23:27 Al-Muminoon (The Believers)

{ فَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِ } عند استجابتنا له، سببا ووسيلة للنجاة، قبل وقوع أسبابه، { أَنِ اصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ } أي: السفينة { بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَوَحْيِنَا } أي: بأمرنا لك ومعونتنا، وأنت في حفظنا وكلاءتنا بحيث نراك ونسمعك. { فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَمْرُنَا } بإرسال الطوفان الذي عذبوا به { وَفَارَ التَّنُّورُ } أي: فارت الأرض، وتفجرت عيونا، حتى محل النار، الذي لم تجر العادة إلا ببعده عن الماء، { فَاسْلُكْ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلٍّ زَوْجَيْنِ اثْنَيْنِ } أي: أدخل في الفلك من كل جنس من الحيوانات، ذكرا وأنثى، تبقى مادة النسل لسائر الحيوانات، التي اقتضت الحكمة الربانية إيجادها في الأرض، { وَأَهْلَكَ } أي: أدخلهم { إِلَّا مَنْ سَبَقَ عَلَيْهِ الْقَوْلُ } كابنه، { وَلَا تُخَاطِبْنِي فِي الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا } أي: لا تدعني أن أنجيهم، فإن القضاء والقدر، قد حتم أنهم مغرقون.

فعند ذلك أمره الله تعالى بصنعة السفينة وإحكامها وإتقانها وأن يحمل فيها من كل زوجين اثنين أي ذكرا وأنثى من كل صنف من الحيوانات والنباتات والثمار وغير ذلك وأن يحمل فيها أهله " إلا من سبق عليه القول منهم " أي من سبق عليه القول من الله بالهلاك وهم الذين لم يؤمنوا به من أهله كابنه وزوجته والله أعلم.وقوله " ولا تخاطبني في الذين ظلموا إنهم مغرقون " أي عند معاينة إنزال المطر العظيم لا تأخذنك رأفة بقومك وشفقة عليهم وطمع في تأخيرهم لعلهم يؤمنون فإني قد قضيت أنهم مغرقون على ما هم عليه من الكفر والطغيان وقد تقدمت القصة مبسوطة في سورة هود بما يغني عن إعادة ذلك ههنا.

Allah tells us that Nuh, peace be upon him, invoked his Lord to help him against his people,

as Allah mentions in another Ayah:

فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ أَنُّى مَغْلُوبٌ فَانتَصِرْ

(Then he invoked his Lord (saying): "I have been overcome, so help (me)!") 54:10. Here he says:

رَبِّ انصُرْنِى بِمَا كَذَّبُونِ

(O my Lord! Help me because they deny me.) At that point, Allah commanded him to build a boat and to make it strong and firm, and to carry therein of every kind two, i.e., a male and a female of every species of animals, plants and fruits etc. He was also to carry his family,

إِلاَّ مَن سَبَقَ عَلَيْهِ الْقَوْلُ مِنْهُمْ

(except those thereof against whom the Word has already gone forth.) meaning, those whom Allah had already decreed were to be destroyed. These were the members of his family who did not believe in him, such as his son and his wife. And Allah knows best.

وَلاَ تُخَـطِبْنِى فِى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ إِنَّهُمْ مُّغْرَقُونَ

(And address Me not in favor of those who have done wrong. Verily, they are to be drowned.) means, `when you witness the heavy rain falling, do not let yourself be overcome with compassion and pity for your people, or hope for more time for them so that they may believe, for I have decreed that they will be drowned and will die in their state of disbelief and wrongdoing.' The story has already been told in detail in Surah Hud, and there is no need to repeat it here.

