Surah Hud 11:36-49 - Quran Translation Commentary

37. And Build the Ark under Our supervision and Our revelation,⁵¹ and do not address Me (further) on behalf of those who do wrong, verily they will be drowned.⁵²

38. And he began making the Ark, and every time the nobles of his people passed by him, they made fun of him⁵³. He said: “If you ridicule us (now), we will ridicule you like wise.”⁵⁴

39. And you will know on whom the punishment that disgrace will come and on whom the lasting punishment will fall?”⁵⁵

40. Till, when Our command came, and the oven gushed forth (water)⁵⁶, We said: “Load therein a pair (male and female) of every kinds⁵⁷, and your family except those against whom the command has already been given⁵⁸, and those who believe⁵⁹. And those who believed with him were but few.

41. And he said: “Embark in it. In the name of Allah be its movement and its rest⁶⁰. Verily, my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”.

42. And it sailed with them amid waves like mountains⁶¹, and Nooh called out to his son who had separated himself. O my son! Embark with us and be not with the disbelievers.” ⁶⁴

43. He said: “I will seek refuge in a mountain, that will protect me from water”. Nooh said: “This day none can save from the command of Allah-except on whom He has shown mercy.” And a wave came in between the two, and he was among the drowned⁶³.

44. And it was commanded: O earth! Swallow your water, and O sky! Hold back. So the water receded (thus) the judgement was given⁶⁴, and (the Ark) came to rest upon (the mount) Al-Judi⁶⁵. And it was said: A far removal for the wrong-doing people⁶⁶.

45. And Nooh cried out to his Lord and said: “My Lord! Surely my son is of my family, and surely Your promise is true and You are the Most Just of Judges.

46. He said: “O Nooh! Verily he is not of your family. Verily he is of unrighteous⁶⁷ conduct, so do not ask of me that of which you have no knowledge. I admonish you lest you be among the ignorant”.⁶⁸

47. (Nooh) prayed: “My Lord! I seek refuge with you from asking of that of which I have no knowledge, and unless You forgive me and have mercy on me, I shall be among the losers “.⁶⁹

48. He was told: “O Nooh! Climb down with peace from Us and blessings⁷⁰ upon you and upon communities that are with you. And there will be other communities to whom We will provide pleasure (for a while), then painful punishment from us will reach them’’ ⁷¹.

49. This is of the news of the Unseen Which We reveal to you; this neither you knew it before nor your community⁷². So have patience. Verily the (good) end is for the Godfearing⁷³.

Commentary

51. That is: We will supervise to make sure that these infidels will not prevent you from building the Ark. As for the type of the Ark to be built, it should be in accordance with the commands of Allah so that it may prove to be strong enough to withstand the onslaught of the storm that would surely come.

In the Bible under the Chapter Genesis VI, the details of the size of this Ark are given, which shows it was an extraordinary Ark, resembling a ship.

52. That is: Do not recommend the case of these disbelievers, nothing will save them from this punishment and Allah has already taken a decision to drown them.

53. When Prophet Nooh started building the Ark, the opponents, seeing the building up of a boat on the dry land, ridiculed him. They were not prepared to imagine that a gigantic flood could at all come and in that only the Ark of Prophet Nooh could save them. They might have considered it a manifestation of fanaticism and might have taunted the Muslims that they are trying to sail in the dry land.

54. That is: Today you are laughing at us thinking us to be mad, but tomorrow (in the Hereafter) we will laugh at you. Gentlemen take a breath of satisfaction on the arrest of a criminal, and it is natural to laugh at his criminal acts which landed him to his plight. Similarly laughing at the disbelievers and mischief-makers in the Hereafter by the believers is a natural phenomenon.

55. One Punishment in the world and the second punishment in the Hereafter.

56. In our opinion the correct sense is the same which Ibn Jarir Tabari has stated. He says that by ‘Tannur’ (oven) is meant the same thing in which loaves of bread are baked, because in the speech of Arabs that is what is understood by it, and the correct interpretation of Allah’s words can be made only by taking it to mean what the Arabs understand and consider it common.” -(Jamiul Bayan, Vol. 12. page 25).

