(Revealed before Hijrah)
Date of Revelation, Context and Subject-Matter
As the Surah records the spiritual experiences of the Prophet Noah, it has fittingly been named after him. Wherry gives 7th year of the Call as the date of its revelation, while Noldeke places it in the 5th year, but according to other authorities it was revealed in the first Meccan period, about the time when some of the immediately preceding Chapters were revealed. Towards the end of the preceding Surah it was stated that wicked people invariably reject the Divine Message; they oppose and persecute God's Messengers till the hour of punishment arrives and they meet their deserved end. The present Scrah gives a brief account of the missionary activities of one of the greatest Prophets of antiquity - Noah, and depicts him as pouring out the agony of his heart before his Lord and Creator in words full of extreme pathos.
He preached to his people day and night, he says, and spoke to them in public and in private. He reminded them of the great favors and bounties that God had bestowed upon them. He warned them of the evil consequences of the rejection of the Divine Message. But all his preaching and warning, his sympathy with and solicitude for, their well-being only met with ridicule, opposition and abuse; and instead of following him whose heart was full of love for them, they chose to follow those false leaders who led them to destruction. When Noah's exhortation and preaching of a whole lifetime proved a voice in the wilderness, he prayed to God to destroy the enemies of Truth. The Surah closes with this prayer of Noah.
 بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
[71:1] In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.
 إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَى قَوْمِهِ أَنْ أَنذِرْ قَوْمَكَ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
[71:2] We sent Noah to his people, saying, ‘Warn thy people before there comes upon them a grievous punishment.’
 قَالَ يَاقَوْمِ إِنِّي لَكُمْ نَذِيرٌ مُبِينٌ
[71:3] He said, ‘O my people! surely I am a plain Warner unto you,
 أَنْ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاتَّقُوهُ وَأَطِيعُونِي
[71:4] ‘That you serve Allah and fear Him and obey me.
يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ مِنْ ذُنُوبِكُمْ وَيُؤَخِّرْكُمْ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى إِنَّ أَجَلَ اللَّهِ إِذَا جَاءَ لاَ يُؤَخَّرُ لَوْ كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
[71:5] ‘He will forgive you your sins and grant you respite till an appointed time. Verily the time appointed by Allah cannot be put back when it comes[3130], if only you knew!’
 قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي دَعَوْتُ قَوْمِي لَيْلاً وَنَهَارًا
[71:6] He said, “My Lord, I have called my people night and day,
 فَلَمْ يَزِدْهُمْ دُعَائِي إِلاَّ فِرَارًا
[71:7] “But my calling them has only made them flee from me all the more.
وَإِنِّي كُلَّمَا دَعَوْتُهُمْ لِتَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ جَعَلُوا أَصَابِعَهُمْ فِي آذَانِهِمْ وَاسْتَغْشَوْا ثِيَابَهُمْ وَأَصَرُّوا وَاسْتَكْبَرُوا اسْتِكْبَارًا
[71:8] “And every time I called them that Thou mightest forgive them, they put their fingers into their ears, and covered up their hearts[3131], and persisted in their iniquity, and were disdainfully proud.
 ثُمَّ إِنِّي دَعَوْتُهُمْ جِهَارًا
[71:9] “Then, I called them to righteousness openly.
 ثُمَّ إِنِّي أَعْلَنتُ لَهُمْ وَأَسْرَرْتُ لَهُمْ إِسْرَارًا
[71:10] “Then I preached to them in public, and also spoke to them in private.[3132]
 فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا
[71:11] “And I said, ‘Seek forgiveness of your Lord; for He is the Great Forgiver.
 يُرْسِلْ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِدْرَارًا
[71:12] ‘He will send down rain for you in abundance,
 وَيُمْدِدْكُمْ بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ أَنْهَارًا
[71:13] ‘And He will strengthen you with wealth and with children, and He will give you gardens and He will give you rivers.
 مَا لَكُمْ لاَ تَرْجُونَ لِلَّهِ وَقَارًا
[71:14] ‘What is the matter with you that you expect not wisdom and staidness from Allah?
 وَقَدْ خَلَقَكُمْ أَطْوَارًا
[71:15] ‘And He has created you in different forms and different conditions.[3133]
 أَلَمْ تَرَوْا كَيْفَ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ طِبَاقًا
[71:16] ‘Have you not seen how Allah has created seven heavens in perfect harmony,
 وَجَعَلَ الْقَمَرَ فِيهِنَّ نُورًا وَجَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ سِرَاجًا
[71:17] ‘And has placed the moon therein as a light, and made the sun as a lamp?
 وَاللَّهُ أَنْبَتَكُمْ مِنْ الأَرْضِ نَبَاتًا
[71:18] ‘And Allah has caused you to grow as a good growth from the earth,
 ثُمَّ يُعِيدُكُمْ فِيهَا وَيُخْرِجُكُمْ إِخْرَاجًا
[71:19] ‘Then will He cause you to return thereto, and He will bring you forth a new bringing forth.
 وَاللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُمْ الأَرْضَ بِسَاطًا
[71:20] ‘And Allah has made the earth for you a wide expanse
 لِتَسْلُكُوا مِنْهَا سُبُلاً فِجَاجًا
[71:21] ‘That you may traverse the open ways thereof.’”
 قَالَ نُوحٌ رَبِّ إِنَّهُمْ عَصَوْنِي وَاتَّبَعُوا مَنْ لَمْ يَزِدْهُ مَالُهُ وَوَلَدُهُ إِلاَّ خَسَارًا
[71:22] Noah said, “My Lord, they have disobeyed me, and followed one whose wealth and children have only added to his ruin.
 وَمَكَرُوا مَكْرًا كُبَّارًا
[71:23] “And they have planned a mighty plan.
 وَقَالُوا لاَ تَذَرُنَّ آلِهَتَكُمْ وَلاَ تَذَرُنَّ وَدًّا وَلاَ سُوَاعًا وَلاَ يَغُوثَ وَيَعُوقَ وَنَسْرًا
[71:24] “And they say to one another, ‘Forsake not your gods under any circumstances. And forsake neither Wadd, nor Suwa‘, nor Yaghuth and Ya‘uq and Nasr.’[3134]
 وَقَدْ أَضَلُّوا كَثِيرًا وَلاَ تَزِدْ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلاَّ ضَلاَلاً
[71:25] “And they have led many astray; so increase Thou not the wrongdoers but in error.”
 مِمَّا خَطِيئَاتِهِمْ أُغْرِقُوا فَأُدْخِلُوا نَارًا فَلَمْ يَجِدُوا لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَنْصَارًا
[71:26] Because of their sins they were drowned and made to enter Fire. And they found no helpers for themselves against Allah.
 وَقَالَ نُوحٌ رَبِّ لاَ تَذَرْ عَلَى الأَرْضِ مِنْ الْكَافِرِينَ دَيَّارًا
[71:27] And Noah said, ‘My Lord, leave not in the land a single one of the disbelievers;
 إِنَّكَ إِنْ تَذَرْهُمْ يُضِلُّوا عِبَادَكَ وَلاَ يَلِدُوا إِلاَّ فَاجِرًا كَفَّارًا
[71:28] ‘For, if Thou dost leave them, they will only lead astray Thy servants and will not give birth but to a sinner and a disbeliever.
رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيَّ وَلِمَنْ دَخَلَ بَيْتِي مُؤْمِنًا وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَلاَ تَزِدْ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلاَّ تَبَارًا
[71:29] ‘My Lord, forgive me and my parents, and him who enters my house as a believer, and the believing men and the believing women; and increase Thou not the wrongdoers but in perdition.’[3135]
3130. When a Divine decree actually comes in operation, repentance is of no use.
3131. The words Istaghshau Thiyabahum metaphorically mean: 'They refused to listen to the Divine Message. They closed all the avenues of their hearts against it, Thiyab meaning 'hearts' (Lane).
3132. Noah employed all the means at his disposal to make his people listen to the Divine Message. But they were equally determined not to listen to it.
3133. God has endowed different men with different natural capacities and capabilities and on this disparity of aptitudes and physical conditions depend the existence, growth and development of human society. A.har is plural of Taur which means, a time; state; condition; quality; mode or manner; form or appearance. The verse means. God has created men of different forms and different conditions: of various aspects and dispositions. or He has created them by stages (Lane).
3134. Wadd was an idol worshipped by Banu Kalb in Daumat al-Jandal. It was in a man's figure representing manly power. Suwa' was an idol of Banu Hudhail. It was in a woman's shape, representing female beauty. Yaghuth belonged to the tribe of Murad; and Ya'uq in the shape of horse was worshipped by Hamdan. Nasr, an idol of the Dhu'l-Kila' tribe, was in the shape of an eagle or vulture, representing long life or insight. Noah's people were steeped in idol-worship. They had many idols, the five mentioned in the verse under comment being the most popular. The Arabs, several centuries afterwards, are supposed to have brought them from Iraq. Hubul, their most famous idol was brought from Syria by Amir bin Lohayy; their own principal idols being Lat, Manat and 'Uzza. Or, they might have named their own idols after the idols of the tribe of Noah as the two peoples lived not very distant from each other and there was general intercourse between them. There is nothing impossible or improbable in the two neighbouring idolatrous peoples having identical names for their idols.
3135. God's Prophets are full of the milk of human kindness. Noah's prayer shows that opposition to him must have been long, persistent and unremitting, and that all his efforts to bring his people to the right path must have proved abortive, and there must have remained no possibility for any further addition to his small following, and also that his opponents must have exceeded all legitimate bounds in opposing and persecuting him and his followers, and in indulging in evil pursuits. Matters must have come to such a pass that a man of a most compassionate disposition like Noah was constrained to pray against his people. In an identical situation the Holy Prophet's attitude to his opponents presents a vivid contrast. In the battle of Uhud, when his two teeth were broken and he was badly wounded and bled profusely, the only words that escaped his lips were, 'How will a people get salvation who have wounded their Prophet and have smeared his face with blood for no fault, but that he calls them to God. My Lord! forgive my people, for they know not what they do' (Zurqani & Hisham).
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