فَإِذَا اسْتَوَيْتَ أَنتَ وَمَن مَّعَكَ عَلَى الْفُلْكِ فَقُلِ الْحَمْدُ للَّهِ الَّذِى نَجَّانَا مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّـلِمِينَ

(And when you have embarked on the ship, you and whoever is with you, then say: `All the praise be to Allah, Who has saved us from the people who are wrongdoers.') This is like the Ayah:

وَالَّذِى خَلَقَ الأَزْوَجَ كُلَّهَا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِّنَ الْفُلْكِ وَالاٌّنْعَـمِ مَا تَرْكَبُونَ - لِتَسْتَوُواْ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ إِذَا اسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُواْ سُبْحَـنَ الَّذِى سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَـذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ - وَإِنَّآ إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ

(and has appointed for you ships and cattle on which you ride: In order that you may mount on their backs, and then may remember the favor of your Lord when you mount thereon, and say: "Glory to Him Who has subjected this to us, and we could never have it (by our efforts). And verily, to Our Lord we indeed are to return!") 43:12-14 So, certainly, Nuh adhered to what he was commanded, as Allah says elsewhere:

وَقَالَ ارْكَبُواْ فِيهَا بِسْمِ اللَّهِ مَجْرَاهَا وَمُرْسَاهَا

(And he said: "Embark therein: in the Name of Allah will be its (moving) course and its (resting) anchorage...")11:41 So Nuh mentioned Allah at the beginning of his journey and at the end, and Allah said:

وَقُل رَّبِّ أَنزِلْنِى مُنزَلاً مُّبَارَكاً وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الْمُنزِلِينَ

(And say: `My Lord! Cause me to land at a blessed landing place, for You are the Best of those who bring to land.")

إِنَّ فِى ذلِكَ لأيَـتٍ

(Verily in this, there are indeed Ayat,) means in this event, which is the saving of the believers and the destruction of the disbelievers there are signs, i.e., clear evidence and proof that the Prophets speak the truth in the Message they bring from Allah, may He be exalted, and that Allah does what He wills, and He is able to do all things and knows all things.

وَإِن كُنَّا لَمُبْتَلِينَ

(for sure We are ever putting (men) to the test.) means, `We try Our servants by means of sending the Messengers.'

So We revealed to him saying ‘Build the Ark the ship under Our watch under Our observation and protection and by Our revelation Our command. Then when Our command comes that they be destroyed and the oven of the baker gushes with water — and this was Noah’s sign — bring into it admit into the ship of every kind of animal two mates a male and a female that is two of every species thereof ithnayn is an object; min ‘of’ is semantically connected to usluk ‘bring into it’. According to the story God exalted be He gathered all the beasts of prey and the birds and other animals for Noah. As he Noah pushed forth his hands into each species his right hand would fall upon a male and the left upon a female whereafter he would take them on board the ship a variant reading for min kuli ‘of every’ is min kullin ‘of every kind’ in which case zawjayni ‘two mates’ becomes a direct object with ithnayn ‘two’ being repeated for emphasis thereof; together with your family — his wife ? and children — except for those against whom the Word has already gone forth that they be destroyed namely his wife and his son Canaan Kan‘ān unlike Shem Sām Ham Hām and Japheth Yāfith whom together with their three wives he carried on board. In sūrat Hūd the following is mentioned where Noah is told who he should carry in the ship ‘… and those who believe.’ And none believed with him except a few Q. 1140. It is said that these were six men and their wives. Moreover it is said that all those who were on the ship numbered seventy eight half of them were men and half were women. And do not plead with Me concerning those who have done wrong those who have disbelieved that I should refrain from destroying them. They shall indeed be drowned.

وَفَارَ‌ التَّنُّورُ‌ (And the oven gushes forth - 23:27). The word تَّنُّور‌ means oven which is used for making flat, round bread, and is also used in the sense of the whole earth. According to some people تَّنُّور‌ is a specific oven in the Kufah mosque, while others believe that it was somewhere in Syria. Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) was informed by Allah that when water began boiling forth from the تَّنُّور‌ (oven) that would be the sign of the coming of the Deluge (Mazhari). The story of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) ، the Deluge and his Ark has been reported in some earlier Surahs (See Volume 4, p. 626 to 643).