In other words oven is taken as a symbol to signify that when water would gush forth from it, it should be considered the promised storm has started, and it is time for embarking in the Ark.

57. By every kind of living beings are meant those animals which are useful to humans in some way or the other. Snakes and rats are not included in that meaning.

The command to load every kind of animal was given in order that after the storm their race may survive. In the event of the absence of some animals, those humans who would be saved from the storm, would find it difficult to carry on their day to day activities. Loading of pairs of animals in the Ark is also mentioned in the Torah (Genesis Chapter VI).

58. That is: Not those members of your family who are disbelievers.

59. It means that in the Ark not only those who belonged to the household of Prophet Nooh were taken, but that there were also others who had accepted his faith. However, their number was small.

60. This is an expression of implicit faith in Allah’s favours and His power to do everything, that is this boat will sail only if Allah commands it to sail, and in a storm which is a message of destruction for human settlements and which is the most devastating challenge to mankind, the sailing of this boat will be nothing except Allah’s favour and His graciousness. Similarly, when the boat will rest at anchor and the Muslims etc. will disembark, it will be also due to the favour and graciousness of Allah alone.

From this ayah it also becomes clear that ‘Bismillah’ ( In Name of Allah ) is the oldest phrase that had passed through the lips of Prophet Nooh and it proved to be most auspicious. This kalimah (Bismillah) has been considered as the source of good by the Qur’an, and accordingly the beginning of the words of Allah is made with this very auspicious phrase: Bismillah.

61. Waves like mountains can rise in the oceans only. It shows what a gigantic storm should have struck the place where the people of Nooh lived. The people of Prophet Nooh lived on the banks of river Dajlah (map on page 525), This area is situated between the river Dajlah and the river Euphrates. These two rivers flow from the mountain Ararat and meet one another in the south, and they further on meet the sea. In other words this area was like an island, and there is no wonder that when the storm came, the whole area became a vast ocean and on account of the blowing of the stormy winds, the waves in the storm might have assumed mountainous proportions.

62. One son of Prophet Nooh was with the disbelievers, and therefore, he had not sailed in the Ark. Prophet Nooh advised him in the midst of the storm to come with the believers, when he was surrounded on all sides by ‘water and the distance between him and death was only of a few minutes.

He said: “I will seek refuge in a mountain, that will protect me from water”. Nooh said: “This day none can save from the command of Allah-except on whom He has shown mercy.” And a wave came in between the two, and he was among the drowned. (Al-Quran)

63. When Allah’s rule of law was brought into play, even the son of a prophet was not spared, because he was an infidel and for the infidels punishment is destined, Prophet Nooh saw the fate of his son with his own eyes. Had he embraced Islam, he would not have met such an end.

64. That is: The judgement concerning Truth and Falsehood was given on the earth itself. The people of Truth were saved and the earth was made clean by the removal of the people of Falsehood.

This deluge was not an ordinary disaster, but an extraordinary event and an unprecedented storm, which swallowed the entire human population except those who had accepted the faith and had embarked in the Ark with Prophet Nooh. It was a flood which drowned the mountains in which waves like mountains rose. This is a great historical event. Since Prophet Nooh had earlier prophesied about its occurrence and it struck in the same way in which it was prophesied, drowning all the infidels, therefore, it is proved that it was the Divine Wrath which fell on the infidels, and that Prophet Nooh was a true messenger of God, and that the message of monotheism that he gave to his people was the message of Truth.

65. Al-Judi is the name of a mountain which is situated in Kurdistan (see map on page 525). It is part of the mountain Ararat. which is spread from Armenia to Kurdistan. The spot where the Ark of Nooh (Noah) came to rest is given in the Bible as Ararat (Genesis 8:4), but Qur’an says that the spot was Al-Judi, and after the deluge the region near Judi would have been quite suitable for settlement.

It may be noted that about this deluge Qur’an has at no place stated that it covered the whole of the earth, but what the Qur’an explains is that the human race survived from those who were saved by riding in the Ark. It means that at that time human population on the earth had not spread to other parts and was confined to a limited region. Thus the deluge which struck this particular region drowned the entire human population except those who were in the Ark.

