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I.e., the Deluge.
i.e., the believers in his family.
The Deluge, the Flood of Noah. The main story will be found in xi. 25-48.
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Noah’s sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Noah's posterity survived the Flood in the Ark, while the rest perished.
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Lit., "and we left upon him", sc., "this praise" or "remembrance", expressed in the salutation which follows.
His name is remembered for ever, commencing a new era in religious history. Note that the words in verses 78-81, with slight modifications, form a sort of refrain to the following paragraphs about Abraham, Moses, and Elias, but not about Lot and Jonah. Lot was a nephew of Abraham, and may be supposed to belong to the story of Abraham. Jonah's career nearly ended in a tragedy for himself, and his people got a further lease of power "for a time" (xxxvii. 148). And both Lot and Jonah belong to a limited local tradition.
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The story of the Flood is found in some form or other among all nations, and not only among those who follow the Mosaic tradition. In Greek tradition, the hero of the Flood is Deukalion, with his wife Pyrrha: in Indian tradition (Shatapatha Brahmana and Mahabharata) it is the sage Manu and the Fish. The Chinese tradition of a great Flood is recorded in Sha-King. Among American Indians the tradition was common to many tribes.
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The main story will be found in xxi. 51-73; but the episode about his readiness and that of his son to submit to the most extreme form of self-sacrifice under trial (in verses 102-107 below) is told here for the first time, as this Sura deals with the theme, "Not my will, but Thine be done!" In "followed his way", the pronoun "his" refers to Noah, "he", of verse 81 above.
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A sound heart: qalb salim: a heart that is pure, and unaffected by the diseases that afflict others. As the heart in Arabic is taken to be not only the seat of feelings and affections, but also of intelligence and resulting action, it implies the whole character. Cf. Abraham's title of Hanif (the True): ii. 135 and n. 134. Cf. also xxvi. 89: "only he will prosper who brings to Allah a sound heart."
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False worship-worship of idols or stars or symbols, or Mammon or Self-is due either to false and degrading conceptions of Allah, or to a sort of make-believe, where practice is inconsistent with knowledge or ignores the inner promptings of Conscience. Abraham's challenge to his people is: 'Are you fools or hypocrites?'
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Abraham's argument goes thus: "Do you believe in the existence of a Creator and Lord of the universe?" - a question which his people were bound to answer in the affirmative, since belief in a Supreme Deity was an integral part of their religion. The next stage of the argument would be: "How, then, can you worship idols - the work of your own hands - side by side with the idea of a Creator of the universe?"
'Do you not realise that the real Creator is One-above all the forms and superstitions that you associate with Him?'
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Obviously an allusion to his early, futile attempts at identifying God with the stars, the sun or the moon (see {6:76-78}).
His people reportedly made decisions based on constellations, so Abraham (ﷺ) pretended to do the same to convince them he was not able to join them at their pagan feast.
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Sc., "at your worshipping idols instead of God" (Ibn Kathir; cf. also Lane IV, 1384).
See footnote for 26:82.
The grief was really preying on his mind and soul, that he should be associated with such falsehoods. His father himself was among the chief supporters of such falsehoods, and his people were given up wholly to them. He could not possibly share in their mummeries, and they left him in disgust. Then he made his practical protest in the manner narrated in xxi. 56-64.
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A metonym for "with all his strength". For what happened afterwards, see 21:58 ff.
See the reference in the last note.
With the right hand: as the right hand is the hand of power, the phrase means that he struck them with might and main and broke them.
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His action was a challenge, and he drives home the challenge now with argument. 'Do you worship your own handiwork? Surely worship is due to Him Who made you and made possible your handiwork!'
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