusal to acknowledge the truth. See also verses {42-43} and {45-47}.

Finally when Our Command came and the water from Al-Tannur (a particular oven marked as a starting point to warn Nuh in order to get him ready to board the ark) gushed forth! We said to Nuh: "Take into the Ark a pair from every species, your family - except those against whom the Word has already gone forth - and the believers and those who believed with him were only a few."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(Thus it was) till, when Our commandment came to pass and the oven gushed forth water, We said: Load therein two of every kind, a pair (the male and female), and thy household, save him against whom the word hath gone forth already, and those who believe. And but a few were they who believed with him.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

So he said [unto his followers]: "Embark in this [ship]! In the name of God be its run and its riding at anchor! Behold, my Sustainer is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus he said: "Embark in it, in the name of Allah in whose hands is its sailing and its stopping; surely my Rabb is Forgiving, Merciful."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And he said: Embark therein! In the name of Allah be its course and its mooring. Lo! my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And it moved on with them into waves that were like mountains. At that [moment] Noah cried out to a son of his, who had kept himself aloof [from the others]: "O my dear son!⁶⁵ Embark with us, and remain not with those who deny the truth!"

  - Mohammad Asad

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.

As the ark floated with them on board over the mountainous waves and Nuh called out to his son, who stood apart: "O my son! Embark with us and be not with the unbelievers!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And it sailed with them amid waves like mountains, and Noah cried unto his son and he was standing aloof: O my son! Come ride with us, and be not with the disbelievers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[But the son] answered: "I shall betake myself to a mountain that will protect me from the waters." Said [Noah]: "Today there is no protection [for anyone] from God's judgment, save [for] those who have earned [His] mercy!" And a wave rose up between them, and [the son] was among those who were drowned.

  - Mohammad Asad

He replied: "I will take refuge on some mountain, which will save me from the flood." Nuh said: "None shall be secure today from the judgement of Allah, except the one on whom He has mercy!" And thereupon a wave came between them and he (Nuh's son) became among one of those who drowned.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: I shall betake me to some mountain that will save me from the water. (Noah) said: This day there is none that saveth from the commandment of Allah save him on whom He hath had mercy. And the wave came in between them, so he was among the drowned.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And the word was spoken: "O earth, swallow up thy waters! And, O sky, cease [thy rain]!" And the waters sank into the earth, and the will [of God] was done, and the ark came to rest on Mount Judi.⁶⁶ And the word was spoken: "Away with these evildoing folk!"

  - Mohammad Asad

This mountain, known in ancient Syriac as Qardu, is situated in the region of Lake Van, almost twenty-five miles north-east of the town Jazirat Ibn 'Umar, capital of the modern Syrian district of Al-Jazirah. It "owes its fame to the Mesopotamian tradition which identifies it, and not Mount Ararat, with the mountain on which Noah's ark rested.... This localization of the ark's resting-place...is certainly based on Babylonian tradition" (Encyclopaedia of Islam I, 1059). We should, however, remember that the designation Ararat (the Assyrian Urartu) at one time included the whole area to the south of Lake Van, in which Jabal Judi is situated: this might explain the Biblical statement that "the ark rested...upon the mountains of Ararat" (Genesis viii, 4).

Finally, Allah said: "O earth! Swallow up your water," and "O sky! Cease your rain." The floodwater abated and the judgement was carried out. The ark rested on Mount Al-Judi and it was said: "Gone are the wrongdoing people!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And it was said: O earth! Swallow thy water and, O sky! be cleared of clouds! And the water was made to subside. And the commandment was fulfilled. And it (the ship) came to rest upon (the mount) Al-Judi and it was said: A far removal for wrongdoing folk!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And Noah called out to his Sustainer, and said: "O my Sustainer! Verily, my son was of my family;⁶⁷ and, verily, Thy promise always comes true, and Thou art the most just of all judges!"

  - Mohammad Asad

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.

Nuh called out to his Rabb saying: "O my Rabb! My son is of my family, and surely Your promise is true and You are the most just of all Judges!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And Noah cried unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Lo! my son is of my household! Surely Thy promise is the Truth and Thou art the Most Just of Judges.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[God] answered: "O Noah, behold, he was not of thy family, for, verily, he was unrighteous in his conduct.⁶⁸ And thou shalt not ask of Me anything whereof thou canst not have any knowledge:⁶⁹ thus, behold, do I admonish thee lest thou become one of those who are unaware [of what is right]."⁷⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

According to some commentators (e.g., Tabari and Razi), the phrase innahu 'amal ghayr salih relates to Noah's prayer for his son, and constitutes a divine reproach - in which case it should be rendered as "verily, this [prayer] is unrighteous conduct [on thy part]". Others, however (e.g., Zamakhshari), reject this interpretation and relate the above phrase to the son, in the manner rendered by me. This, I believe, is more in tune with the statement, "he was not of thy family" - i.e., spiritually, inasmuch as he was of, or preferred to remain with, "those who deny the truth".

I.e., knowledge of the innermost reasons of God's decrees and of the ultimate destiny of any human being in the hereafter: for, the answers to this "why" and this "how" lie in the realm of things which are beyond the reach of human perception (al-ghayb).

