Part 41

Th,' Slory 0/ Nooh ~ 189

Tha t is, I do not req uire any paymc nt from you 1'0 1' co nvey ing

to you that whic h will benefit you in your ea rthl y life and in

your A rterlife. I do not seek that from anyone except A ll ah,

Whose Rewa rd is bellcr for me and mo re lasting than what you

mi ght give to me .

( "I am not going to drive away those who ha ve belicved.

Surely, th ey arc go ing to meet the ir Lord, but I sec that you are

a peop le who arc ignonl lll." ) (SoO/'all /-load II :29) It is as if

thcy had req ucsted him to se nd those peop le away from him

and promised him tha t they would j oi n him if he did so. But he

refused the ir reques t and sa id , ( "Surely, they are go ing to meet

their Lord." ) (Soorah Nood II :29) and so I fe,11" tha t if I scnd

th em away, they w ill co mplain of me to All ah, the A lmi ghty.

( "And I do no t say to you Ihat with me are the Treasures

of A ll ah, nor that I know the ghaib (unseen); nor do I say I

a m an ange l." ) (SoO/'all /-load 11 :3 1) That is, on the cont rary,

I am a s lave and <I Messe nger. I do not possess anythi ng o f

A ll ah's Know ledge, exccpt th at whi ch He ha s info rm cd me

and I have no ab il ity to do an ything excep t thm which Allah

has enab led me to do. Nor do I possess th e power to benefit or

inflict harm. except .IS A llah w ill s. ( "And I do not say of those

Thm is. Noah's fo ll owers. ( "that Allah will not bestow any

good on them . Allah knows what is in their inncr-selves (as

regards bel ief, e tc.). In that case, I should, indeed be one of

the =alimooll (wrongdoc rs, oppresso rs, c tc.)." ) (Soorah Hood

11: 3 1). That is, I will not testi fy agai nst them tha t they w ill

n OI be rewarded by A llah 0 11 the Day of Resurrec ti o n. A ll ah

knows better regarding them and He wi ll recompense them for

wha t is in their hea rts: if what is in them is good, then He will

190 The SIOI:I' o/Nvuh ~

rewa rd them with good ness and ifit is evil, He will recompense

them with evil, as He, Most Hi gh, says in ano ther SOOl'ah, (

"They said. 'Shall we believe in you. when th e mcanest (of the

people) follow you?' He said, 'A nd what knowledge have I of

what they used 10 do? Their account is only with my Lord, if

you coul d (b ut) know. And I am not going 10 dri ve away the

beli evers. I am only a plain warner.' ) (Soorah Ash-SIIIl 'ara '

A long time passed and the arguments between him and th em

co ntinued , as All ah, Most Hi gh , says, ( And indeed We sent

Nooh Lo his people, and he stayed among them a thousa nd

years less fifty yC~II's (invit ing thcm to believe in the Oneness

of A ll ah [Monotheism], and discard the fal se gods and other

dcities), and the Del uge overtook thcm whil c they were

:(IIiIllOOIl (wrongdoers. polytheists, disbelievers, e tc .) )(Soorah

11/- 'Ankabool 29: 14) Th at is, throughout all thi s extended

period of timc, non c but a fcw of them believed. Evc ry time

a generation passed away, they would advise th osc who ca me

aft er Ihem not to believe in him and to co nt est him and oppose

him. When a 111<ln'S son reached maturity and understood hi s

wo rds, he would advi se him in any di sc uss ions they had never

10 believe in Nooh ~ for as long as he li ved.

Their nature prevented them from believ ing a nd follo wing

the truth , which is why Noa h ~ said, ( "and lhey will beget

none bU I wicked di sbciievers." ) (Saarah Noa h 7 1:27) -

and tha l is why they said, ( They sa id, 0, Noah! You have

di sputed with us and mu ch have yo u pro longed the dispute

wit h us, now bri ng lipan liS what you threaten us with, ifyo ll

arc of the truthful. ' li e sa id, 'Only Allah wi ll brin g it (t he

punishment) on you, if l-Ic will , and then you will escape nO l. '

) (SaO/'oh Hood II :32,33) Thai is, on ly A ll ah , the Almighty,

The SIlIrI' uf Noah ~ 191

the A ll -Powe rfu l is a ble to do that , for it is He Who is ca pable

of doing anyt hin g, and not hing is diffic ult for Hi m; rath er. it

is He Who says to a thin g, "Be !" and it is . ( " And my <Id vice

w illl1 0t profi t yo u, even if I wish to g ive YO ll good coull se l, if

A lla h 's Wi ll is to keep YO LI astray. li e is YOllr Lord a nd to Il im

YOli s ha ll re turn ." ) (Soorall /-Iood 11 :34) T hat is, i f A llah

wants to put anyo ne to trial (i.e. make him go astray), 11 0 one

wi ll be able to gu ide him . It is I-Ie W ho guides w hol11 He wi ll s.

and causes to go ast ray who m He wi ll s <"Ind He docs what

I-Ie intend s (o r will s). He is th e Almighty_ the Mos t Wisc, the

Knowc r of w ho de se rves to be guidcd and who dese rves to bc

led as tray and to Him belong the mos t 1 ~1I'-reac hin g Wisdom

and the 111 0S1 irrefutabl e a rgu lll cnt.

( And it was inspired to Noah: 'Non e of your people will

be li eve exccpt those who ha ve believed a lready' . ) (SoO/'all

I-Iood II :36) Th is was sa id as a co nso lati on lO him , in light

of what they had done to him. ( And it wa s inspired to Noa h:

"NOlle of your peo pl e w il1 believe exce pt those who have

be li eved already. So be not sad beca use o f what they lised to

do '. ) (Sool"{lh I-Iood II :36) It was a co nso lation to Nooh ~

regarding hi s people to know that nonc of th clll wo uld beli eve

except those who had already be li eved. That is, lct it not grieve

YOLI wha t has passed, for victory is near and th e tid ings are

( "A nd constmct the ship under Our Eyes and w ith Our

Inspi rati on, and address Me not 0 11 be ha lf o f those w ho did

wrong; 1hey are surely to be drown ed." ) (Soora" Nood II :37)

Whcn Nooh ~ despa ircd of the ir ever-becomi ng ri ghteous

lind successful and cons idered that th ere was no good in them

and that they continu ed to harm him, to oppose hi m and to

be li e him w it h alllhe means 1111heir disposal. includ ing words

and deeds, he in voked A ll ah's Anger agai nst th cm and Allah

an swered his invocati on. I-Ie, Most High, says, ( An d indeed

Nooh invoked Us, and We are Ih c Best of those who answer

(the request). And We rescued him and his famil y from the

great di stres s (i.e. drowning) (Saara" As-Saffill 37:75,76)

I-Ie, Most High, says, ( Then he invoked his Lord (saying);

. / have bcen overcomc, so he lp (me)'! ) (Soorah AJ-Qalllal'

54: I 0). So their s in s of di sbe li ef and iniquity and the in vocati on

of their Prophet combin ed against them and at that point, Al lah

co mmanded him 10 bui ld Ihe Ark.

All ah, Most Hi gh, in fo rmed him that when Hi s Punishment

- whi ch cou ld not be resc inded fro m th e ev ildo ing people

- descended on them, He would not be ab le to ask All ah

abo ut them agai n, beca use he might be affi icted by fee lings

of pity toward hi s people, when he saw with his own eyes

th e punishment inflicted on them, for bei ng informed about

someth ing is no t th e same as see ing it with one's own eyes.

Thi s is why .He says, ("And construct the ship under Our

Eyes and with Ou r Insp ira tion , and address Me not on beha lf

oflhose who did wrong; they are surely to be drowned. And as

he was construc ti ng the ship, whenever the chiefs of his people

passed by him, they made a mockery of him . ) (Som'ah Hood

II :37,38) That is. they mocked him, regarding it as unli kely

that what he had promised them would in fact, befall them. (

"He said, ' If you mock at li S, so do we mock at you likew ise for

you r mocking. " ) (Soorah Hood II :38) That is, it is we who

will mock you. We are amazed at your continuing di sbelief

and stubbornness, whi ch demands the infli cti on of punish men I

on you. ( "A nd you will know who it is on whom will co me

a torme nt Ihat will cover him with disgrace and on whom w ill

fa ll a lasting torment. '· ) (SoOl'all Hood 11 :39) It was the ir

Th e Suny of .\'0011 .;'; 193

nature to stubbornl y di sbelieve and ve he mc ntl y oppose him in

the life of thi s world and likew ise in the Hereafter, for they

will deny a lso that a ny Messenge r came to the m, as narrated