21. For comparison, see (Surah Aal-Imran: Ayats 33-34), (Surah An-Nisa: Ayat 163), (Surah Al-Anaam: Ayat 84), (Surah Al-Aaraf: Ayats 59-64), (Surah Yuuns: Ayats 71-73), (Surah Hud: Ayats 25-48), (Surah Al-Anbiyaa: Ayats 76-77), (Surah Al-Muminun: Ayats 23-30), (Surah Al-Furqan: Ayat 37), (Surah Ash-Shuara: Ayats 105-123), (Surah As-Saffat: Ayats 75-82), (Surah Al-Qamar: Ayats 9-15), (Surah Al- Haqqah: Ayats 11-12), Surah Nuh: Entire Surah. One should keep the initial verses of this Surah in view in order to understand the relevancy of these stories in this context. There, on the one hand, it has been said to the believers, “We have put to the test all those believers who have passed before you”, and, on the other, the wicked disbelievers have been warned to the effect: “You should not have the misunderstanding that you will outstrip Us and escape Our grasp.” It is to impress these two things that these historical events are being related here.

22. This does not mean that the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him) lived for 950 years, but it means that after his appointment to prophethood till the coming of the flood, he went on making efforts for 950 years for the reformation of his wicked people, and he did not lose heart even though he suffered persecutions for such a long time. The same is the aim of the discourse here. The believers are being told: “You have been suffering persecutions and experiencing stubbornness of your wicked opponents hardly for six years or so. Just imagine the patience and resolution and firmness of Our servant who braved such afflictions and hardships continuously for nine and a half centuries.”

The Quran and the Bible differ about the age of the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him). The Bible says that he lived for 950 years. He was 600 years old when the flood came, and lived for another 350 years after the flood. But according to the Quran, he must have lived for at least a thousand years, because 950 years is the time that he spent in preaching his mission after his appointment to prophethood till the coming of the flood. Evidently, he must have been appointed to prophethood after he had attained his maturity, and must have lived some life after the flood also.

For some people such a long life is inconceivable. But in this world of God strange happenings are not rare. Wherever one may look one will see extraordinary manifestations of His power. The occurrence of certain events and things in a usual form and manner is no proof that the event or thing cannot happen in an unusual and extraordinary way. To break these assumptions there exists a long list of unusual events and things that have taken place in every kind of creation in every part of the universe. In particular, the person who has a clear concept of God’s being All- Powerful, cannot be involved in the misunderstanding that it is not possible for God, Who is the Creator of life and death, to grant a life of a thousand years or so to any man. The fact is that man of his own will and wish cannot live even for a moment, but if Allah wills, He can make him live for as long as He pleases.

23. That is, the flood came when they still persisted in their wickedness. Had they desisted from it before the coming of the flood, Allah would not have sent this torment on them.

24. That is, the people who had believed in Noah (peace be upon him), and who had been permitted by Allah to board the Ark. This has been elucidated in Surah Hud: Ayat 40, thus: “Until when Our command came to pass and at- Tannur began to boil up, We said, (O Noah), take into Ark a pair from every species, and embark your own people save those who have already been specifically marked, and also those who have believed; and those who had believed with Noah (peace be upon him) were only a few.”

25. It can also mean this: “We made this dreadful punishment or this great event a sign of warning for the later generations.” But from the way this has been mentioned here and in Surah Al-Qamar, it appears that the object of warning was the Ark itself, which remained on the top of the mountain for centuries and continued to remind the later generations that a flood of such magnitude had once come in that land because of which the Ark had risen up to rest on the mountain. In (Surah Al-Qamar: Ayats 13- 15), it has been said: “And We bore Noah upon a thing (Ark) made of planks and nails, which floated under Our care. This was a vengeance for the sake of him who had been slighted. And We left that Ark as a sign. Then, is there any who would take admonition?”

In his commentary on this verse of Surah Al-Qamar, Ibn Jarir says on the authority of Qatadah that during the period of the companions when the Muslims went to the land of al-Jazirah, they saw the Ark on mount Judi (according to another tradition, near the habitation of Baqirwa). In the modern times also news appear from time to time in the media that expeditions are being sent to search out the boat, because something resembling a boat has been sighted many time from airplanes during flights over Mount Ararat. See (E.N. 47 of Surah Al-Aaraf )and (E.N. 46 of Surah Hud).

