Surah 11. Hud

[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

"O my people! No reward do I ask of you for this [message]: my reward rests with none but Him who brought me into being. Will you not, then, use your reason?

  - Mohammad Asad

O my people! I do not ask you any reward for my services; for none can reward me except my creator. Will you not then use your common sense?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O my people! I ask of you no reward for it. Lo! my reward is the concern only of Him who made me. Have ye then no sense?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Hence, O my people, ask your Sustainer to forgive you your sins, and then turn towards Him in repentance - [whereupon] He will shower upon you heavenly blessings abundant,⁷⁶ and will add strength to your strength: only do not turn away [from me] as people lost in sin!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "He will let loose the sky over you with abundance". The term sama' - lit., "sky" - is often used in classical Arabic as a metonym for "rain", and scarcity of rains is a characteristic of the desert country called Al-Ahqaf ("The Sand-Dunes"), the one-time habitat of the - since vanished - tribe of 'Ad. As would appear from 46:24 , the time to which the above passage alludes was a period of severe drought, and so it is possible that the "abundant blessings" here denote rains.

And O my people! Seek forgiveness of your Rabb and turn to Him in repentance. He will send you from the sky abundant rain and He will add strength to your strength. So do not turn away like criminals."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And, O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord, then turn unto Him repentant; He will cause the sky to rain abundance on you and will add unto you strength to your strength. Turn not away, guilty!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Said they: "O Hud! Thou hast brought us no clear evidence [that thou art a prophet]; and we are not going to forsake our gods on thy mere word, the more so as we do not believe thee.

  - Mohammad Asad

They said: "O Hud! You have given us no clear proof. We are neither going to desert our gods just on your word, nor we are going to believe in you.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They said: O Hud! Thou hast brought us no clear proof and we are not going to forsake our gods on thy (mere) saying, and we are not believers in thee.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

We can say no more than that one of our gods may have smitten thee with something evil!"⁷⁷ Answered [Hud]: "Behold, I call God to witness - and you, too, be [my] witnesses - that, verily, it is not in me to ascribe divinity, as you do,⁷⁸ to aught

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., with madness.

Or: "that, verily, I am guiltless of your ascribing a share in [God's] divinity (mimma tushrikun)...", etc. - thus rejecting the sardonic suggestion of his compatriots that one of their imaginary deities might have stricken him with madness.

We rather believe that perhaps some of our gods have afflicted you with evil." He said: "Allah is my witness and let you also be my witness that I am done with your shirk of worshipping other deities besides Him.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We say naught save that one of our gods hath possessed thee in an evil way. He said: I call Allah to witness, and do ye (too) bear witness, that I am innocent of (all) that ye ascribe as partners (to Allah)

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

beside Him! Contrive, then, [anything that you may wish] against me, all of you, and give me no respite!⁷⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. a very similar challenge in the last sentence of 7:195 .

So let all of you scheme against me if you will, and give me no respite.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Beside Him. So (try to) circumvent me, all of you, give me no respite.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold, I have placed my trust in God, [who is] my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer: for there is no living creature which He does not hold by its forelock.⁸⁰ Verily, straight is my Sustainer's way!⁸¹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., there is no living being over which He has not complete control and which is not entirely dependent on Him (cf. verse {6} of this surah). When describing a person's humility and subjection to another person, the ancient Arabs used to say, "The forelock of so-and-so is in the hand of so-and-so". See in this connection {96:15-16}, where this idiomatic expression occurs for the first time in the chronological order of Qur'anic revelation.

Lit., "my Sustainer is on a straight way" - implying that He governs all that exists in accordance with a system of truth and justice in the ultimate, absolute sense of these terms, never allowing the conscious evildoer to escape the consequence of his deeds, and never letting righteousness go unrewarded, either in this world or in the hereafter (since it is only in the combination of these two phases that human life can be considered in its entirety).

I have put my trust in Allah, Who is my Rabb and your Rabb. There is no living creature (in the Earth) whose destiny is not controlled by Him. Indeed straight is the Way of my Rabb.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! I have put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Not an animal but He doth grasp it by the forelock! Lo! my Lord is on a straight path.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"But if you choose to turn away, then [know that] I have delivered to you the message with which I was sent unto you, and [that] my Sustainer may cause another people to take your place,⁸² whereas you will in no wise harm Him. Verily, my Sustainer watches over all things!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "to succeed you".

Now, even if you turn away, I have at least conveyed the message with which I was sent to you. Since you have denied Him, my Rabb will raise up some other people in your place, and you cannot harm Him in any way. Indeed my Rabb is watching over everything."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if ye turn away, still I have conveyed unto you that wherewith I was sent unto you, and my Lord will set in place of you a folk other than you. Ye cannot injure Him at all. Lo! my Lord is Guardian over all things.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And so, when Our judgment came to pass,⁸³ by Our grace We saved Hud and those who shared his faith; and We saved them [too] from suffering severe [in the life to come].⁸⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

For the story of the destruction of the tribe of 'Ad through violent storm-winds, see 54:19 and, more particularly, {69:6-8}.

I.e., the suffering which was yet to befall the rest of the tribe of 'Ad. My addition, between brackets, of the words "in the life to come" is based on the interpretation advanced by Tabari, Zamakhshari and Razi, according to whom the first mention of the saving of Hud and his followers refers to the destruction of the people of 'Ad in this world, and the second, to the latters' chastisement in the hereafter.

When Our judgement came to pass, We saved Hud and those who believed with him through a special grace from Us - We did save them from a horrifying scourge.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when Our commandment came to pass We saved Hud and those who believed with him by a mercy from Us; We saved them from a harsh doom.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And that was [the end of the tribe of] 'Ad, [who] had rejected their Sustainer's messages, and rebelled against His apostles, and followed the bidding of every arrogant enemy of the truth.⁸⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

An allusion to "the great ones among them, who refused to acknowledge the truth" ( 7:66 ). Regarding the above interpretation of the term jabbar, see note [58] on 26:130 .

Such were the people of 'Ad. They denied the revelations of their Rabb, disobeyed His Rasool, and followed the command of every stubborn oppressor.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And such were Aad. They denied the revelations of their Lord and flouted His messengers and followed the command of every froward potentate.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And they were pursued in this world by [God's] rejection, and [shall finally be overtaken by it] on the Day of Resurrection.⁸⁶ Oh, verily, [the tribe of] 'Ad denied their Sustainer! Oh, away with the 'Ad, the people of Hud!

  - Mohammad Asad

For my rendering of the term la'nah as "[God's] rejection", see note [37] above.

They were followed by a curse in this world, and cursed they shall be on the Day of Resurrection. Beware! 'Ad denied their Rabb. Beware! Gone are 'Ad, the people of Hud.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And a curse was made to follow them in the world and on the Day of Resurrection. Lo! Aad disbelieved in their Lord. A far removal for Aad, the folk of Hud!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall