Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (1/174)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

We mentioned that tale only in passing because of its paltriness and feebleness, and because it contradicts both sound reason and the transmitted texts.

As for reason: how could it be conceivable that Allah should destroy Noah’s own son for his disbelief—when his father was the prophet of the age and the leader of the believers—yet spare ʿAwj ibn ʿAnq (also called ʿAnāq), who, by their own description, was far more unjust and tyrannical? How could Allah show no mercy whatever to anyone among them—not even to the child’s mother or to the child himself—yet leave alive this illegitimate, overbearing, stubborn, profligate, gross, unbelieving, satanic rebel, as they allege?

As for what is transmitted: Allah the Exalted says, “Then We drowned the others” (al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:66), and He says, “Noah said, ‘My Lord, do not leave upon the earth a single dweller from among the disbelievers’” (Nūḥ 71:26). The height they attribute to ʿAwj also clashes with what is firmly established in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, where the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah created Adam sixty cubits tall, and mankind has continued to diminish in stature ever since.” This is the explicit statement of the truthful, trusted, infallible Prophet—who speaks not from whim; it is but revelation sent down—that human beings have been decreasing in height from Adam’s time until the moment he conveyed this, and will continue to do so until the Day of Resurrection. It follows necessarily that no descendant of Adam has ever been taller than Adam himself. How, then, can this clear report be set aside in favor of the claims of those lying unbelievers among the People of the Book, who altered and distorted the revealed Scriptures and displaced them from their proper contexts? What confidence can one place in anything they transmit or are entrusted with, when they are traitors and liars—upon them be the successive curses of Allah until the Day of Judgement? I consider the story of ʿAwj ibn ʿAnāq nothing but a fabrication concocted by some of their heretics and libertines who were enemies of the prophets—and Allah knows best.

Allah, exalted be He, then relates Noah’s appeal to his Lord concerning his son and his question about the latter’s drowning, seeking clarification: “You promised me the salvation of my family with me, and he is one of them, yet he has drowned.” He was answered that the son was not of the family whose salvation had been promised—namely, “your family, except those against whom the Word has already gone forth” (al-Muʾminūn 23:27). This son was among those against whom the decree had been issued that he would drown because of his unbelief; hence destiny drove him to separate from the company of the believers and to perish with his fellow unbelievers and tyrants.

Then Allah said: “It was said, ‘O Noah, disembark in peace from Us, and blessings upon you and upon communities that will spring from those who are with you; but there are other communities whom We shall allow to enjoy themselves, then a painful punishment from Us shall afflict them’” (Hūd 11:48).

This was a command to Noah, peace be upon him, that once the water had receded from the face of the earth and it was possible to walk upon it and settle there, he should disembark from the Ark which

(1) This is how it appears in manuscript B and in the printed edition. al-suqāṭa (lit. “the fallen”) means “what has dropped from something.” In manuscript A it reads wasāṭilahā; al-sāṭil denotes “a cloud of raised dust,” and al-sāṭil also signifies “the garment.” (2) Reported by al-Bukhārī (no. 3326) in the chapter on the Prophets, and by Muslim (no. 2841) in the chapter “Paradise and the description of its bliss and its inhabitants.” (3) The passage enclosed between two circles is omitted in the printed edition but is preserved in manuscripts A and B.

لما تعرَّضنا لحكايتها؛ لسُقاطَتِها (١) ورَكاكَتها، ثم إنَّها مخالفةٌ للمعقول والمنقول. أما المعقولُ: فكيف يسوغُ فيه أن يُهْلكَ اللَّه ولدَ نوحٍ لكفره وأبوه نبيُّ الأمة وزعيمُ أهل الإيمان، ولا يُهْلكَ عَوجَ بن عَنق -ويقال عناق- وهو أظلمُ وأطغى على ما ذكروا؟! وكيف لا يرحم اللَّه منهم أحدًا ولا أُمَّ الصَّبيِّ ولا الصَّبيَّ، ويترك هذا الدَّعيَّ الجبَّار العنيدَ الفاجرَ الثديدَ الكافرَ الشيطانَ المريدَ، على ما ذكروا؟! وأما المنقولُ: فقد قال اللَّه تعالى: ﴿ثُمَّ أَغْرَقْنَا الْآخَرِينَ﴾ [الشعراء: ٦٦] ﴿وَقَالَ نُوحٌ رَبِّ لَا تَذَرْ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ دَيَّارًا﴾ [نوح: ٢٦] ثم هذا الطول الذي ذكروه مخالفٌ لما ثبت في الصحيحين عن رسول اللَّه ﷺ أنه قال: "إن اللَّه خلقَ آدمَ وطولُه ستون ذراعًا، ثم لم يزل الخلقُ ينقصُ حتى الآن" (٢) . فهذا نصُّ الصَّادقِ المصدوقِ المعصومِ، الذي لا ينطق عن الهوى إن هو إلا وحيٌ يُوحى؛ أنَّه لم يزلِ الخلقُ ينقصُ حتَّى الآن، أي: لم يزل النَّاس في نقصان طُولهم من آدمَ إلى يوم إخباره بذلك، وهلُمَّ جرًا إلى يوم القيامة. وهذا يقتضي أنه لم يُوجد من ذريَّة آدم من كان أطول منه، فكيف يُتركُ هذا ويُذْهلُ عنه، ويُصار إلى أقوال الكَذَبة الكَفَرةِ من أهل الكتاب، الذين بدَّلوا كُتُب اللَّه المنزلة وحرَّفوها وأوَّلوها، ووضعُوها على غير مواضِعها، فما ظنُك بما هم يستقلون بنقله أو يؤتمنون عليه، [وهم الخونة والكذَبة -عليهم لعائنُ اللَّه المتتابعة إلى يوم القيامة-] (٣) وما أظنُّ أن هذا الخبر عن عَوج بن عَناق إلا اختلاقًا من بعض زنادقتهم وفُجَّارهم الذين كانوا أعداءَ الأنبياء، واللَّه أعلم. ثم ذكرَ اللَّه تعالى مناشدةَ نوح ربَّه في ولده، وسؤاله له عن غرقِه، على وجه الاستعلام والاستكشاف، ووجه السؤال: أنَّك وعدَتني بجاة أهلي معي، وهو منهمِ وقد غرقَ، فأجيب بأنه ليس من أهلك، أي: الذين وعدتُ بنجاتهم، أي: أما قُلنا لكَ ﴿وَأَهْلَكَ إِلَّا مَنْ سَبَقَ عَلَيْهِ الْقَوْلُ مِنْهُمْ﴾ [المؤمنون: ٢٧] فكانَ هذا ممن سبقَ عليه القولُ منهم بأنه سيغرق بكفره، ولهذا ساقتْه الأقدارُ إلى أن انحاز عن حوزة أهل الإيمان، فغَرِقَ مع حزبه أهل الكفر والطغيان، ثم قال تعالى: ﴿قِيلَ يَانُوحُ اهْبِطْ بِسَلَامٍ مِنَّا وَبَرَكَاتٍ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَى أُمَمٍ مِمَّنْ مَعَكَ وَأُمَمٌ سَنُمَتِّعُهُمْ ثُمَّ يَمَسُّهُمْ مِنَّا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ﴾ [هود: ٤٨] هذا أمرٌ لنوحٍ (عليه السلام) لمَّا نضبَ الماءُ عن وجهِ الأرض، وأمكنَ السَّعي فيها والاستقرار عليها، أنْ يهبطَ من السفينة التي

(١) كذا في ب والمطبوع. والسُّقاطة: ما سقط من الشيء. وفي أ وسطالتها: والساطل من الغبار المرتفع، والسَّاطلُ: المُلْبسُ. (٢) أخرجه البخاري (٣٣٢٦) في الأنبياء، ومسلم (٢٨٤١) في الجنة وصفة نعيمها وأهلها. (٣) ما بين حاصرتين سقط من المطبوع، وأثبته من أ وب.