11:37 Hud (Hud)

{ وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَوَحْيِنَا } أي: بحفظنا، ومرأى منا, وعلى مرضاتنا، { وَلَا تُخَاطِبْنِي فِي الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا } أي: لا تراجعني في إهلاكهم، { إِنَّهُمْ مُغْرَقُونَ } أي: قد حق عليهم القول، ونفذ فيهم القدر.

"واصنع الفلك" يعني السفينة "بأعيننا" أي بمرأى منا "ووحينا" أي تعليمنا لك ما تصنعه "ولا تخاطبني في الذين ظلموا إنهم مغرقون" فقال بعض السلف أمره الله تعالى أن يغرز الخشب ويقطعه وييبسه فكان ذلك في مائة سنة ونجرها في مائة سنة أخرى وقيل في أربعين سنة والله أعلم. وذكر محمد بن إسحاق عن التوراة أن الله أمره أن يصنعها من خشب الساج وأن يجعل طولها ثمانين ذراعا وعرضها خمسين ذراعا وأن يطلي باطنها وظاهرها بالقار وأن يجعل لها جؤجؤا أزورا يشق الماء وقال قتادة كان طولها ثلثمائة ذراع في عرض خمسين وعن الحسن طولها ستمائة ذراع وعرضها ثلثمائة وعنه مع ابن عباس طولها ألف ومائتا ذراع في عرض ستمائة وقيل طولها ألفا ذراع وعرضها مائة ذراع فالله أعلم قالوا كلهم وكان ارتفاعها في السماء ثلاثين ذراعا ثلاث طبقات كل طبقة عشرة أذرع فالسفلى للدواب والوحوش والوسطى للإنس والعليا للطيور وكان بابها في عرضها ولها غطاء من فوقها مطبق عليها وقد ذكر الإمام أبو جعفر بن جرير أثرا غريبا من حديث علي بن زيد بن جدعان عن يوسف بن مهران عن عبدالله بن عباس أنه قال: قال الحواريون لعيسى ابن مريم لو بعثت لنا رجلا شهد السفينة فحدثنا عنها قال فانطلق بهم حتى انتهى إلى كثيب من تراب فأخذ كفا من ذلك التراب بكفه فقال أتدرون ما هذا؟ قالوا الله ورسوله أعلم قال هذا كعب حام بن نوح قال فضرب الكثيب بعصاه قال قم بإذن الله فإذا هو قائم ينفض التراب عن رأسه قد شاب قال له عيسى عليه السلام أهكذا هلكت ؟ قال لا. ولكني مت وأنا شاب ولكني ظننت أنها الساعة فمن ثم شبت قال حدثنا عن سفينة نوح ؟ قال كان طولها ألف ذراع ومائتي ذراع وعرضها ستمائة ذراع وكانت ثلاث طبقات فطبقة فيها الدواب والوحوش وطبقة فيها الإنس وطبقة فيها الطير فلما كثر روث الدواب أوحي الله عز وجل إلى نوح عليه السلام أن اغمز ذنب الفيل فغمزه فوقع منه خنزير وخنزيرة فأقبلا على الروث فلما وقع الفأر بجوف السفينة يقرضها وحبالها أوحى الله إليه أن اضرب بين عيني الأسد فضرب فخرج من منخره سنور وسنورة فأقبلا على الفأر ; فقال له عيسى عليه السلام كيف علم نوح أن البلاد قد غرفت ؟ قال بعث الغراب يأتيه بالخبر فوجد جيفة فوقع عليها فدعا عليه بالخوف فلذلك لا يألف البيوت قال ثم بعث الحمامة فجاءت بورق زيتون بمنقارها وطين برجليها فعلم أن البلاد قد غرقت قال فطوقها الخصرة التي في عنقها ودعا لها أن تكون في أنس وأمان فمن ثم تألف البيوت قال: فقلنا يا رسول الله ألا ننطلق به إلى أهلينا فيجلس معنا ويحدثنا ؟ قال كيف يتبعكم من لا رزق له؟ قال: فقال له عد بإذن الله فعاد ترابا.

The Revelation to Nuh concerning what would happen to the People and the Command to prepare for It

Allah, the Exalted, sent revelation to Nuh when his people hastened the vengeance and punishment of Allah upon themselves. Then, Nuh supplicated against them, as Allah mentioned, when He said;

رَّبِّ لاَ تَذَرْ عَلَى الاٌّرْضِ مِنَ الْكَـفِرِينَ دَيَّاراً

(My Lord! Leave not one of the disbelievers inhabiting the earth!) 71:26 And he said,

فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ أَنُّى مَغْلُوبٌ فَانتَصِرْ

(Then he invoked his Lord (saying): "I have been overcome, so help (me)!")54:10 At this point Allah revealed to him,

أَنَّهُ لَن يُؤْمِنَ مِن قَوْمِكَ إِلاَّ مَن قَدْ ءَامَنَ

(None of your people will believe except those who have believed already.) Therefore, do not grieve over them and do not be concerned with their affair.

وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ

(And construct the ship.) The word Fulk here means ship.

بِأَعْيُنِنَا

(under Our Eyes) This means under Our vision.

وَوَحْيِنَا

(and with Our revelation,) This means, "We will teach you (Nuh) what to do."

وَلاَ تُخَـطِبْنِى فِى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ إِنَّهُمْ مُّغْرَقُونَ

(and address Me not on behalf of those who did wrong; they are surely to be drowned.) Muhammad bin Ishaq mentioned from the Tawrah, "Allah commanded him (Nuh) to make it (the ship) from Indian oak wood. Then He commanded him to make its length eighty cubits and its width fifty cubits. Allah then commanded him to coat its interior and exterior with tar and to make it with a slanted bow to part the water (as it sailed). Its height was thirty cubits into the sky. It had three levels and each level was ten cubits high. The lowest level was for the animals, both tame and wild, the second level was for the human beings and the highest level was for the birds. Its door was in the center of it and it had a cover on top of it that covered the entire ship. Concerning Allah's statement,

وَيَصْنَعُ الْفُلْكَ وَكُلَّمَا مَرَّ عَلَيْهِ مَلأٌ مِّن قَوْمِهِ سَخِرُواْ مِنْهُ

(And as he was constructing the ship, whenever the chiefs of his people passed by him, they mocked at him.) This means that they teased him and rejected his threat that they would drown (in the forthcoming flood).

قَالَ إِن تَسْخَرُواْ مِنَّا فَإِنَّا نَسْخَرُ مِنكُمْ

(He said: "If you mock at us, so do we mock at you likewise...") This is a severe threat and a serious warning.

مَن يَأْتِيهِ عَذَابٌ يُخْزِيهِ

(who it is on whom will come a torment that will cover him with disgrace) This means that it (the torment) will humiliate him in this life.

وَيَحِلُّ عَلَيْهِ عَذَابٌ مُّقِيمٌ

(and on whom will fall a lasting torment.) that is continuous and everlasting.

Build the Ark the ship under Our eyes under Our watch and protection and by Our inspiration by Our command and do not address Me concerning those who have done evil those who have disbelieved by asking that I should refrain from destroying them; lo! they shall be drowned’.

Boat-Making: The Education of a Prophet ﷺ

When Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) was commanded to make an ark, he knew no ark, nor its making. Therefore, in the next verse (37), he got his first lesson. To orient him to the reality of boat making, it was said: وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَوَحْيِنَا (And make an ark under Our eyes and according to Our revelation).

Hadith reports say that Sayyidna Jibra'il al-Amin (علیہ السلام) told Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) by means of revelation all about the making of boats. He had used wood from the saul tree (shorea robusta) to build this ark.

Some historical narratives give its measurement. It was three hundred yards long, fifty yards in width and thirty yard high, almost a three storied ship. Its ventilators, as customary, opened to the right and the left. Thus, this industry, the first prototype of the ship building industry, began at the hands of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) for the first time through Divine revelation. After that, the progress it made is current history.

All Essential Industries Originated through Revelation

It has been reported on the authority of some elders of early centuries of Islam in at-Tibb an-Nabawi of Hafiz Shamsud-Din adh-Dhahabi that all industries essential for human beings owe their origin to the process of Divine revelation through some prophet. Later, improvements kept coming as needed during different times. The first revelation that came to Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) mostly related to rehabilitation of the land and establishment of different industries. The invention of wheel carts for loading and hauling things is part of the chain of inventions.

Sir Syed Ahmad an, the founder of the well-known Aligarh College, (now the Muslim University of Aligarh, India) used to say more than a hundred years ago that the world has seen inventions of all sorts in moving vehicles but its pivot continued to be the axle and the wheel. It is the common factor between a bullock-cart, a donkey-cart, rails and cars. Therefore, the greatest inventor of moving vehicles is the person who invented the wheel that is the life and soul of a lot of machines. As it was said, this invention unfolded itself at the hands of the first prophet, Sayyidna Adam, peace on him, through a Divine revelation.

From here we also learn that industries devoted to essential human needs are so important that the blessed prophets have been taught and trained in these through Divine revelation.

Soon after instructing Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) how he would make an ark, he was told that a flood would come and his people will be drowned and that, at the time, he was not to intercede out of compassion on their behalf.

Make the ship through Our eyes and Our revelation. In keeping with the Shariah and by virtue of the outward decree, a command came, " Build a ship from teak and sit in it so as to be delivered from the storm. " In keeping with the Haqiqah and by virtue of special favor and the attribute of proximity, a call came to his secret core, " You have the ocean of the soul before you. It is a drowning, destructive ocean in which are waiting whirlpools full of danger and spirit-stealing sharks. You must cross it in order to reach the shore of security. Build a ship of self-purification in three levels: one fear, the second hope, and the third approval. Then attach to it the sail of truthfulness and set it toward the east wind of awareness of Me. " This is why He said, " through Our eyes and Our revelation: I Myself will drive it as it should be driven and where it should be driven. " He it is who makes you journey on land and sea [10:22]. And We carried them on land and sea [17:70]. By way of allusion He is saying, " My servant, turn over the governance of your work to Me, entrust yourself totally to Me, and keep your self-determination distant. You are being carried by My gentleness, and 'He who is carried by the generous does not fall. And if he does fall, he will find someone to take his hand.' " This is just what MuṣṬafā said: " You indeed will be threading a bridge of fire. If one of you treads on a spark, the bridge will say, 'Your Lord has said to shelter him!' " This is a great generos- ity and an infinite gentleness that the Exalted Lord will do for the disobedient servant tomorrow when he crosses the Narrow Path. " So, sometimes he will stop, sometime stumble, " falling and getting up. The Exalted Lord knows that the servant has no one to come to his aid but He and no one to take his hand but He. In the reports it is mentioned that God's mercy toward the servant is more than a mother's mercy toward her child. Supposing that a child's foot gets caught in the mud a thousand times, each time the mother will say, " Rise up, O soul of your mother! " Each time she will be even more tender and lovingly kind toward the child.