I.e., "lest thou prove to be one of those ignorant who ask God that He change His decrees in response to their own desires" (Manar XII, 85 f.).

Allah replied: "O Nuh! In fact he is not of your family; for he is not of righteous conduct. So do not ask Me anything of which you have no knowledge! I admonish you, lest you become one of the ignorant!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: O Noah! Lo! he is not of thy household; lo! he is of evil conduct, so ask not of Me that whereof thou hast no knowledge. I admonish thee lest thou be among the ignorant.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Said [Noah]: "O my Sustainer! Verily, I seek refuge with Thee from [ever again] asking of Thee anything whereof I cannot have any knowledge! For unless Thou grant me forgiveness and bestow Thy mercy upon me, I shall be among the lost!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Nuh said: "My Rabb! I seek refuge in You for asking You that of which I have no knowledge; and unless You forgive me and have mercy on me, I shall surely be lost!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: My Lord! Lo! in Thee do I seek refuge (from the sin) that I should ask of Thee that whereof I have no knowledge. Unless Thou forgive me and have mercy on me I shall he among the lost.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Thereupon] the word was spoken: "O Noah! Disembark in peace from Us,⁷¹ and with [Our] blessings upon thee as well as upon the people [who are with thee, and the righteous ones that will spring from thee and] from those who are with thee.⁷² But [as for the unrighteous] folk [that will spring from you] - We shall allow them to enjoy life [for a little while], and then there will befall them grievous suffering from Us."

  - Mohammad Asad

The term salam - here translated as "peace" - comprises the notions of both external and internal security from all that is evil. For a fuller explanation of the term, see surah {5}, note [29].

The above interpolation is based on the consensus of most of the classical commentators. The phrase "the people [or "generations"] from those who are with thee" points to generations as yet unborn; but since God's blessing extends to all believers, it eo ipso comprises the believers of Noah's generation as well; and since "those who deny the truth" (al-kafirun) are excluded from God's blessing, only the righteous from among the offspring of these early believers are promised a share in His grace (cf. a similar allusion, relating to Abraham's descendants, in 2:124 ): hence my interpolation of the words "as for the unrighteous that will spring from you" in the next sentence.

It was said: "O Nuh! Disembark (from the ark) with Our peace and blessings on you and on the peoples who are with you. As for other people, We shall grant them the provisions of life for some time, and if they do not behave righteously, then they shall have a painful punishment from Us."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

It was said (unto him): O Noah! Go thou down (from the mountain ) with peace from Us and blessings upon thee and some nations (that will spring) from those with thee. (There will be other) nations unto whom We shall give enjoyment a long while and then a painful doom from Us will overtake them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

THESE ACCOUNTS of something that was beyond the reach of thy perception We [now] reveal unto thee, [O Muhammad: for] neither thou nor thy people knew them [fully] ere this.⁷³ Be, then, [like Noah,] patient in adversity - for, behold, the future belongs to the God-conscious!

  - Mohammad Asad

See verse {35} above. Although the story of Noah had been vaguely known to the Arabs even before the advent of the Prophet Muhammad, they - and the Prophet with them - were entirely unaware of the details as narrated in the preceding Qur'anic account (Razi). The use of the plural at the beginning of this parenthetic passage ("These accounts") - in contrast with the singular form employed in a similar phrase occurring in 3:44 , 11:100 and 12:102 ("This account") - seems, in my opinion, to indicate that it refers not only to the preceding story of Noah but also to the subsequent stories of other prophets. In this connection it should be remembered - and it cannot be stressed too often - that "narrative" as such is never the purpose of the Qur'an. Whenever it relates the stories of earlier prophets, or alludes to ancient legends or to historical events that took place before the advent of Islam or during the lifetime of the Prophet, the aim is, invariably, a moral lesson; and since one and the same event, or even legend, has usually many facets revealing as many moral implications, the Qur'an reverts again and again to the same stories, but every time with a slight variation of stress on this or that aspect of the fundamental truths underlying the Qur'anic revelation as a whole.

O Muhammad, these are some of the facts from the unseen history which We have now revealed to you: neither you nor your people knew about it before. So have patience; surely the end is for the righteous.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

This is of the tidings of the Unseen which We inspire in thee (Muhammad). Thou thyself knewest it not, nor did thy folk (know it) before this. Then have patience. Lo! the sequel is for those who ward off (evil).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND UNTO [the tribe of] 'Ad [We sent] their brother Hud.⁷⁴ He said: "O my people! Worship God [alone] you have no deity other than Him. [As it is,] you are but inventors of falsehood!⁷⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

For particulars relating to the name Hud as well as the tribe of 'Ad, see surah {7}, note [48].

I.e., inventors of alleged deities that have no reality in themselves (cf. 7:71 , which also relates to the story of Hud). Regarding the term muftarun, see surah {7}, note [119].

To the people of 'Ad We sent their brother Hud. He said: "O my people! Worship Allah, you have no god but Him; otherwise you are just making things up.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And unto (the tribe of) Aad (We sent) their brother, Hud. He said: O my people! Serve Allah! Ye have no other God save Him. Lo! ye do but invent!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall