71- Surat Nooh/Tafseer
28 Verses Meccan (revealed in Mecca)
A'auzu Bellahi mena alshaiytani alrajeem
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan
Besmi Ellahi Alrhmani Alraheem
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Inna arsalna noohan ela qawmehi an anzir qawmaka men qabli an ya'tiyahum azabun aleem (1).
Indeed, We sent Noah to His people that Warn your people before a painful punishment comes to them.
Qala ya-qawmi inni lakum nazeerun mubeen (2).
He said O My people! Indeed, I am to you a clear warner.
Ani e'budu Allaha wa-ttaquhu wa ati-oun (3).
That Worship Allah, and Fear Him, and Obey Me.
Yaghfir lakum men zunubikum wa you-akhkhirkum ela ajalin musamman inna ajala Allahi iza jaa la you-akhkharu laww kuntum ta'lamun (4).
He will forgive you your sins, and delay you to an appointed term, indeed, the term of Allah, when it comes, will not be delayed, if you only know.
Qala Rabbi inni da-awtu qawmi laylan wa nahara (5).
He said My lord, indeed, I have called My people night and day.
Fa-lam yazid-hum duai ella firara (6).
But My call increased them not except in flight.
Wa-inni kullama da-awtuhum le-taghfira lahum ja-alu asabe-ahum fee azanihim wa-staghshaww thiyabahum wa asarru wa-stakbaru estikbara (7).
And indeed, every time I called them that You may forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears, and wrapped their clothes around themselves, and persisted, and were arrogant with extreme arrogance.
Thumma inni da-awtuhum jehara (8).
Then I called them publicly.
Thumma inni a'lantu lahum wa asrartu lahum israra (9).
Then indeed, I announced to them, and confided to them secretly.
Fa qultu estaghfiru rabbakum innahu kana ghaffara (10).
And I said Ask forgiveness of your Lord, indeed, He is Oft-Forgiving.
yoursili alsamaa alaykum midrara (11).
He will send rain from the sky upon you in abundance.
Wa youmdidkum bi-amwalin wa banina wa yaj'al lakum jannatin wa yaj'al lakum anhara (12).
And give you increase in wealth and children, and provide for you gardens, and provide for you rivers.
Ma lakum la tarjuna li-llahi waqara (13).
What is with you that you do not attribute the grandeur to Allah.
Wa-qad khalaqakum atwara (14).
While He has created you in stages?.
A-lam taraww kayfa khalaqa Allahu sab'a samawatin tibaqa (15).
Do not you see how Allah created seven heavens in layers.
Wa ja'la alqamara feehinna nuran wa ja'la alshamsa siraja (16).
And made the moon a light therein, and made the sun a lamp?.
Wa Allahu anbatakum mena al-ardi nabata (17).
And Allah has caused you to grow from the earth, a perfect growth.
Thumma yuidukum feeha wa youkhrijukum ikhraja (18).
Then He will return you into it, and extract you, another extraction.
Wa Allahu ja-ala lakumu al-arda bisata (19).
And Allah has made for you the earth an expanse.
Li-tasluku minha subulan fijaja (20).
That you may follow therein wide ways.
Qala Noohun Rabbi innahum asawni wa-ttabau man lam yazid-hu maluhu wa waladuhu ella khasara (21).
Noah said My Lord indeed, they have disobeyed Me, and followed him whose wealth and children did not increase him except in loss.
Wa makaru makran kubbara (22).
And they plotted a great plot.
Wa qalu la tazarunna alihatakum wa-la tazarunna waddan wa-la suwa-an wa-la yaghutha wa ya-uqa wa nasra (23).
And said Do not leave your gods, and never leave Wadd nor Suwa' nor Yaghuth and Ya'uq and Nasr.
Wa-qad adallu kathiran wa-la tazedi alzalimeena illa dalala (24).
And indeed, they have led many astray, and Do not increase the wrongdoers except in error.
Memma khati-atihim aughriqu fa-audkhelu naran fa-lam yajidu lahum men duni ellahi ansara (25).
Because of their sins, they were drowned, and put into the Fire, so they found no helpers for them besides Allah.
Wa qala noohun Rabbi la tazar ala al-ardi mena alkafireena dayyara (26).
And Noah said My lord Do not leave on the earth any inhabitant from among the disbelievers.
Innaka in tazarhum youdillu ibadaka wa-la yalidu illa fajiran kaffara (27).
Indeed, if You leave them, they will lead your servants astray, and will not beget except a wicked and disbelieving one.
Rabbi eghfir lee wa li-walidayya wa li-man dakhala baytiya mu'minan wa lel-mu'mineena wal-mu'menati wala tazidi alzalimeena illa tabara (28).
My Lord Forgive Me and My parents, and whoever enters My house as a believer, and the believing men and believing women, and Do not increase the wrongdoers except in destruction.
Simplified interpretation:
Surat Nooh deals with the story of the Prophet Noah, peace be upon Him, with His people, as He stayed among them nine hundred and fifty years, calling them to worship Allah alone as mentioned in Aya (14) of Surat Alankaboot. He kept calling them to worship Allah secretly and publicly, sometimes by intimidation, sometimes by encouragement, and sometimes by the speech of reason, but they persisted on their disbelief, and refused to abandon their gods, so Allah drowned them, and prepared for them a painful torment in the Hereafter.
Allah Almighty says in the first four verses (1-4) "Indeed, We sent Noah to His people that Warn your people before a painful punishment comes to them, He said O My people! Indeed, I am to you a clear warner, that Worship Allah, and Fear Him, and Obey Me, He will forgive you your sins, and delay you to an appointed term, indeed, the term of Allah, when it comes, will not be delayed, if you only know", that is, Allah commanded His Prophet Noah to call his people to worship Allah alone, threatening them with a painful torment if they did not believe. This was a threat from Allah that if they did not believe in Him and obey His Messenger, He would hasten the punishment for them, and not delay it until they reached their appointed lifespan. Allah assures that their appointed time, whether natural death or through punishment cannot be postponed, and if they had knowledge they would know that.
Allah Almighty says in the next three verses (5-7) "He said My lord, indeed, I have called My people night and day, but My call increased them not except in flight, and indeed, every time I called them that You may forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears, and wrapped their clothes around themselves, and persisted, and were arrogant with extreme arrogance", that is, the Prophet Noah conveyed the message of Allah to His people and warned them of a painful torment, but He did not find any response from them, so He complained His people to Allah saying that He did not abandon the call to faith in Allah day or night, but His call increased them not except in fleeing from the truth, and every time He called them to seek Allah's forgiveness, they put their fingers in their ears, and wrapped their clothes around themselves lest they hear what He says, and they persisted on their disbelief, and they were arrogant and refused to submit to the truth.
Allah Almighty says in the next five verses (8-12) "Then I called them publicly, then indeed, I announced to them, and confided to them secretly, and I said Ask forgiveness of your Lord, indeed, He is Oft-Forgiving, He will send rain from the sky upon you in abundance, and give you increase in wealth and children, and provide for you gardens, and provide for you rivers", that is, The Prophet Noah also called His people secretly or openly, between him and them or among the people, and He commanded them to repent and seek forgiveness for their disbelief, and if they did so, Allah would send down a successive rain from the sky which would be a cause of abundant sustenance for them, and Allah would provide them with wealth money and children, gardens containing all kinds of fruits, and rivers flowing between them.
Allah Almighty says in the next eight verses (13-20) "What is with you that you do not attribute the grandeur to Allah, While He has created you in stages?, Do not you see how Allah created seven heavens in layers, and made the moon a light therein, and made the sun a lamp?, and Allah has caused you to grow from the earth, a perfect growth, then He will return you into it, and extract you, another extraction, and Allah has made for you the earth an expanse, that you may follow therein wide ways", that is, the Prophet Noah, peace be upon Him, called His people through the speech of reason, showing them the greatness and the power of Allah in the creation of the heavens, themselves, and the earth, so that they may give reason, so He said to them as a kind of denunciation, why did they not appreciate Allah and glorify Him as He deserves to be glorified, since He is the One who created them in stages, meaning that Allah has created man, as mentioned in Surat Alqiyamah, from a drop of semen, then the sperm turns into a clinging clot in the woman's womb, then Allah formed and perfected it, and the soul was breathed into it, then it became a complete creature, male or female. The Prophet Noah also reminded His people of Allah's greatness in creating the seven heavens, layered one upon another, and in making the moon a light at night, and the sun a lamp by day, He reminded them of Allah's greatness in creating themselves, having brought them forth from the earth, when He created Adam from clay as mentioned in Aya (7) of Surat Alsajdah {And began the creation of man from clay}, then the Prophet Noah told them that Allah would return them to the earth when they are buried therein after death, then Allah would resurrect them on the day of resurrection. He then reminded them of Allah's greatness in creating the earth, making it a vast expanse for them to inhabit and traverse as they please, along its wide roads.
Allah Almighty says in the next three verses (21-23) "Noah said My Lord indeed, they have disobeyed Me, and followed him whose wealth and children did not increase him except in loss, and they plotted a great plot, and said Do not leave your gods, and never leave Wadd nor Suwa' nor Yaghuth and Ya'uq and Nasr", that is, neither intimidation, nor encouragement, nor the speech of reason had any effect with the people of Noah and they persisted on their disbelief, so the Prophet Noah, peace be upon Him said to Allah that they disobeyed Him and followed the one whose wealth and children only increased him in loss, misguidance, and destruction in the Hereafter, and they devised a great plot to convince them that they were on the right path and guidance, and they said to their followers "Do not leave your gods, and never leave Wadd nor Suwa' nor Yaghuth and Ya'uq and Nasr".
And Ibn Abbas reported: "All the idols which were worshiped by the people of Noah were worshiped by the Arab later on, as for the idol Wadd, it was worshiped by the tribe of Kalb at Daumat Al-Jandal, Suwa' was the idol of the tribe of Hudhail, Yaghuth was worshiped by the tribe of Murad and then by Bani Ghutaif at Al-Jurf near Saba', Ya'uq was the idol of Hamdan, and Nasr was the idol of Himyar, the branch of Dhi-Al-Kala'. The names of these idols formerly belonged to some pious men of the people of Noah, and when they died, Satan inspired their people to prepare and place idols at the places where they used to sit, and to call those idols by their names, the people did so, but the idols were not worshiped till those people had died and the origin of the idols had become obscure, whereupon people began worshiping them (Sahih Albukhari 4920).
Allah Almighty says in the next verse (24) "And indeed, they have led many astray, and Do not increase the wrongdoers except in error", that is, the prophet Noah said that many people had gone astray by worshipping these idols that were made in the images of the pious people, therefore, He supplicated Allah against His people for their rebellion, disbelief, and stubbornness, and He asked Allah not to increase the wrongdoers except in misguidance, and to keep them away from the path of truth.
Allah Almighty says in the next verse (25) "Because of their sins, they were drowned, and put into the Fire, so they found no helpers for them besides Allah", that is, because of their sins, Allah drowned the wrongdoers among the people of Noah, including His son and His wife, and Allah saved the Prophet Noah and the believers as mentioned in Ayat (25-48) of Surat Hud, and Allah has prepared for them a painful torment in the Hereafter, and this is similar to Aya (37) of Surat Alfurqan {And the people of Noah when they denied the Messengers, We drowned them, and We made them a sign for the people, and We have prepared for the wrongdoers a painful punishment}, and they did not found helpers besides Allah to save them from the punishment in the worldly life nor will they find any helpers in the Hereafter when they will enter Hellfire, abiding therein forever.
Allah Almighty says in the next two verses (26,27) "And Noah said My lord Do not leave on the earth any inhabitant from among the disbelievers, indeed, if You leave them, they will lead your servants astray, and will not beget except a wicked and disbelieving one", that is, the fate that befell the people of Noah was in response to the supplication of their Prophet because He despaired of their faith, and was certain that there is no good in them or in their offspring, so they would mislead the people from the path of guidance, and they would only beget every wicked and disbelieving one whose heart would be filled with disbelief and denial of Allah's signs and proofs, so he would deny the truth when it came to him, and he would disbelieve in Allah, would be ungrateful to Him and would deny that He is the One who bestows His blessings upon him.
Allah Almighty says in the last verse (28) "My Lord Forgive Me and My parents, and whoever enters My house as a believer, and the believing men and believing women, and Do not increase the wrongdoers except in destruction", that is, the Prophet Noah, peace be upon Him, asked Allah for forgiveness for Himself, His parents, His companions, the believing men, and the believing women, and asked for destruction and loss for the wrongdoers.