26. For comparison, see (Surah Al-Baqarah: Ayats 122-141, 258-260); (Surah Aal-Imran: Ayats 64-71); (Surah Al-Anaam: Ayats 71-82); (Surah Hud: Ayats 69-83); (Surah Ibrahim: Ayats 35-41); (Surah Al-Hijr: Ayats 45-60); (Surah Maryam: Ayats 41-50); (Surah Al-Anbiyaa: Ayats 51-75); (Surah Ash- Shuaraa: Ayats 69-104); (Surah As-Safftat: Ayats 75-113); (Surah Az-Zukhruf: Ayats 26-35); (Surah Az-Zariyat: Ayats 24-46).

27. That is, “Fear disobeying Him and associating others with Him.”

28. That is, “You are not forging idols but a lie. These idols are in themselves a lie. Then your beliefs that they are gods and goddesses, or they are incarnation of God, or His offspring, or His favorites, or intercessors with Him, or that someone of them is bestower of health, or giver of children or jobs, are all lies, which you have invented from your own whims and conjecture. The fact is that they are in no way more than idols, lifeless, powerless and impotent.”

29. In these few sentences the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) has put together all rational arguments against idol worship. There must necessarily be some reason for making somebody or something a deity. One such reason can be that somebody should be entitled to being a deity due to some personal excellence. Another, that he should be the creator of man, and man should be indebted to him for his existence. Third, that he should be responsible for man’s sustenance, his food and other means of life. Fourth, that man’s future should be linked up with his support and bounty, and man may be afraid that annoying him would mean bringing about his own ruin. The Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) said that none of these four things favored idol worship, but they all favored and demanded pure God worship. Saying that “You worship other than Allah only idols”, he demolished the first argument, for a mere idol could have no excellence to entitle it to be a deity. Then, by saying that “And you invent a falsehood”, he refuted the second argument, and “They have no power to give you provision” destroyed the third reason. Lastly, he said, “To Him you will be brought back” and not to the idols; therefore, it was not in their power to make or mar your destiny, but in the power of God alone. Thus, after a complete refutation of shirk, the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) made it clear to them that all the reasons for which man could regard somebody as a deity only applied to Allah, Who alone should be worshiped without associating anyone else with him.

30. That is, if you reject my invitation to Tauhid and deny my message that you have to return to your Lord and render an account of your deeds, it will not be a new thing. In the history of mankind many Prophets like Noah, Hud, Salih (peace be upon them) have also brought the same teachings, and their peoples denied them likewise. Now you may judge for yourselves as to whether they harmed the Prophets or only themselves.

31. From here to the end of (Ayat 23 )is a parenthesis, which has been interposed in the story of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) and addressed to the disbelievers of Makkah. The relevance of this interposition in the story, which is being related for the admonition of the disbelievers, is that they were basically involved in two kinds of deviation: shirk and idol worship, and the denial of the Hereafter. The first of these has been refuted in the Prophet Abraham’s (peace be upon him) speech as related above. Now the second is being refuted in these few sentences by Allah Himself.

32. That is, On the one hand, countless new things come into existence from non existence, and on the other, similar new members continue coming into existence to take the place of the dying members of every species. The polytheists acknowledged that that was all due to Allah’s power of creation and invention. They never denied Allah being a Creator, just as the polytheists of today do not do. Therefore, the argument has been based upon what they themselves acknowledged as a reality, as if to say, “How do you think that God, Who, according to your own belief, brings things into existence from non existence, and does not create things just once, but goes on bringing into existence similar things in place of the dying things repeatedly in front of your very eyes, will not be able to raise you back to life after death?” see (E.N. 80 of Surah An-Naml).

33. That is, “When you yourselves are witnessing things being created in the first instance by God’s competence and skill, you should understand it well that re-creation shall also take place by the same competence and skill. Such a thing is not beyond His power nor can it be.”

34. That is, you cannot escape Allah’s grasp wherever you may flee. Whether you descend into the depths of the earth or climb into the heights of the sky, you will be apprehended in any case and brought before your Lord. The same thing has been said in Surah Ar-Rahman as a challenge to the jinns and mankind: “O company of jinns and men! If you have the power to escape across the bounds of the earth and heavens, then do escape! You shall not escape, for it requires a great power,” (Ayat 33).

35. That is, neither you yourselves have the power that you should escape Allah’s grasp, nor are any of your guardians or patrons or supporters so powerful that they should give you refuge against Allah and save you from His punishment. None in the entire universe can dare rise as a supporter of those who have committed shirk and disbelief, or who have refused to submit before divine commands, or who have dared disobey Allah impudently, and raised storms of wickedness and mischief on His earth. And withhold enforcement of the divine decree of torment, or have the nerve to say in God’s court: They are my followers, therefore, whatever they might have done should be forgiven.