66. That is: Removed away from the mercy of God and became liable to receive His curse.

67. It does not mean that by birth he is not your son, but it means that by conduct he is a corrupt person and therefore he does not deserve to be called your son. It is like an enraged father saying to his son that he is not his son. Obviously he does not mean it literally.

68. From this verse it is seen that Prophet Nooh did not know that his son was of unrighteous conduct and that his sympathies lay with the disbelievers. In ignorance he prayed to Allah to save his son from the onslaught of the deluge.

It seems that the son was not an ‘open disbeliever’. He had been concealing his disbelief. That is why Prophet Nooh invited him to sail in the Ark, and while addressing him did not say: “Be not of the disbelievers”, but said: “Be not with the disbelievers”. And since Allah had promised that he would save his family, he appealed to Allah about his son’s safety. But Allah admonished him and informed him that he was ignorant of the true situation, and in such a case it is not proper to complain under pressure of emotions, when in the beginning only it was said “except those against whom the command has already been given, “that is: even your family members who have not accepted the faith would not be saved.

This was the miscalculation of Prophet Nooh, otherwise how could he have prayed to God or complained to Him about the safety of his son, knowing that he was an infidel. On this occasion when Allah’s law came into action with total impartiality, Prophet Nooh’s plea to Allah about his son was unbecoming of a prophet, and that is why Allah admonished him.

69. On the admonition from God, when prophet Nooh realised that his plea to God was improper, he immediately prayed for God’s forgiveness and mercy, and the manner in which he did it shows his sincerity and honesty.

70. With peace means in conditions of safety and tranquility and with ‘Barkat’ (blessings) means that good which will continue.

71. Although the people who accompanied Prophet Nooh in the Ark were few in numbers, they were the cream of the entire human society, and the coming generations and the future nations were to be brought into being through them. In other words, the sailors in the Ark were carrying the strength of the nations of the world with them. Reference to this fact has been made in the ayah, saying may peace and blessings be upon the communities that are with the Prophet, but there will be some communities that would not deserve to receive peace and blessings to them the pleasure of the world would be given for a while, but finally they would receive painful punishment for their evil acts.

72. The chronicle of Prophet Noah that has been narrated in the Qur’an was not known before to Prophet Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam). That is why he did not narrate this chronicle to anybody before the revelation of Qur’an. His community was also ignorant of this chronicle. As for the people of the Book, some parts of this chronicle have been recorded in Bible, Book of Genesis (Chapters 8.9 and 10). But these parts are missing, e.g. there is no mention of what was the mission of Prophet Nooh? What were the objections of his opponents? What reply did Prophet Nooh give? Before the deluge, how did he inform his people? The event of drowning of Nooh’s son. Allah’s admonition on Prophet Nooh’s appeal, Prophet Nooh’s repentance, information about the treatment that would be meted out to some nations in future-all these aspects are conspicuous in the Bible by their absence, However, it contains details about the length and breadth of the Ark. Moreover, in the Bible where Prophet Nooh is called a godly and honest man (Genesis, Chapters 6,8,9), there are also narrated certain things which tarnish his character (Genesis 9:20 to 25). But Qur’an without giving details, narrated those facts which were the very life of the chronicle. These facts have been presented with such a confidence that it inspires belief. Does not the narration of this historical event, with its hidden facts, by an unlettered person provide a clear proof of his being a prophet and this Book being the word of God?

73. That is: Even if after this clear proof, your community belies you, then have patience, for the ultimate success will be gained only by those who fear God, and this statement of Qur’an proved to be true in every word in this world also. The Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) and his companions gained true honour and real eminence, and those who belied him died a death of dishonour and they have left behind no signs of their existence. This scene of the Prophet’s and his companions’ success has been witnessed by the world and now the Hereafter is yet to come.

“O my people! I ask of you no reward for it. My recompense is the responsibility only of Him who has created me. Will you not then understand? (Al-Quran)